Peregrine Breeding Log for June 13 – 14, 2019:
Thursday, June 13th had a wet and cool beginning and conditions improved little through the morning. Late Wednesday night Astrid was on a pillar west of the box and Ares was on the State Office Building. The nestlings were all in the box and screeching at 11:30 PM, I think they were watching their parents fly. At 3:10 AM, Ares was on the crossperch with prey in his talons. Only one of the nestlings seemed to be alert and paying attention to him. After fifteen minutes of perching, he dropped the food into the box and flew into the dark canyon. At 4:14, Ares brought more prey to the box. This time it looked like a cuckoo. He just pitched it into the nest and left. He returned two minutes later with a more substantial meal. Astrid met him there, scrambled to grab it and then took it into the box of screaming dinosaurs. Somehow, she made it in and out of there in one piece. Both parents were on the State Building. One was on a wide window ledge. At 5:05, one of the nestlings got up on the lip of the box. Suddenly all were awake and milling around. One was feeding on something. At 5:34, Rue went over to the east veranda. One minute later, Keisha went over to the west veranda where she found a bug and ate it. Soon there were two on the west veranda. I’m not sure which one was still in the box, I think it was Archie, but whoever it was, he was going crazy. He was thrashing about, footing things and flapping haphazardly. Ares came in with prey. It was a Black-billed Cuckoo. He left it with Rue on the east veranda and then landed at the box for a minute. After playing with his new food, Rue began feeding on it. It’s good that someone likes cuckoo.
At 6:10, all the nestlings were screeching themselves hoarse. Astrid was on the hotel plucking a Pigeon. At 6:24 she brought the meal to the box. Right before that, Archie had come back into the box from the west veranda. He began feeding and Astrid was out. Penelope stumbled in nest – also from the west veranda. Keisha then came into the box from the east veranda. At 8:00, Ares was up. He retrieved food and brought it to the box. Astrid took it from him on the crossperch. She hopped in and a chick stole it. Penelope and Keisha began eating the new food, but Penelope soon gave up and ceded what was left to her sister. Meanwhile, Rue was doing some wing flapping on the east veranda. Astrid had been on the west veranda, but she suddenly gave a warning cackle and took off with purpose. She did some quick flybys and landed at the box a couple of times. By 8:38, Penelope and Keisha were both on the west veranda. At 9:03, Astrid came to the box and began feeding Archie (the only one in the box) some Pigeon leftovers from the floor of the box. Soon Rue joined them from the east veranda and Astrid fed both. Towards the end of the feeding, Astrid gave Rue a Pigeon leg to deal with. He took it away and started working on it. The two females were anxiously looking over from the west veranda. But the meal was over. Archie went over to the west veranda and joined his sisters. They all did a fair amount of gentle beaking when they saw each other.
At 10:17, Astrid was in the box and picking on a Pigeon carcass. Rue was lying down, but once he stood up Astrid started feeding him. He screeched the whole time he was being fed. Interestingly, none of the other nestlings came over from the verandas to join in. At 10:35, once Rue had stopped feeding, Astrid began taking a portion for herself. Rue screeched on the lip of the box while Astrid was eating. He then hopped back to the east veranda. At 10:45, Keisha came back into the box from the west veranda. And at 11:26, she went back to the west veranda. Ares was in the box at 11:45. He was scrounging for scraps. He picked up a small chunk of something and passed it off to one of the kids on the west veranda. They were all reclined, but that got them up and active. Suddenly he had another piece and he was trying to hand that one off as well. Instead of giving it up he flew off with it. Was it an invitation to fledge? Astrid showed up at the box a minute later, but then she quickly took off again. Ares arrived on the west veranda, and Astrid relieved him of his food offering. At 11:51, Ares landed on the pillar to the east of the nest. That seems to be his favorite spot lately. Astrid was also perched east of the veranda. At 11:57, Keisha went back into the nestbox and then Astrid buzzed by the box and verandas. Keisha kept going and went onto the west veranda. Penelope did the opposite move. She went into the box and then onto the east veranda. No doubt about it, the juveniles were making good use of the verandas. While on the east veranda she had a short reunion with Rue. She almost continued east and onto the window ledge beyond the veranda but thought better of it and turned around. At 1:18, all the youngsters were napping on their verandas. At 1:40, Ares flew and then both parents were out of view. One of the kids was back in the box at 1:53 and three were on the east veranda. By 2:12, all four were on the east veranda and there was quite a bit of wing-flapping going on.
