Monday, June 13, 2022 – Percy Gets More Adventurous
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Sunday, June 12, 2022 – First Day of Unofficial Fledgewatch (Official Fledgewatch Begins on Tuesday) – Percy Tackles the Long Perch and Ledges Beyond the Verandas
Saturday, June 11, 2022 – Kara Visits Both Verandas & Percy Moves Beyond the Veranda to a Window Ledge; He Also Does Wing Exercises on the Crossperch
The overnight was cool with temperatures in the low fifties. After daybreak the skies were mostly cloudy and the high for the morning was 70 degrees. In the afternoon the highs were in the mid-70’s. Astrid was near the nest for part of the night. Ares arrived at the box at 2:14 AM with a small prey item. Astrid took it from him on the crossperch but promptly lost to one of the nestlings. Kara fed on it in the back of the box while Percy perched on the box lip. He then went back inside and waited for his sister to let him have a turn feeding. At 3:23 Ares was back with a cuckoo. Once again, Astrid took it but immediately lost it to one of the squealing nestlings. At 5:06 the chicks became more animated. It was time to get up. At that point Astrid was on the steeple and Ares was on the State Building. At 5:18 Percy hopped over to the east veranda – he obviously wasn’t wasting any time this morning. Right away he began flapping his wings. Meanwhile his sister was laying down in the box. At 5:20 Astrid came to the nest. She picked up the cuckoo from the floor like she was going to remove it, but then Kara grabbed it away from her. Astrid left and Kara fed on the cuckoo for a little while. After a few bites she left it in favor of wing exercising. At 5:25 Percy was eyeing the window ledge to the east of the veranda. At the same time Kara was looking over at the east veranda and looking like she wanted to go there. At 5:36 Astrid landed on an east ledge. She does this specifically to encourage nestlings to try to reach her. She challenges them to do things that prepare them for fledging. Percy then made a perfect hop flight from the corner of the veranda to the crossperch. Two minutes later he had moved back to the east veranda. At 5:53 Astrid came to the nestbox. She appeared to be feeding Kara the cuckoo leftovers. At 6:01 she decided that kara had enough and flew out with the leftovers. At 6:04 Kara successfully made it over to the east veranda and joined her brother. There were no nestlings in the nestbox for the first time since the two eggs hatched back in early May. On the veranda the two young falcons beaked and then Percy started acting up. He stormed around flapping his wings. At 6:44 Percy went to the nestbox and then, a minute later, to the west veranda. At 6:48 Kara was flapping her wings and putting up a cloud of her own white down feathers. Soon Percy was flapping his wings too while out on the west veranda perch. At 7:20 Astrid came to the box and started the two nestlings squealing. At 7:40 Percy went over to the east veranda. A minute later Astrid was there feeding them something. It must have only been a scrap because she was gone a minute later. At 7:55 Percy was back to the nest, but by 8:04 he was with his sister again on the east veranda. Astrid then landed back on an east window ledge. Percy took the challenge this time and hopped from the corner of the veranda to an east ledge. Ares then landed on his pillar perch and got both chicks excited. At 8:29 kara was flapping her wings again and losing more down.
At 8:32 AM Ares arrived at the nest with food. Astrid came over and took it. She then gave it to Kara on the veranda. At 8:47 Percy was flapping his wings on the east ledge. Five minutes later he was back with Kara on the east veranda. At 9:14 Astrid returned to the east ledge. Ares landed on the west veranda a minute later. That served to coax Percy over to the west veranda. Once there Ares took off and Percy did some wing flapping on the veranda perch. At 9:21 he moved to the base of the long perch and did more wing exercising. At 9:39 Kara had been sacked out for a while on the east veranda while her brother stayed active. Astrid checked on her at 9:50 and then flew off towards the hotel. At 10:18 Ares came to the box, picked up a food scrap, and gave it to Kara on the veranda. At 11:49 Percy was back to the east veranda. Within a few minutes he was doing some manic wing flapping on the crossperch. At 12:10 PM Percy joined his sister once again on the east veranda. Astrid came in for a chick check at 12:22. At this time Ares was on his pillar perch above and east of the nest area. At 12:37 Percy was on the crossperch again and flapping his wings. At 12:57 he was on the east veranda. At that point he hopped over to the east ledge where he was invisible to our cameras. Occasionally we would hear his begging calls but couldn’t see a feather of his plumage for well over an hour. At 1:24 Ares came to the box with a small prey item. He brought it to the east veranda and managed to feed it to her. She was excited but well behaved during the mini meal. We thought that a feeding might bring Percy over, but it didn’t. Seeing Kara next to Ares with the PTZ camera instead of our distorted (fisheye) box cams was revelatory. She was indeed a large falcon, possibly in Astrid’s size range. While still feeding Kara, Ares gave a few high-pitched warning chirps and he looked up. We thought that possibly an intruder was in the canyon, but it was Astrid. She had just flown through and landed on the top of the nestbox. At 1:46 Astrid came to the nest. In order to entice Kara to do something, she hopped over to the crossperch and then to the long perch. From there she danced over to the east veranda and then back and forth twice. She was trying to show Kara how to navigate the perches and verandas. As it happened, Kara was satisfied staying on the east veranda for the time being. Unlike her brother, she seemed to be in no great hurry to take her next step towards free flying.
