Peregrine Breeding Log for May 16 – 17, 2019:
Thrusday, May 16th started out a bit cool and overcast, but things improved vastly as the day went on. The sun came out and temps hit the low 60’s. Astrid had to do some shading in the afternoon – not her favorite activity. It was a little on the windy side as well, but that’s something falcons can easily deal with. Astrid was at the nest all night. That is, after her 10 PM snack at the hotel. In contrast to the last several nights there a few early morning feedings. Three took place in the hour of 3 AM and one during the 4 AM hour. The next feeding took place at 5:40. We assume that Ares brought the food each time. Astrid handled the feedings which were each at least ten minutes long. The next meal came in at 8:15. Astrid took it from Ares and doled it out to the chicks. At 8:26 she was out with the leftovers. She was back to the nest in three minutes. At 9:13 Ares brought more prey to the box. Astrid took it and went to the hotel; I think to have a meal for herself. Ares had gone to the steeple. Some people came out on the hotel roof and Astrid left. We don’t know if she stored her leftovers or not. She then joined Ares on the steeple. She was back to brooding the chicks by 9:30. The next feeding took place at 9:50. We are short on details for that one. Afterwards she did some digging in the stones and even some box biting. We hadn’t seen that behavior in a while.
At 11:24, it seemed clear that our whitewash camera was beginning to live up to its name. The nestlings have been liberally anointing the interior of the box with their whitewash and one of the little marksmen got the camera. It’s not completely obscured yet, but it will likely be soon with four guns going off in all directions. At 11:56 Astrid came off the chicks. She was not looking happy. Someone was up on the roof of the Adirondack Bank Building. Ares begun screeching from his perch on the steeple and Astrid stood on the crossperch and looking up. She flew over and landed on steeple near Ares. I couldn’t hear her, but she was opening her bill like she was calling. Soon she was half-frantically flying around the bank building. She then returned to the steeple. At 12:09, she was giving a serious cackle alarm call, The worker on the roof was standing near the edge of the 16th floor. Astrid was not at all pleased with that action. She circled the bank a few more times and landed returned to the steeple. During this time, Ares wasn’t getting nearly as upset as his mate. She actually upped him from his perch, we thought to compel him to do something about the primate on the roof. At 12:30 she came back to the crossperch. She was still in full-blown alert mode. Fortunately, the guy on the roof had finished and so Astrid was able to calm down again.
After brooding the chicks for a time, Astrid left the box at 1:24. At about the same time Ares returned to the State Building. A minute later he arrived at the nest box with a goldfinch. Astrid lunged into the box, grabbed the food and did a quick feeding. At 5:51 PM another feeding was underway. Again, we lack the particulars, but she finished up at 3:06. Fifteen minutes later Ares brought more food to the box. Astrid did the feeding. At one point, Deb saw the smallest chick muscling aside its giant siblings in order to get a share of the food. At 3:45 she brooded for a little while and then was out of the box. At 3:51 she was back on the crossperch and then did some more brooding. By 4:37 the sun was flooding the interior of the box. Astrid was out and the nestlings were wandering around. This was the most ambulatory they’ve been so far. One staggered up to the lip of the box where it found a little bit of shade. The others were sprawled out on the floor in different places. At 4:46 Astrid was back in the box and conducting a feeding. The chicks were not in a tight grouping – they were more in a line. She was out ten minutes later, and the nestlings were again flopping down in various places on the floor. They looked like a strange hybrid of plucked chickens and drunken snowmen. Astrid was back in the box at 5:43 and she was making hilariously inept attempts to gather up and shade all the chicks. They just weren’t cooperating.
By 6:30 PM Astrid had more success getting the chicks all beneath her. A few minutes later she gave a cackle alarm call. It was probably prompted by a passing raptor or Turkey Vulture. Eight minutes later she was on the steeple. At that point Ares took off from his perch on the State Building and headed west with purpose. In less than two minutes he was back and plucking prey on the hotel ledge. After taking his share off the top, he brought the food to the long perch at the box. Astrid dashed over from the west veranda, grabbed the food from him and dove into the box. She then fed the nestlings. We noticed that one of the nestlings was often facing the wrong way during the course of the meal. Did it eat enough during the last meal? At 7:23 Astrid was on the steeple and Ares screeched over to the nest. He went back and forth between the cross perch and the inside of the nest a few times. At one point he made a half-hearted attempt at brooding, but then went out onto the crossperch again. He then flew over and almost upped Astrid from her perch on the steeple! He pulled away before actually doing it, but it was an audacious move. I think it was his way of telling her it was time to go back to the nest. She came to the box at 7:56 and, after spending some time on the crossperch, she went inside and began brooding the chicks. Ares was on the steeple for a little while and then was out of sight. Good night falcons.
