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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.

There were no feedings in the overnight hours. There was also no adult seen guarding or visiting the nest box during that time. At 4:54 AM, food was brought to the box and a feeding took place. At around 5:30, we noticed that A &A had both landed on windowsills on the State Building and stayed perched there for some time. This is interesting since they normally avoid the windowsills in favor of the much more narrow perches above the same building’s window frames. When they are on the actual windowsills they run the risk of being startled by people in offices. Of course, no one is usually in the offices at 5:30 in the morning, and that may have played into their calculations. We have noticed in past years that as fledging time approaches, the adults will land in atypical places. We think they do this in order to demonstrate to keen-eyed youngsters that there are some easier places to land. For fledglings, flying isn’t nearly as difficult an activity as landing. Landing on a wide window sill is an advisable thing for beginners attempt. At 7:04 AM, more food came in and another raucous feeding was underway. At one point, Spirit stole a piece and brought it into a corner while Zander nipped at Astrid’s tail (this is getting to be a reoccurring thing!) Max and Luna settled in and let Astrid give them a good feed.

Today a group of fledge watchers hiked the canal trail to the Utica Marsh with the aim of seeing either Astrid or Ares hunting. We never did see them. We saw a lot of other raptors and quite a few vultures. Highlights included two adult Bald Eagles, three Osprey and at least one Red-tailed Hawk. A falcon flew over us at one point and we thought for a minute it was Ares. Luckily it stopped to perch on a distant power-line. We put the scope on it we saw that it was an American Kestrel. Well, we had the falcon part right anyway! Lots of songbirds were heard and seen between the river and the canal all the way to the marsh. There is certainly no shortage of prey species for the falcons in that area. Just before noon, we spotted Astrid on the hotel ledge. Her wings were spread out at her side and she was in a squatting position. She was obviously sunning herself. A few minutes later Ares screeched up to the nest box with most of a morning Dove. Astrid abruptly abandoned her sunbathing and flew over to the box. She took the prey from Ares and conducted a pretty well-disciplined feeding. This time all for nestlings were vying together in one group and were well behaved, at least at the beginning. As the feeding went into overtime it kind of devolved into the usual anarchy.

The appearance of the nestlings continues to evolve as flight feathers, body contour feathers and now even spotted chest feathers are growing in. There is more and more wing exercise happening in the box now. So far the youngsters seem to be taking turns, which is good because if all four tried to do it at the same time it wouldn’t work. The nestlings spent much of the afternoon sprawled out in the shady corners of the nest box. This was their first hot afternoon experience in sometime. By 5:00, they started getting restless and very vocal. Astrid was nearby, but Ares was nowhere to be seen. At 6:00 PM, he finally came to the box with food.  Astrid arrived and took it, but as soon as she came into the box the famished chicks rushed at her – all four screaming like barnyard pigs. Spirit grabbed the food away from Astrid and took it to the corner. The three other chicks took turns trying to rip pieces off the carcass. Yes, they were feeding themselves. Instead of grabbing the food back and doing a feeding, Astrid just left the stage and allowed them to sort it out themselves. They did manage it, if clumsily. Self-feeding in this manner constitutes another milestone in their development.

Our on site falcon watch began at 6:30 PM, and our guests didn’t have to wait long before the action began. At 7:02 Astrid came back with most of a pigeon and conducted a long and fairly orderly feeding session. At 7:20 Ares brought in a hunk of some unidentifiable prey and Astrid served it to the young. As it got darker, I could still make out the forms of Astrid and Ares on their respective perches – her on the steeple and him on the State Building. It’s hard to believe, but we are getting very close to the beginning of Fledge Watch. Please consider volunteering to help us out this season. With four nestlings, we will need all hands on deck!