At 2:24 PM Kara was back in the nestbox and Percy’ location had been freshly confirmed. We hadn’t seen him since he traveled to a ledge east of the east veranda. Suddenly we saw one wing protrude from that ledge. We then saw his tail. He was still there. He had just been tucked in. At 2:50 Astrid landed on the long perch. Percy began calling and flapping his wings excitedly. He moved back onto the east veranda with little trouble. From there he hopped onto the crossperch at the box. At 2:59 Ares came to the nest with a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Kara dragged it to the corner of the box. Astrid arrived but it was too late to recover the prey. After about a minute, Kara abandoned her prize and got up on the lip of the box. At 3:27 Percy was in the nest feeding on the cuckoo, but not for long. He soon went out onto the crossperch again. At 3:34 Kara went onto the west veranda for the first time. Ten minutes later Percy went over to visit her. They were both back in the box at 4:06. At 4:23 we heard Ares calling from somewhere in the canyon. Kara squealed back to him. At 5:15 we noticed that Astrid was on a high windowsill on the State Building. That was her way of showing the nestlings a safe place to land when fledging. At 5:18 Astrid and Ares flew towards the hotel – probably on a hunt. A minutes later Ares was on the steeple and Astrid was circling the State Building – possibly checking Ares’ pantry for a non-cuckoo meal. Ares gave a cackle-type warning call. We weren’t sure of the reason. At 5:25 a Bald Eagle was in the air to the southeast of the State Building. Its heading was east. Astrid was in the air at the time but wasn’t upset by the eagle (well out of range). She circled high and came down in a near stoop, pulling up short of the bank building and then swooping up to the steeple to displace Ares from his perch. She was telling him to go out and get some food! At 5:47 Astrid landed on an east ledge. That activated Percy who began calling and flapping his wings. Astrid then flew over to the State Building and put down on a windowsill. Again, she was showing Percy how to fledge. Percy then did a hop flight to the crossperch of the box. At 5:56 Percy went back into the nestbox, barged over and nipped his sleeping sister. He was squealing the whole time. She stirred, put her head up, but didn’t get up. Percy then spent a few minutes feeding on the cuckoo scraps on the floor at the front of the box. At 6:00 Astrid landed on the crossperch. She made an attempt to collect the cuckoo remains in the box, but Kara chased her out before she could grab it. Astrid flew in a wide circle and returned to the long perch. She was up again after a minute. At 6:18 Ares was seen flying towards the north on a hunting run. At 6:24 Percy made a hop flight back to the east veranda. His skill level was increasing perceptively. Both nestlings appeared to be watching for their parents to come in with dinner. At 7:10 one of the adults was flying around the west face of the State Building. A few minutes later we noticed that Ares was on a light pole on the roof of the bank building. Percy moved back to the crossperch at 7:14. For the most part the nestlings settled down by 8:00. Percy was in the nestbox and Kara was on the east veranda. Astrid and Ares were on the State Building. Was this where they were all apt to spend then night? Nope! At 8:45 PM Kara made her way back into the box and joined her brother. Goodnight falcons.
