Peregrine Breeding Log for May 28 – 29, 2019:
Tuesday, May 28th started out wet and only became wetter as the morning went on. Temps hovered in the 50’s. Astrid was not seen in the vicinity of the nest in the evening but showed up later on. At 3:00 AM Astrid was on the long perch. However, occasionally she made quick forays out into the canyon and back. Obviously, she was hunting. Ares made his first appearance of the morning at that time. He didn’t have any food with him, so she flew off to the hotel. He stayed on guard duty while she resumed hunting from the hotel. At 4:10 Astrid came back with prey. We didn’t know if it had come from Ares or not. She fed the chicks for at least 15 minutes. At 7:15 Ares brought some small prey item. Astrid took it and did the feeding. It lasted about five minutes. At 7:23 Astrid had gone over to the west veranda and the nestlings got in some wing exercise time. Ares visited the nest at 7:30. He picked up part of a cuckoo wing from the floor of the box and gave it to one of the chicks. He then considered his work done and he left the box. Ten minutes later Astrid and Ares were guarding the box – one sentry was on the east veranda and the other on the west.
At 8:17 there was a round of alarm calls from the parents. It was likely caused by the movement of people in offices adjacent to the nest box. Astrid did some swooping by the offending windows. During the three-day weekend, there were few people in the buildings. Now everyone was back to work and coming near their windows again. While Astrid was still majorly upset, Ares returned to the box, scrounged up an old bird leg from the floor and gave it to one of the nestlings. The chick swallowed it. As for Astrid, she was back and forth to various perches on and around the nest box. At 9:00 she jumped onto the roof of the box – another sign that she wasn’t happy. At 10:08, like gargoyles, both falcons were guarding the nest from pillars above the nest box. A quick feeding took place at 10:42. We don’t know much about that one other than Astrid carried it out.
Persistent rain in the afternoon kept the parents on their perches for long stretches and stopped them from hunting. Also, we suspect that the presence of workers on the roof of the State Office Building discouraged Ares from accessing his pantry. That all added up to a hungry afternoon for the nestlings. Ares checked in at the box at 2:32 and the nestlings became highly excited. Astrid was out on the longperch, but neither parent had food. The chicks were disappointed again when he came back to the box almost a half-hour later. Still no meal was forthcoming. Following that visit, Ares was out of view for a couple of hours. Meanwhile Astrid continued to be agitated about the people on the State Building roof. Her response was to fly around giving alarm calls for a while. She came to the box at 3:36 and the chicks were screeching to be fed. She was getting impatient regarding the lack of food and began giving disapproving donkey calls. The rain had let up and Ares should have been able to hunt. At 4:24 Ares was spotted on the hotel ledge with prey. Soon Astrid was there too. She flew right to the box, but he didn’t. What was taking him so long? Finally, at 4:36 Ares arrived with food on the east veranda. Astrid did a mad scramble across the perch for fit. She awkwardly snatched the prey from him and flew out into the canyon with it. She boomeranged back, jumped into the box and then had a tug-o-war with one of the female chicks. Astrid pulled the food back with her foot and commenced the feeding. After that, a raucous feeding took place with mainly two nestlings out front grabbing for everything and two hanging back. When the feeding was done a few minutes later, not all the chicks got something. Astrid stood out on the crossperch calling out for Ares to bring more. She then hopped back into the box and scrounged around for scraps to dole out.
At 5:26 Astrid was up. Nine minutes later we spotted her on the hotel ledge plucking a freshly caught Pigeon. Five minutes later she flew to the box and landed onto the nest floor with her prize. A marathon feeding ensued and all four nestling got their fill. At one point one of the females took a piece and walked off with it. At 6:15 the meal was over and the parents were back to guarding the nest site; him from the east veranda and her from the long perch. A few minutes later, Astrid was set off by something she saw at one of the office windows. She responded by diving back and forth in front of the building a couple of times, but she gave no alarm calls and seemed to calm down quickly. She was back in the box at 6:50 chasing around one of the chicks for a scrap of food it was holding. At 6:54 Ares came to the box with a whole Black-billed Cuckoo. Astrid didn’t come to take it. She just stayed on her perch on the State Building. After a minute of no response from anybody, he took the prey off and probably stored it somewhere. At 7:23 she was back to the box. We noticed that she had a rather full crop, meaning she must’ve eaten as well. She was on top of the box again at 7:43. We weren’t sure what brought that on. A minute later she was conducting another feeding. It looked to be something small. The meal was finished after about eight minutes. At 8:20 both parents were guarding the box again: him, on a high pillar above the nest, and her, on a window ledge west of the box. A few minutes later both dashed out in pursuit of something. Astrid was back only a few minutes later – taking position on the long perch. Ares remained out of sight. Good night falcons.
