Author: Matt Perry

The first day of our Fledge Watch was not without excitement. Max was the most adventurous of the four chicks – moving all the way out onto the east veranda twice during the course of the day. The last time he even took a nap there. Food was brought to the box today several times and just about every time it was stolen away by one nestling or the other. Interestingly, Ares actually brought two cuckoos to the nest today. Both were stolen away and both were pretty much abandoned in the box and not eaten. At one point Luna seemed to be using one as a pillow!

Astrid did ultimately conduct two proper feedings. The last one happened at around 6:30 PM, when she brought in a pigeon. As we’ve seen in previous seasons when fledging time is upon us, Astrid often brings a meal to the box and then flies away with it. She may do this a few times in a row. This is all done to coax the nestlings to fledge. We should be seeing a lot more of this behavior in coming days. A workman on the roof of the ADK Bank building at around 9:15 AM, got Astrid and Ares very upset. They gave cackle alarm calls and swooped around the building for about 15 minutes. The man went back inside quickly, but the falcons remained on alert.

Right on the heels of that, a flock of Turkey Vultures flying low through the canyon received a not so warm welcome from the falcons. Ares struck one of them at least twice. Later in the afternoon a similar encounter happened, but that time Astrid was the aggressor. The day ended with all the nestlings back in the box and A & A on nearby perches. Fledge Watch will resume on Tuesday morning. We hope to see some of you there!

 

 

Overnight was warm and pretty quiet in the canyon. Although, just like their parents, the nestlings don’t sleep straight through the night. They move around in the box, preen, and stretch their wings. There were no overnight feedings – only a couple of early morning chick checks. Ares brought food to the box at 5:40, Astrid took it and just left it in the box without doing a proper feeding. Spirit and Zander picked at it for a while, but no one seemed all that interested in the buffet. The next meal was at 8:10 AM, when Ares brought in some unidentified prey. Astrid followed him in and took it, but then it was immediately stolen by Zander. Astrid tugged at it to get it back, but before she could manage it, Spirit barged in from the other side of the box, grabbed most of it and brought it to the corner. There she fed on it by herself. With the hunk that Astrid managed to hang onto, she began feeding Zander and Max. Through most of the morning, the nestlings were highly active in the box. A great amount of wing flapping and short-sprinting was taking place. Max and Zander continue to be the most interested in what goes on outside the box and in the canyon. Max got up onto the lip of the box numerous times. He even held his wings out. It was very windy downtown, so he got to experience wind hitting his wings for the first time. At 10 o’clock Astrid and Ares we’re doing some swooping around in the canyon. Astrid took a perch on the window sill just east of the east veranda.  This is a place that our adventurous nestlings have traveled to in past years. Ares did some slow passes in front of the nest box. We interpret this as a “come join me” coaxing type flight. We will be seeing a lot more of this kind of thing in the coming days. At one point an object blew in on the wind and zoomed right by the nest box. It elicited some alarm calls from the chicks, but no reaction from the adults. It turned out to be a plastic bag. Shortly after that a Turkey Vulture flew over. It was flying quite high and no one seemed to take notice of it. Looking up at the nest box from street level is interesting. There is an almost constant rain of feathers emanating from it. They are mostly fluffy down feathers that are being shed from the chicks, but there are plenty of prey feathers in the mix too.

The afternoon was very hot and fairly quiet. For the most part, the nestlings were keeping to the few shady corners in the box. By 5:30 PM, they began to get more animated. Luna (the last chick of the four to hatch) got up on the lip of the box and even walked out a few inches onto the perch! That was furthest any of the chicks have ventured yet this season. At 6:20 PM, Astrid flew in with food. She first landed on the east veranda and then on the west veranda. This is what she does when she’s trying to encourage the nestlings to do more exploring. Finally she landed in the box. She had most of a pigeon and she conducted a long feeding. During the feeding, all the nestlings pretty much behaved themselves and all got fed. After their dinner, the youngsters seemed to be more full of beans than ever. Max couldn’t resist but to climb up on the lip of the box again and hold out his wings.

Given all of the activity that took place today, we will be starting our Fledge Watch tomorrow, Monday, June 12^th. It’s still not the official watch until Wednesday, June 14^th, but anyone who wants to stop down would be most welcomed. With four nestlings in the nest box this season, there’s a greater possibility of accidental fledgings, and so we’d like to have people on hand just in case.