Friday, June 10, 2022 – Percy Visits Both Verandas!! & Astrid Does Some Demonstrations
The overnight was cool with temperatures in the 50’s. By noon we were in the mid 60’s and up to 70 by late afternoon. The wind was nearly constant and the sky was mostly clear which is the recipe for a perfect falcon fly-day. Astrid was at the box area for part of the night. Ares arrived at the nest with a Great crested Flycatcher at 2:53 AM. He acted like he was going to feed the nestlings from the lip of the box; however, after ripping off one piece he dropped the food like a hot potato and left. At 5:00 both chicks were feeding on it in the corner. Astrid and Ares were on the State Building by that time. At 5:56 Astrid came to check on the chicks. She jumped into the box to look for food scraps but Kara chased her out again. Astrid then proceeded to dance across the crossperch and to the east veranda; she did it twice. She seemed to be showing the nestlings how to get to the veranda. She was in demonstration mode. At 6:00 Ares brought a Black-billed Cuckoo to the nest. Astrid took it from him, flew away, came back and tried to start a feeding. Neither chick was interested. Kara was more interested in her flycatcher leftovers and Percy was looking into the canyon from the lip of the box. Astrid picked up the cuckoo and flew out with it. After their mother left, Percy did some wing flapping on the lip. Kara joined him there a minute later. At 6:41 Astrid landed on the east veranda. That tantalized Percy and within a minute he had hopped over to the veranda and Astrid was up. Indeed, he had made it onto the veranda with little difficulty. A few minutes later Astrid was back to the veranda but then she flew onto the roof of the nestbox. The chicks squealed in response to her move. While Percy was on the veranda, we noted some distinguishing details in his plumage. His malar mark is narrower than his sister’s. Also, the stripes on his tail are much more discernable than Kara’s. These features should help us to tell the two apart in the future when they may be on separate buildings. At 7:20 Percy adeptly made it back into the nestbox. It was like he had been doing it for weeks. At 8:06 Astrid landed on the crossperch and got the chicks excited once again. At 8:15 Percy went to the west veranda – again with little difficulty. While there he did some wing flapping and some head bobbing. Kara got very excited watching her brother’s antics on the veranda and for a moment we thought she may go over there as well but she held off. At 8:23 it seemed like Percy wanted to come in through the office window. Perhaps he was intrigued by a reflection. By 8:24 he was back in the nestbox with Kara. At 9:00 both nestlings were snoozing on the floor of the nest. At 9:41 Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid took it, flew away, came back, and hopped into the box. Kara snatched it away and brought it to the back of the box. Astrid made a failed attempt to recover it, but soon gave up and flew off. Both nestlings fed together in the corner. At 9:56 Percy went back to the west veranda. Meanwhile Kara laid down in the nestbox. At 10:38 Percy adroitly returned to the nest. At 11:15 Astrid came to the crossperch to do another chick check. Fifteen minutes later Astrid went up on the roof of the nestbox. Ares was on the State Building at that time. At 12:41 PM Astrid came to the long perch. Percy moved to the east veranda shortly after that. He did some wing flapping and his sister did the same inside the nestbox. Kara then moved to the lip of the box where she continued her wing exercising. Astrid visited the long perch twice within an hour. At 12:52 a stiff wind allowed her to float down onto the long perch. By 1:30 both nestlings were laying down – Percy on the east veranda and Kara in the box.