Friday, May 17th began wet and chilly. The rain stopped early and temps soon reached the 60s. The skies remained overcast and humidity was high. Astrid stayed at the nest all night as far as we know. Ares came to the box with prey at 2 AM. Astrid came out to meet him as he stood with it on the long perch, but they never completed the hand off. He flew away with it and she went back into the box. Neither falcon seemed disappointed with the outcome. He brought something at 3:28. This time they completed the handoff and she fed the nestlings. Almost exactly an hour later, he brought another meal. The pair did an awkward exchange and she conducted another feeding. She left the box at 6:54. At 7:12 she was on the west veranda and from there moved to the steeple. At 7:41 she was feeding the nestlings again. We don’t know if Ares brought the meal or not. Ten minutes later the feeding was over and she left the nest. At 8:10 Astrid and Ares were perched on either side of the north face of the State Building. They were as falcon bookends on a very wide shelf. She was back with the chicks at 8:28
At 9:05, another meal was brought in by Ares. Astrid took it and handled the feeding. We are beginning to wonder if she’s going to let Ares do any feeding this season. It doesn’t seem like it. The feeding was ten-minute long and then Astrid was out. The pair were briefly on the State Building after that. For about the next two hours, both adults (especially Astrid) were moving around a lot – a real lot! They were on the steeple, back to the State Building, over to the box and the on the steeple again. One of them landed on the west face of the State Building, but only stayed for a minute. Perhaps it was checking the pantries. Ares screeched over to the box but didn’t stay. Astrid was on the steeple again. At 11:12 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid grabbed it in a mad frenzy and then started feeding the chicks. This feeding was only 7 minutes long after which she went out onto the cross perch. Following that she was on the State Building. At 11:29 she upped Ares from his steeple perch and seized it for herself. He screeched to the box right after that.
At 11:33 Ares came to the box with more prey – this time it was a Baltimore Oriole. She grabbed it in a flash and began feeding it to the nestlings. By 11:44, every piece of the prey was consumed. Once the meal was done Astrid flew off. It almost looked like she was hazing something on the east face of the State Building but she didn’t persist and went back to the steeple. At noon she flew to the box but didn’t stay long. Something was irritating her. She kept leaving the box and then coming back. It turned out that someone in the office adjacent to the nest box had been moving things around. She has been getting more and more sensitive as the chicks develop and some things she would have let pass in the past now are of increasing concern. At 1:11 Ares brought food to a ledge west of the nest box and Astrid flew over to take it. She came back to the box and started to pluck and feed. The prey this time appeared to be a Mourning Dove. Mealtime was over at 1:28. By 2:07, she was sitting on top of the nest box for some unknown reason. Perhaps she was still worried about the goings on in offices around the nest box. At one point she flew to the west veranda and seemed to peer into the office window. By 3 PM she was back inside the box and brooding. Ares had been on the State Building for quite some time and was still there at 3:24.
At 4:10, Deb heard one of the falcons give an alarm call and then suddenly both were in the box. Astrid had prey and was starting to feed the youngsters. Ares probably brought the food in, but we didn’t see that part. At 4:47 both adults were perched very close to each other on the State Building – only one window apart. The wind had picked up quite a bit and the falcons were doing some fantastic flying. Ares swooped in and out a couple of times to check on the chicks. We noticed that the nestlings’ eyesight is developing quickly. They now see their parents from a distance and react with begging calls well before they reach the nest. At 6:07 A&A were perched very near each other again on the State Building. They seemed to be taking turns going after prey. One of them nearly caught a passing bird in front of the PTZ camera. The falcon twisted as it chased the prey which executed evasive maneuvers. Ares was on the steeple right after that chase and Astrid came to the box with food. However, it wasn’t freshly caught prey. It looked to be leftovers. During the prior feeding one of the chicks faced the wrong direction for most of the session. The feeding was done at 6:40 and Astrid left the box. Ares screeched to the box at 7:14. Astrid joined him – landing on the long perch and then Ares was gone. At 8:10 the pair converged on the box again. This time with food. Astrid took it and conducted a feeding. Seven minutes later she was brooding the clutch. That’s probably all the action we’ll see for this day. Good night all.