At 2:22, one of the nestlings pushed east of the east veranda. It was Rue, the smallest nestling and the last one to hatch. He’s the most adventurous at this stage. Astrid returned to the State Building at 2:30. At that time we had one kid in the box, two on the veranda and one on a window ledge east of the veranda. At 3:00, we noticed that it was Archie that was in the box. He was screeching to be fed. Meanwhile, Penelope was having a one-bird flap-fest. Ares screeched through at 3:14. He was headed towards the hotel. Astrid was already on the hotel plucking something – probably a Pigeon. Keisha must have Pigeon radar. She went into the box, probably with the thought of putting on her Pigeon-eating bib. And right then a helicopter flew very low over the canyon. The birds didn’t seem too perturbed. At 3:32, Astrid brought food to the box and it was taken by Keisha. Archie came in and tried to tug away at a share. Suddenly there were three nestlings back in the box. Two minutes later Ares was on the east veranda with food. Rue was still on the window ledge beyond the veranda but began making his way over. Ares moved to the box before Rue could reach him. I think he just dropped the food off or was relieved of it. He then went to the west veranda. At that point all four nestlings were back in the box. Not for long – Keisha made her way back to the east veranda. At 3:46, Archie was on the lip of the box screeching at Ares. The rain began coming down steadily. Three juveniles were on the west veranda and Keisha was on the east veranda. At 4:12, Ares was on a window ledge west of the nest. At 4:24, Alarm calls were given by Astrid. There was an intruder. Ares took off after it while Astrid stayed on a pillar above the nest. Ares was back about five minutes later and perched near the nest.
At 5:18, the nestlings started getting animated. Rue was screeching away. Astrid was giving alarm cackles at 6:05. Perhaps she was trying to reign in the rambunctious nestlings. If that was her intention it wasn’t working. Keisha was screaming and flapping like mad. She went from the veranda to the box and tore at some leftovers for a while. At 6:40, Astrid did a few flybys of the nest area. She then landed on the State Building. That was probably a demonstration flight. When she took off again it appeared she had some food in her talons. She landed on a ledge west of the nest. Ares was on a ledge nearby. At that point two nestlings were in the box and there was one on each veranda. Both adults moved to the State Building. Ares made few low circles over the canyon, landed briefly on the west face of the State Building and then joined Astrid on the north face. At 7:41, Ares flew over to the box and got everybody all riled up again. He then went to a window ledge east of the east veranda. It may have been a “follow me” move. A few minutes later he flew back to the State Building. At 8 PM, Astrid took a perch west of the west veranda. Ares left his spot on the north face of the State Building and went wherever it is he spends the first part of the night. All four juveniles were back in the box by 8:30. All seemed settled and then at 9:56, Astrid landed on the long perch at the nest. All the kids began squealing although they did it from reclined positions. A few minutes later they were all settled down again. Goodnight falcons.
Friday, June 14th was much like the day before – wet, and cool with temps peaking in the low 60’s. It was windier that Thursday. Skies somewhat cleared and temps rose to 70 degrees by early evening. Astrid was on a window ledge west of the west veranda at dusk on Thursday night. At PM, she landed on the long perch. I’m not sure how far into the night she remained in place. At 1:30 AM, she was on the crossperch. One of the nestlings was up on the lip of the box facing in. The others, as far as I could tell in the darkness, were reclined. I saw/heard no overnight feedings or food drops. At 4:50, Astrid was east veranda and Ares on the west face of the State Building. Almost precisely at 5 AM, the nestlings all woke up. They started screeching and one climbed onto the lip of the box. At about 5:20, they started going out onto the verandas. At 5:43, Archie and another were on the west veranda and Rue was on the east veranda. Archie and Rue were flapping their wings a lot. There was plenty of screeching as well. Keisha came back into the box from the west side. Penelope was already in the back of the box tearing into scraps from Thursday’s meals.