At 1:39 Astrid came to the crossperch to check on the nestlings. As expected, her visit animated the chicks. Ares came to the nest a minute later. He hopped into the box only to get chased out by Kara who squealed the whole time. At 1:41 Percy came back onto the box from the east veranda. At 2:57 Astrid was back for another chick check. A few minutes later Percy hopped back over to the east veranda. He was getting increasingly comfortable about getting on and off the verandas. He was back in the box with his sister at 3:35. Soon they were both sacked out. Astrid brought in most of a Pigeon at 4:08. After an initial tug-o-war, Astrid prevailed and carried out a feeding – the first one she was able to manage for the day. Both nestlings behaved reasonably well. By 4:27 Percy had had enough and went to perch on the lip of the box. From there he moved to the east veranda. Meanwhile, Astrid continued feeding Kara. A few minutes later even Kara had enough and Astrid finished the rest. It seemed like she was eating clumps of feathers at one point. She left the box at 4:36, but then she came right back to the long perch. By 4:53 both nestlings were resting again – her in the box and him on the east veranda. At 5:15 both parents were on the State Building. Interestingly, Astrid was perched on a windowsill. This is something she often does during fledging time. She wants to show the nestlings that the winder windowsills ledges are easier to land on. It’s amazing that Astrid knows to do this and it’s something she has learned over the years. At 6:00 PM the nestlings began to get active again. Suddenly both were flapping their wings. Kara was also bobbing her head while she looked into the canyon. That’s what young falcons do right before they make their maiden flights. Hopefully, that wasn’t her plan! By 6:30 both youngsters had settled down. At 6:35 Astrid was up from her perch. Her flyby of the nest building caused the nestlings to start calling but they didn’t get overly animated. At 7:13 Ares delivered a cuckoo to the east veranda. Astrid took it from him, plucked it, and fed a few bites to Percy (who was still on the veranda) before flying away with most of the meal. That seems to be her rule with cuckoos – no more than a few bites. At 7:19 Percy was doing some intense wing flapping. He had moved out onto the east veranda perch and was really pumping away. He did a couple of hop flights back onto the veranda platform. The way he was bobbing his head he looked like he was considering flying across town. As he flapped, Kara stared at him from the lip of the box and cocked her head like a perplexed dog. He then moved to the crossperch and from there did nice jump back into the nestbox. Once in the nest he was a bit wild. He loped over to his sister and bit her tail. At 7:42 Ares brought some piece of well-processed prey to the box. Astrid dashed in and grabbed it and started feeding it to Kara. Percy had no interested in it and instead preferred to stand on the lip of the box and look out into the canyon. A minute later he hopped over to the east veranda. By 7:45 the meal was over, and Kara moved to the lip of the box where she peered back at her brother. Just when we thought she might try to come over to join him, she turned around and hopped back into the box. At 7:55 it looked like Percy was considering going to the window ledge beyond the east veranda. Thankfully, he didn’t and instead went back to the veranda perch, and from there he jumped into the box. At just before 8:00 PM Astrid was on a steeple perch, Ares was on the State Building, and the two nestlings were huddled together in the nest. They were probably done with their antics for the night. Goodnight all.
Thursday, June 9, 2022 – The Nestlings Feed on their Own & Percy Goes Out Onto the Crossperch! & One of the Little Falls Falcon Nestlings Fledges Today
The overnight was cool and rainy and that rain continued through the morning. The temperature managed to get into the low 60’s by noon. Rain was intermittent in the afternoon and finally stopped by 4:00 PM. The wind remained brisk, and the temperature barely moved all day. Astrid spent most (if not all) of the night in the vicinity of the box. Before 5:00 AM both parents were in guard positions on either veranda – Astrid on the east veranda and Ares on the west. Percy and Kara started waking up and getting active at 5:20. Soon Percy started doing some serious wing flapping. He got up on the lip of the nestbox and did some more flapping there. At 5:49 Ares came to the nest with prey. Astrid took it and brought it into the box. Percy hopped back inside. Kara was first in line to be fed. Percy got served a few minutes in. By 6:01 Percy decided that he had enough food and returned to perching on the lip of the nestbox. Kara continued to be served by Astrid. By 6:11 Percy and Kara were sticking their heads way out of the box. At one point Kara grabbed her brother with an oversized foot. She also forced him to do some beaking. At 6:20 Percy was balancing on the box lip. He had his wings out. He also did some head nodding which made us nervous since that’s what falcons often do right before they fly. By 6:48 Astrid was on the west veranda and Ares was on his favorite pillar. The nestlings had calmed down by that point. By 7:45 Percy had hopped up onto the box lip once more. At 8:08 Astrid stopped at the nest for a chick check. Ares did another one at 8:13. At 9:19 Astrid was on the roof of the nestbox obsessing about what was happening inside the office. She was on the steeple at 10:16 and giving cackle-type alarm calls. We didn’t know what was upsetting her. At 10:26 Ares was on the hotel plucking prey. At 10:40 he brought it to the east veranda. Astrid took it, flew away with it, came back to the nest, and lost it to Kara. Kara took the meal into the corner of the box and started feeding on it. Astrid thought about recovering it but ultimately decided not to intervene. She went to the box roof instead. Meanwhile, in the nest Percy was trying to get some bites of the meal his sister had stolen. He eventually did, once Kara had her fill. This was really the first time they seemed competent at self-feeding. By 11:38 both nestlings were settled and were preening their feathers.