The overnight was quiet with no feedings. At 5:42 AM, Astrid made a quick visit to the box to check on the nestlings, but there was no sign of breakfast.  At 7:43, Astrid was seen plucking prey on the hotel ledge. Ten minutes later she was at the box serving up what appeared to be a pigeon. The chicks were relatively raucous, but not too far out of line. Directly following this big meal, Ares came into the box with a hunk of some unrecognizable prey and conducted his own feeding right from the lip of the box. Somehow all of the nestlings managed to pack in even more food. At one point Max tried to steal the food away with a swift talon grab, but Ares tugged it back and continued feeding. Finally the chicks seemed to reach their limit. Ares took the leftovers and stored it in the corner of the box. This morning, both parents spent time on top of the pillars on the bank building’s façade. These are located above and relatively close to the nest box. We believe they were remaining on guard in case one of the young decided to fledge prematurely. Max in particular seems like he’s getting more and more interested in the outside world. Although he was not the first chick to hatch, he was the first male and his molt into juvenile plumage is more advanced than his siblings. He has been doing a considerable amount of wing exercising as well. We’re all keeping our eyes on that one. The parents spent much of the afternoon monitoring the nest from the State Building. A & A did a few nestling checks or “chick checks” in the afternoon. Each time they were greeting with screeching and rushing and general pandemonium. Indeed, the box seems to be getting smaller and smaller these days. At 4:08, Ares brought a small meal to the nest. Astrid came at basically the same time. She grabbed the food from her mate and then Luna snatched it from her and hauled it to a corner of the box , There she ate it all herself. Not bad for the youngest chick! At 6:30 PM, Astrid brought in a pigeon and conducted a long feeding session. Luna was right up front for this one – or she was until she swallowed an entire leg and foot. After that she retired to the corner for about ten minutes. Max and Spirit parked themselves in front of Astrid and took in quite a few servings. After Astrid left, Max and Zander partook of a real flapping fest. At one point, Max had one of his feet up on the lip of the box. That’s usually the first step before venturing out onto the perch and then the verandas. Hopefully, he’ll wait a little while before making those moves. At 7:21, Ares flew in with more prey. Astrid barged in to take it and another feeding ensued. Luna and Spirit were in line to intercept most of the food. It sure seems like Spirit is a bottomless pit! Finally, Max took his place in the lineup and got topped off. Toward the end of the meal, Luna grabbed the remainder and tried to finish it in the corner. After about a minute, Astrid took it back and fed everyone a few more bites. We end the day with Zander and Max gazing out into the canyon. Soon enough they will be out there. I guess we will be out there too when Fledge Watch officially begins this coming week. Hope to see some of you then!

 

There was an unexpected thunderstorm overnight. Luckily it wasn’t severe and it didn’t seem to impact the falcons’ nocturnal behavior much. Ares was visible on the north face of the State Building well into the evening and Astrid was on the steeple off and on through early morning. Ares brought in prey at 4:15 AM, and Astrid tried to do a feeding, but for some reason only one chick was interested in partaking (we were not sure which one it was since it was so dark in the box). Astrid forked over a few bites and then left with the food. Later on the rain became steady and it hampered the adults’ hunting abilities. Both parents waited it out on their respective perches, allowing themselves only a few short breaks to check on the nestlings. As expected, Ares was rushed by a hungry, screeching mob during his turn at box. He tried to go in and feed out some leftovers on the floor, but they wouldn’t let him do it. At 9:25, Ares brought in an unrecognizable hunk of prey. Astrid took it and fed the nestlings, who incidentally, were suddenly on their best behavior. That feeding was about eight minutes long. The next meal came in at 11:20. Astrid brought it and did the feeding. Following that meal, there would be nothing brought to the box for several hours despite increasingly shrill begging calls coming from the young. Astrid finally came in at 5:15, and fed out some food that had been lying around on the floor of the box. As it turned out, there was quite a bit and at least three of the chicks got something.  By 6:45 PM, we hadn’t seen Ares in a few hours and were starting to wonder if he was taking Friday night off. Astrid seemed to be scouting around for him a bit, but then coming back all alone. Finally at 6:55, Ares returned with most of a Mourning Dove. Astrid took it and fed the crew. All four stood in line and received a good share this time. Another meal came in at 8:23, and this time the prey was an American Woodcock. Astrid did a short feeding and then took the leftovers away and stored them on the State Building. The Nestlings are looking and sounding more and more like Peregrine Falcons every Day. Max’s plumage is the most advanced and it’s not a stretch to think that he will be the first to fledge. It makes sense, since he was the first male to hatch and male falcons develop faster that females.

Overnight was relatively cool, but since our nestlings have become so feathered out, it’s not really an issue anymore. They are completely capable of keeping themselves warm even without huddling together. Temperatures quickly reached into the 70’s today. Ares came to the box with food at 3:45 AM, and Astrid plunged in to do the feeding. Ares brought the second meal of the morning at 4:54, and again, Astrid handled the feeding. As it turned out this would be the last orderly feeding for the morning. Astrid spent some time this morning on the verandas on either side of the nest box. We think this could be her way of showing the youngsters (when they are ready) that they can use the verandas as exercise areas. We originally installed the verandas for precisely that reason. At 8:28 AM, Ares brought in a small chunk of prey. Astrid took it from him and started to feed, but the ornery chicks had other ideas.  Luna snatched the food away from Astrid and then proceeded to have a tug-of-war with Max. Max successfully wrested it away and then feasted in the corner while his siblings watched on. At 9:28 AM, Ares brought in another small chunk. As per usual, Astrid took it from him and tried to begin a feeding. This time Max stole the prey directly from Astrid. He began to eat it, but soon lost interest and left it in the corner. Spirit picked up the leftovers, brought it more towards the center of the box and began to feed on it along with Luna. Spirit relinquished it to Luna only to come back later and try to steal the whole thing back. Luna wasn’t cooperating with her plan. Eventually Spirit prevailed, but by then the meal was just reduced to scraps. At 11:03, we saw Astrid displace Ares from his perch on the church steeple. This is generally thought to be her “request” for him to go out hunting. The next feeding took place at 3:44, when Ares brought prey to the box. Astrid did the feeding and this time the nestlings were on their best behavior. In other words, there was no stealing or grabbing. Well, not much anyhow. The 5:00 PM feeding was much the same as the previous one. Today, like last several days, the young falcons have been doing a lot of wing flapping and wing stretching. Feather preening has also become a much more prominent part of their daily routine. Astrid and Ares seem to be keeping a closer eye on the immediate vicinity around the nest site today, perhaps because fledging time is getting closer. As I’m writing this at 8:30 PM, Astrid just returned to the steeple after taking a drink from a puddle on the hotel ledge. Our official Fledge Watch is set to begin next week – probably on Wednesday (we will soon get more specific about the start date). Please consider helping us safeguard these wonderful birds as they make their inaugural flights in the downtown canyon.