At 6:28, Ares brought food to the box. Astrid took it and hopped into the nest where Keisha grabbed it. She hauled it the back of the box. Penelope pushed her way to the food. Keisha let her get to it, but she had her wings extended and her right wing was draped over Penelope’s back. She wasn’t mantling though, not properly. Rue was the next one in the box. At 6:39, Astrid was on the hotel plucking a Pigeon. At 6:55, she arrived at the nest with it. I’m not sure if it was taken from her or if she dropped it off. Two were feeding on it in the box. At 7:00, Astrid hazed the 15th floor office windows for a little while. Someone must’ve gotten close to a window near the nest. The nestlings were in and out of the box and using the verandas quite a bit. They are becoming more and more confident about negotiating around the greater nest area. At 8:08, both parents left their perches on the State Building and came to the box. At that point there were three nestlings in the box picking at food. Keisha and Rue seemed to be doing the most eating. Ares flew over the church parking lot and headed northeast. At 8:33, Ares returned to the canyon. He had a Red-bellied Woodpecker in his talons. He brought the prey to a window ledge west of the nest. Astrid met him there and took the food. She took it to the box and then dangled it in front of them while she hopped over to the east veranda. She was trying to lure them over to the verandas. She then took it to the west veranda where Archie was. Either Archie grabbed it away of she left it with him. After that, both parents soared around the canyon. Ares landed on the State Building.
At 8:40, rain was falling again. Ares flew by the box and Astrid flew towards the hotel. Ares came back and landed on the steeple while Astrid put down on the hotel. At 8:47, Archie was doing some serious wing flapping on the west veranda. Astrid came back to the box at 8:54. She made several attempts in a row to get leftovers out of the box. I think she was aiming to use them as a lure to induce the young to fledge, but she couldn’t get her talons on them. She flew off and then came right back to the box. She then went to a ledge east of the east veranda. Again, she was back at the nest trying to extract food scraps. She made another few attempts. At 8:58, she was back to the box and tried again for the scraps. She only got fist full of feathers. She then flew to the steeple. At 9:17, she did a flyover and then landed on a ledge just east of the east veranda. Ares was up. He made a quick stop at the box and then was soaring again. He landed on the State Building. At 9:21, there were two nestlings on the east veranda, one on the west and one in the box. Rue was on the perch on the east veranda and doing plenty of wing flapping. At 9:50, a Turkey Vulture flew low through the canyon heading east. The parents stayed in place, but Astrid gave a long cackle call as it flew through. The vulture definitely quickened its pace! At 10:00, Ares flew over to the hotel. He was off hunting somewhere after that. By then it was raining again, and the falcons remained low profile for a while. At 11:06, Ares returned and took a perch on the steeple. Ten minutes later, Astrid was issuing alarm cackles. We weren’t sure what brought that on, but she was highly agitated.
At 11:39, Deb found the cause. There was a guy on the Adirondack Bank roof working on telecommunications equipment. Astrid was swooping every time he came near the edge of the roof. The man was supposed to make his visit short out of deference for the falcons, but he was there for over an hour. For the most part, Astrid controlled herself, but whenever he walked along the roof edge, she hazed him. She did do a chick-check at the box at 12:15, otherwise her attention was only on the roof. During the incident, Ares remained on the State Building. Astrid checked in at the box at 1:46. It was her first visit since the roof man left. After that the nestlings became more active again. One was on the lip of the box, flapping its wings. But then Astrid was irritated about something else only five minutes after that. We couldn’t figure out what the problem was that time. One of the juveniles was out on the long perch, Deb thought it was Penelope, but couldn’t be sure. At 2:15, Keisha was on the west veranda feeding on the woodpecker that Ares had brought earlier. Fifteen minutes later she was flapping her wings. There was an ensuing block party in front of the State Building, and so loud music was echoing around the canyon. I don’t think the falcons minded it. I’m sure to them it sounded little different than the usual vehicular traffic. Keisha had a piece of the woodpecker in her bill as she flapped her wings. She dropped it and began footing it. She had eaten nearly the entire thing and now was playing with the leftovers.