At 11:47 AM Percy was back to his box lip perch. At 12:12 PM we heard double cackle calls from the parents. There were people on the roof of the Adirondack Bank building and Astrid and Ares were swooping, doing hazing runs, and she was cackling almost non-stop. The stiff wind was making the falcon’s hazing flights even more dramatic. Astrid was flying at tremendous speeds, turning sideways, banking, diving, climbing, all without barely a flap of her wings. At 12:33 Ares was perched on the State Building but Astrid was still upset and doing hazing runs. Percy moved to the lip of the box and did some calling of his own. Of course, the main reason for Astrid’s over-the-top response to people on the roof is associated with the stage of development her nestlings are at. Astrid’s defensiveness is commensurate with the age and stage of development of the nestlings. The more of an investment they represent the greater her urge to defend them. Percy did some more flapping while on the box lip. At one point he was perched with tail out and he did a minor jump/hop flight from the nestbox – flapping the whole time. By 12:55 Astrid had calmed down and was over on the State Building with Ares. Easy come, Easy go; and then at 1:10 Astrid was upset again. Men were back up on her roof. Percy moved to the lip of the box and watched his mother zipping around the canyon. It appeared to be high class entertainment for him. At 1:21 Percy moved out onto the crossperch. This was unexpected and something that concerned us. The wind was strong, and it was putting him off balance. The possibility of an accidental fledge was there. After ten minutes he managed to go back into the box and we all breathed a sigh of relief.
At 1:41 PM we heard Ares giving long calls from somewhere. Fifteen minutes later he was on the steeple and Astrid was upset again. She was on the State Building cackling about something. At 1:56 Percy was feeding on scraps in the box. At 2:15 Kara was half on the lip of the box flapping her wings. Astrid came to check on the nestlings five minutes later. Percy soon joined her. At 3:15 Ares brought prey into the box. He started tearing off tiny pieces and feeding them to Percy. Astrid stopped at the crossperch – surveyed the scene and decided not to intervene. Kara joined in at one point and Ares fed both of them. Astrid checked in on the session again but left after only a few seconds. And then, inexplicably, about six minutes into the meal, Ares took the leftovers and flew out of the box. At 3:34 Percy was up on the box lip again. Kara did the same thing a few minutes later. Both were up and down from the lip several times. When Astrid came to check on them at 3:55 one of the nestlings chased her right out again. Astrid was heard cackling after that. Was she mad at the nestlings? A few minutes later she came to the nest with food. Percy sat on the box lip while Astrid fed his sister. A minutes later he got in line, but soon gave up and went back to his box lip perch. At 6:15 Astrid was doing some kiting in front of the box. The wind was still strong and flying for the adults seemed effortless. The nestlings watched her as she kited, hovered, hovered, and darted between the box and the State Building several times. A Turkey Vulture flying over the canyon at 6:20 caused one of the nestlings to give a cackle alarm call. That brought Astrid right over to the box. Three more Turkey Vultures flew through which made one of the chicks cackle again. At 7:13 PM Ares reappeared after a somewhat lengthy absence. He was plucking prey on the hotel. Five minutes later he brought it to the east veranda. Astrid flew over to take it. She then flew around the bank before coming into the nest. She immediately lost the food to Kara who grabbed it and took it into the corner. Astrid tried to recover it a couple of times before giving up. She flew around the canyon before settling on the State Building on a ledge adjacent to the one where Ares was perched. Meanwhile, in the nest, Percy put his food on the food and managed to steal a few bites. At 8:21 PM Astrid brought food to the box. This time it was a classic style feeding – with her serving it to both chicks. She fed both until they were full and started doing other things in the box. Astrid stayed and continued to feed herself. When she was done, she moved over to the east veranda. Most likely the falcons were settled for the night. Goodnight all.
Little Falls Falcon Update:
One of the two Little Falls falcon nestlings became a fledgling this afternoon. At 1:19 PM he left the nest ledge, flew out of view, and then returned to land on the roof of the host building. It appeared to be a good solid first flight. While on the roof he was seen taking a bath in a puddle.