It was another rainy night in the falcon’s urban canyon. Astrid spent most of the night on the nest box perch. There were no overnight feedings. At 5:30 AM, Ares arrived at the box, but without food. The nestlings rushed at him, screeching like mad and drove him right out. At 6:30, Ares returned, this time with a hunk of food. Astrid took it and began feeding the hungry mob. At 8:23, a more hefty meal (A pigeon) was brought to the box and the chicks got a good feed. Heavier rain after 9:00 AM hampered the parents’ ability to hunt and so there were no feedings for the balance of the morning. The chicks all have names now, thanks to the recent naming contest. In hatching order we have: Spirit, Maximus (Max), Zander and Luna. We admit to having some difficulty telling them apart, but we do our best. Luna has the lightest colored legs and feet. Spirit is the largest and has the largest feet and the other two are currently tough to tell apart, although Zander has a habit stealing food and dragging it into corners. The next feeding began at 3:23 PM, when Ares brought in a Mourning Dove. Astrid did the feeding and it was a lively one. At one point Spirit loped over and grabbed the whole meal away from Astrid. Astrid moved in to get it back and they both tugged on either end until, not surprisingly, Astrid prevailed and resumed the feeding. Spirit did manage to “liberate” a large hunk and took it to a corner to work on. Astrid then concentrated on feeding Luna and Max. Always the loner, Zander hung back at first but then edged in closer. He reached over the heads of his siblings to snap up some prime servings. At 4:20, Astrid was spotted over on the ledge of the hotel plucking away at a pigeon. Five minutes later she was back at the box conducting another feeding. Spirit and Zander were served first. After a little while, Zander took a share and brought it into the corner, which is his thing. After receiving her fill, Spirit moved off and Luna and Max walked up to get their share next. At 6:14, Ares came to the box with most of a Semipalmated Sandpiper. Astrid pushed in to do the feeding, but only Luna seemed to have any appetite. While Astrid tore at the prey, Zander started biting at her tail. I don’t think it was appreciated. Astrid soon took the meal out and stored it on the State Building. Lately A&A have been hanging out on perches we can’t see with our PTZ camera. Consequently, we sometimes go hours without knowing quite where they are. Tonight at about 7:30, Ares reappeared on the east veranda of the nest box and at 8:00, Astrid showed up on the north face of the State Building. Wednesday Night beginning at 6:30 PM we will be on site for one of our pre-fledge falcon watch events. We encourage all to stop down to see the falcons in person, meet some of our watchers and have a look at the canyon. We can’t guarantee that the birds will put on a show, but often enough they do. It should be interesting!

A big thank you goes out to everyone who participated. After careful consideration of over 400(!) name submissions, the committee chose the following names:

• Chick #1 is Spirit, first submitted by Mary Lynn Linstruth.
• Chick #2 is Maximus, submitted by Betty Blanchard.
• Chick #3 is Zander, submitted by Carol Farrell.
• Chick #4 is Luna, first submitted by Theresa White.

Some names were submitted more than once, but, as always, the winner, if the name is chosen, is the first person to submit the name.

The overnight was enlivened by an after midnight thunderstorm. Astrid was at the box through most of it. Of course she was on the outer perch receiving the brunt of what the elements had to offer. There were no feedings during the rainy overnight hours. Ares visited the box at 5:00 AM, but didn’t have any breakfast with him. Five minutes later, Astrid arrived with food. At 6:00, Astrid was seen doing some flying around the State Building. Actually, the parents did a lot of soaring around today – between storms and showers, that is. At 6:55, Ares stopped at the box, again without food. He picked up a bone that had been laying on the floor and tried to give it to one of the chicks. The chick took it, but then dropped it again. The nestlings look much different today than they did yesterday, with much more of a salt & pepper look as dark contour feathers push up through the downy white fluff that covers their bodies. The development of their wing and tail feathers continues at an astonishing pace. In a matter of days they will have completely outfitted falcon wings. At 7:35, Astrid entered the nest with most of a pigeon carcass. She then began a feeding that would go for over a half an hour, with one interruption. At 9:29 AM, Ares brought in an unidentified chunk of prey. Astrid came in to do the feeding. At 9:50, Ares brought in more food, but the chicks were already so stuffed that only one put its head up to feed. After taking a few bites, that chick was done and so Ares took the leftovers out and presumably stored them somewhere. In the latter part of the morning, A&A were both seen dashing off after prey – sometimes alone and sometimes as a team. By 12:30 PM. They had both been out of sight for a while as another storm was looming. Not long before the storm hit, both parents came into view and Astrid took her station on the outer perch of the nest box. Through lightning and very heavy rain, Astrid again stood her ground, right until the storm finally abated. During the storm the nestlings remained quiet and huddled. After the storm, A & A resumed their hunting forays around the downtown area and likely beyond and into their greater territory.  At 4:54 PM, Astrid brought in some leftovers (looked like a pigeon wing and a bit more) and started feeding the eager crew.  The dynamic in the nest during feedings usually follow the same pattern. Chicks one and four get in line first and chicks two and three hang back a bit. Chick two usually ends up strongly vying for his share and chick three typically grabs a hunk and takes it over to the corner of the box and picks at it. As I’m writing this update, at 7:45, the nestlings are mostly sacked out, but all are facing out toward the open part of the box. Chick one is the only one standing upright, but also is looking out and toward where their parents are perched on the State Building. Ares just darted off toward the north and then sailed right back up to where he had just been, and when he did the chicks all moved their heads to track his flight. I assume there will be another feeding before nightfall, but as usual that’s never a sure thing. As I’m wrapping it up here, suddenly, Astrid began giving constant alarm calls from the State Building. Nothing seemed to be amiss. Ares was still on his perch and there were no signs of intruders. I wondered if she was doing this to get a rise out of the pigeons that nest in the adjacent buildings. If so, it doesn’t seem to be working – at least not yet.