Following a short siesta, at 2:38 A&A began soaring around the canyon and stirring everybody up! Ares was zipping around on the strong winds. While that was happening, Archie hopped back into the box. At 2:40, Astrid dropped food off at the nest. Two kids were in the box – one feeding on the new food and two kids were out on the west veranda. At 3:00 PM, Archie was on the west veranda perch and he was flapping and looking around. Penelope and Rue were in the box squabbling over leftovers. At 3:11, the parents were up. Rue moved to the west veranda, which left Penelope alone in the box to flap her wings and jump around all she liked. Five minutes later, all four of the youngsters were on the west veranda. At 3:25, Astrid was annoyed at something (again). He wasn’t perturbed for long this time. At 3:30, Kiesha moved onto a window ledge west of the west veranda. At 3:49, Astrid checked on the kids. Keisha began flapping her wings on the window ledge. At 4:14, she had a snooze on her new-found ledge. Both parents came to the window ledge right next to where Keisha was and left food there – her reward for being adventurous. She ate heartily and then relaxed for a while. In fact, she tucked way in so we couldn’t see her with our cams. Deb had to confirm she was still there (and hadn’t fledged) by going up by the county building and looking back at the ledges on the bank building. All six falcons were on the bank!
At 4:40, Archie was on the long perch at the box and doing some wing flapping. He did a little hop-flight from the perch to the edge of the box. He was on the long perch and flapping away again at 5:09. For a while both him and Rue were flapping in unison while facing the same direction. Rue was on the lip of the box right behind Archie. They were facing in the same direction so it looked like they were practicing flying in formation. If we had a few more hundred thousand falcons doing that, they might be able to lift the building off its foundation. At 5:30 PM, Astrid and Ares were flying very high above the canyon. They appeared to be in hunting mode. Astrid returned to the steeple at 5:42 but sailed out toward the hotel a few minutes later. At 5:42, the parents were doing some beautiful flying in the canyon. The wind made their maneuvers appear effortless. They were kiting, hovering, and swooping at will. At 6:09, Keisha began flapping her wings from her window ledge. She seemed to want to come back to the west veranda but couldn’t seem to get around the pillar. Astrid and Ares continued doing amazing aerial maneuvers – sometimes kiting past the nest and demonstrating their control. At 6:34, Archie moved around the pillar and west of the west veranda. He joined Keisha on her ledge. At 6:45, Ares returned to the fold with prey in his talons. He was flying in low and slow – going against the wind. He brought it to a window ledge well west of the box and did some plucking. Astrid flew over, grabbed the prey and carried it over to the hotel where she plucked it for a moment. She then took it to the box where there were no nestlings. Rue quickly came over from the east veranda and took the food from Astrid. Penelope came in next. Soon the two of them were having a tug-o-war over the meal. Penelope prevailed.
At 7:05, Astrid and Ares were doing more fancy flying over and through the canyon. Two kids were on the west veranda and the other two were still on the west window ledge. Astrid flew back to the box at 7:32 and made a snack out of leftovers from the most recent meal. When one of her nestlings came into the box, she vacated and flew to the State Building. At 8 PM, Keisha was still trying to get around the pillar and come back to the nest area, but she couldn’t quite get herself to hop around the pillar. Archie had done it and was already back in the box. She was flapping a lot and bobbing her head. For a little while we thought she might be the first fledgling of the season, but finally, at about 8:15, she hopped around the pillar and came back into the box. All four came home and were probably there for the night. Penelope and Rue were lying tight alongside each other like a pair of sardines. We though they might all relax and get some rest, but Keisha and Archie stayed up on the lip of the box a little longer before retiring. At 8:19, I watched Ares fly from the north face of the State Building to the east face. He went deep into a window ledge. Astrid remained on the north face. Good night falcons. We are likely to have our first fledge tomorrow. Come help us at fledge watch if you can.