Wednesday, May 29th began wet and chilly. Although a misty rain stopped during the first half of the morning, the skies remained overcast and temperatures were seasonally cool. Astrid was mostly on the long perch during the overnight period. There were no nocturnal feedings logged. Ares showed up on the State Building at around 5 AM. Ares brought a food item to the box at 5:38. Astrid took it and did the feeding. The meal was over in six minutes. Both parents were on the steeple at 7:28. A half-hour later Astrid was giving alarm calls. People were on the roof of the State Building again and she wasn’t happy about it. An hour later she was displeased again. She was flying back and forth between a window pillar above the box and the long perch. Her alarm cackle calls were being copied by the nestlings. Deb heard Ares call at 9:35. Astrid heard him too and began vocalizing from the crossperch. Ares landed on the hotel ledge and he was plucking prey. Astrid flew over but didn’t try to take the food. Five minutes later he brought it to the box. Astrid took it and began feeding the chicks. Three chicks stood in the front row and fed while one hung back. The meal was over in ten minutes.
At 10:15 both parents were on hand guarding the box. A minute later Astrid was up. She soon flew back to the nest with an entire pigeon. After spending a considerable amount of time plucking it, she began to feed it out. The nestlings fed in shifts and we believe all got a decent share. The meal lasted at least a half hour and was finished at 11:03, after which, Astrid went to the steeple. At 11:10 Ares screeched into the canyon with new prey. He plucked it on a window ledge west of the nest. He brought it to the box minutes later and was still plucking it. The nestlings were all full and hardly even looked up when he got around to offering them some. At one point he resorted to eating it himself. He tried tempting the chicks once more and one of them lifted its head to take a few bites. That must’ve been vindication for his efforts. He left shortly after and probably stored the leftovers. At 11:28 he returned to the crossperch but without the food. He stood guard for a while, moving onto the east veranda at 1:06. Meanwhile Astrid was looking particularly regal on the steeple perch.
At 2:30 Astrid came to the crossperch and called directly at Ares (still on the veranda). She appeared to be telling him to get food. She bowed in a manner reminiscent of the stance she adopts when requesting mating. Ares had his orders and departed. Astrid returned to the steeple. Only ten minutes later Ares flew through the canyon with prey. He landed on the hotel ledge. After taking his share off the top, (at 2:48) he brought the remainder to the nest. Astrid took it and began a feeding. Chick # 1 grabbed the food right away and Astrid had to tug it back from him. She then fed the two nestlings in front of her – chicks # 1 and # 3. The other two missed out this time. At 4:22 the nestlings were getting restless in the box again. At least one of them was screeching away. Ares brought more prey at 4:53. Astrid snatched it away and handled the feeding. The meal was finished five minutes later. At 5:08 Ares came to the crossperch and got the chicks all worked up. All were begging and being generally loud and boisterous. At 5:12, Ares checked a few window ledges west of the nestbox. He was looking for stored prey. He found something small and brought it to the nest. Astrid swooped in to grab it and the proceeded to feed the brood.
At 6:50 Ares was spotted with more prey on a window ledge west of the box. It appeared to be a Mourning Dove. He flew off with it at the same time Astrid left her steeple perch. Somewhere there was a transfer. Astrid had food on the hotel and Ares went to the crossperch. Astrid was busily plucking while Ares listened to the chorus of screaming chicks. After having a small share, Astrid brought the food to the box and began a feeding. While she actively fed three of them, one was picking at the food directly and at least trying to eat it like a grownup. The meal was over by 7:10 PM. Astrid was on the steeple and Ares on the State Building after that. She moved to the east veranda by 8:26. Ares was still visible on the State Building as late as 10:15 PM. Good Night falcons.
