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This season’s nestlings have received names. Thanks to all that contributed. In the Utica nest the female is Kara and the male is Percy. The two males in the Little Falls nest are Thunder and Bolt.

The overnight was seasonably warm with temperatures in the low 60’s. By day the temp rose to about 70 degrees. It was windy and partly cloudy for most of the day. Astrid was at the nest area for part of the night. There were no overnight feedings. Ares came to the east veranda at 4:10 AM. Astrid probably thought he brought prey. But when she came up to him, he floated back into the canyon. At about 4:40 Astrid was rummaging around in the box for scraps she could feed out, but she couldn’t find anything. She then moved out onto the crossperch. Ares was on the State Building at that time. At 5:40 Ares arrived on the east veranda with a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in his talons. Astrid scrambled over to take it. She flew in a wide circle around the canyon before coming into the box with it. For about three minutes, Astrid fed it out to the chicks and then abruptly left taking what remained of the meal away with her. It’s a fact that she doesn’t like to feed cuckoos to the nestlings. She will give them some but usually holds off on serving out the entire thing. Why is this? We speculate that it has to do with the cuckoo’s diet which is largely made up of tent caterpillars. The caterpillars have poisonous hairs on their bodies which dissuades most birds from eating them. As it happens, cuckoos have a taste for them, and have a tolerance of the caterpillar’s toxins.  We think that the toxic caterpillars have the effect of flavoring the cuckoo’s meat and that’s why Astrid objects to them. At 5:56 Astrid was on the steeple and Ares on the State Building. Every time one of the parents moved the chicks would squeal in response. At 7:09 Ares came to the box. He hopped inside and tried to interest the chicks in taking some food scraps from him. They weren’t interested. At 8:10 Astrid was up on the roof of the nestbox. At 8:17 Ares screeched through the canyon. Ten minutes later Ares brought prey to the east veranda. When Astrid tried to take it they dropped it and both parents dove down after it. Astrid returned to the crossperch, and Ares brought the recovered food to the west veranda. That time they exchanged it successfully and Astrid went into the box to do the feeding. The feeding lasted about ten minutes. At 9:27 Ares brought another meal to the nest. Astrid grabbed it and handled the feeding.

At 10:24 PM Astrid was giving cackle-type alarm calls; the warnings were in reaction to some non-falcon raptor or vulture traversing the canyon. At 10:34 Ares screeched over to the nestbox. The Percy and Kara rushed over to him squealing in his face. He retreated to the crossperch and then left. At 11:02 we noticed that Astrid had been tucked in on the east veranda. At 12:04 PM Astrid moved to the east veranda from the State Building. At 12:22 Percy was picking at some round scrap of prey on the floor of the box. We couldn’t be sure what it was exactly. At 12:23 Ares brought a Black-billed Cuckoo to the nest area. Astrid took it and began a feeding session. Just like the last time, at only five minutes into the feeling, Astrid abruptly picked up the leftovers and flew out of the nest. Again, we believe this is cuckoo related. As we’ve related in this blog before, Astrid loathes cuckoo flesh, and doesn’t want to give much of it to her chicks. At 1:22 Kara and Percy were both laying up against the lip of the box and peering out into the canyon. Both adults came to the nest at 2:22, but then Astrid left immediately. Likely she thought Ares had prey. He left seconds later. At 3:45 one of the chicks was squealing and doing a lot of wing flapping. A parent stopped over for a chick check at 4:10. At 4:51 Astrid came to the box with prey – we think it was a Mourning Dove, already processed. Kara was in line to be fed first. At a few minutes in, Percy tried taking a bite of the meal on his own. Percy then got in line and Astrid started feeding him. Kara wandered over to the opposite corner. A minute later Astrid followed her over and fed her at her new location. Astrid was out by 5:06. She then came back to do a chick check only five minutes later. Ares came in next. He looked around on the floor of the nest for scraps of food he could feed to the chicks, but he couldn’t come up with anything – at least not before Kara chased him out. At 5:16 Astrid was perched on a light pole on the roof of the Adirondack Bank. That was unusual for her. She then spent the next couple of hours being annoyed about people in the office adjacent to the nestbox. She did some hazing and lots of glaring into windows from the roof of the box. At 7:12 Ares came to the east veranda with food, but Astrid was so occupied with staring at the office that she didn’t come to take it. Ares flew off with the meal and presumably stored it. Ares was on the steeple a few minutes later, but he wasn’t there for long. A little later he was on the State Building. Astrid continued to glare at the office window until long after all the office workers had gone home. Before 9:00 PM The chicks had a spurt of activity. Both did some wing flapping; Kara tried to bring up a pellet. Meanwhile Ares was on the State Building and Astrid was still monitoring the office window. Goodnight falcons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5ZdDjpgaVA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMKAIlAyqjU

The overnight was relatively mild with rain and thunderstorms ending in the late evening. Astrid remained on the long perch through much of it and became drenched. The daytime saw partly cloudy skies and temps topping out in the mid-70’s. It remained breezy all day. There were no overnight feedings. She left the crossperch at 2:00 AM and was on the State Building along with Ares before 5:00.  At 5:00 she left her windowsill perch and came to the nestbox. She checked around the floor of the box for scraps but found nothing. The female nestling crowded her and made it difficult for her to navigate in the box. She finally chased her mother out. Astrid was on the steeple for a while and then she flew over to the hotel. She appeared to be in hunting mode. At 6:14 Ares was plucking a Mourning Dove on the hotel. Astrid was standing by waiting for him to bring it to the nest. Meanwhile one of the chicks was trying to bring up a pellet. At 6:19 Ares brought over the meal. Astrid took it and started a feeding session. It lasted about nine minutes which was pretty good considering how ravenous the chicks were. After the meal both chicks did some impressive wing flapping and tearing around in the box. Both parents were on the State Building at that point. At 8:27 Astrid brought prey to the nest and carried out a feeding. It went on for at least ten minutes. After the meal Astrid spent some time on the roof of the box guarding the family against threats from office windows. At 10:46 we heard the parents giving cackle-type alarm calls. Both were on the State Building shortly after, and so they probably didn’t need to chase after anything. When Astrid left the State Building both chicks squealed. They pay very close attention to their parents’ movements in the canyon. They react to their parents flying by and by them leaving and arriving at perches. At 10:55 Ares brought a cuckoo to the east veranda. Astrid barged over to take it, and flew away with it. After about 30 seconds she came into the box with it. She started feeding it out but then only a couple of minutes into the meal she abruptly grabbed the prey and flew out with it. At about 11:05 Ares was on a light pole perch on the roof of the bank and Astrid soon showed up on the steeple. At 11:39 Astrid buzzed by Ares and then flew to the box. He made a quick visit to the box only a minute later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhTmWvl-B6c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0Ucy_HxheY

At 11:41 AM Astrid brought prey to the nest and conducted a feeding. It lasted about eight minutes. At noon the male nestling backed up onto the lip of the box to eliminate. Astrid was on the steeple at 12:17 PM and Ares was on the State Building. She came onto the box roof at 12:34. At 1:22 PM Astrid brought prey to the nest and did a feeding. At 1:49 Astrid was giving cackle-type alarm calls. She left her perch and likely scrambled to chase something out of the territory. At 2:37 Ares stopped at the box for a chick check. He screeched into the box for another one at 3:42. Five minutes later he started giving chirping-type alarm calls. He launched into the canyon but then was seen along with Astrid on the State Building a short time later. If an intruder Peregrine was the cause of the alarm, A&A certainly weren’t bothered by it for very long. At 4:04 Astrid came to the roof of the nestbox. Ares was in the box offering shade to the nestlings at 4:20. The pair didn’t seem interested in utilizing his shade. He came back to shade a few more times in the subsequent couple of hours. At 6:43 Astrid came to the box with prey. She probably got it from Ares’ pantry of from the man himself. At 7:30 PM Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid came over to take it and then she fed the chicks. It was likely their last meal for the night. Astrid spent some time on the steeple after that. She finally came to the box at close to 9:00 PM. Goodnight all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCaCi4Rd4AQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmdZLQTeanQ

The overnight was warm again with temperatures in the mid 60’s. After sunup the temp was in the 70’s, That held until later in the morning when a thunderstorm passed through and cooled things down. Astrid was on the long perch at the box for most of the night and there were no nocturnal feedings for the first time in a while. The chicks did a lot of moving about during the night, but not usually at the same time – one would be active for a while and then the other. Astrid left the perch just before 5:00 AM. At that same time, we noticed that Ares was on the lookout post on the roof of the State Building. Most probably he was hunting and not on watch for intruders. At 5:21 Astrid came to the west veranda and Ares landed on a west ledge. We initially thought he had prey, but his talons were empty. At 5:35 Ares came to the crossperch. Astrid arrived too – assuming that he had food, but she was disappointed. The chicks were roused by the arrival of their parents, but there was no breakfast for them yet. Astrid then dove after something – probably a local Pigeon. Ares went back up to the lookout post to continue his hunt. At 5:45 the male nestling was having some fun flapping his wings and playing with one of the eggs. At 5:51 he backed up to and onto the lip of the box to defecate. They have that behavior down now. A few minutes later Astrid was on the hotel. She too was in hunting mode. At 6:10 both chicks were squealing and looking into the canyon like they saw something interesting. Most likely they saw Ares hunting. Astrid came right back to the box to see what was up. A few minutes later Ares arrived on the east veranda with prey. Astrid took it, flew into the canyon, and came back into the box to do a feeding. As soon as she entered the nest one of the chicks snatched the prey from her and took it to the corner. Astrid seemed momentarily unsure about what to do and she retreated onto the crossperch. She then garnered some resolve; she pushed her way into the corner and recovered the meal. She then proceeded to feed the chicks. Both were more than eager to feed. By 6:31 the meal was over, and Astrid was out. Meanwhile, Ares was on the hotel processing prey. He brought it to the east veranda and Astrid took it from him. She then served it to the nestlings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SrAsksxgAw

At 7:42 AM Astrid was up on the box roof staring menacingly at the office window blind. Perhaps someone was in there plotting to take Astrid’s chicks and put leg bands on them. Relax, Astrid, that’s not happening. At 8:48 Ares brought another prey item to the nest area (we think the west veranda). Astrid took it and handled the feeding. The meal was done by 9:04. Less than five minutes after that, Ares was back to the nest with another meal. This time Astrid wasn’t coming over and so he thought he would try to do the feeding himself. He gave squeaking calls; he ripped off little pieces of food; he tried to get the chicks interested in what he had for them, but it wasn’t working. They were full and he didn’t have Astrid’s magic touch. At 9:11 he gave up. He took the food out and probably stored it. At 9:25 Astrid was back on the roof of the nestbox. Both parents were on the crossperch at 10:05 – about the time that the rain began falling. As the rain devolved into a thunderstorm, both parents stayed to guard the box – Astrid on the box roof and Ares on the box lip. They remained in place for the next few hours. For the most part the nestlings were calm through the storm. At 1:41 Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid grabbed it and flew into the box to do a feeding. When she came in the female chick tried to take the whole thing, but Astrid clung onto it. She then proceeded to serve it out to both nestlings.  At 2:07 PM Astrid was on a steeple perch and Ares was on a window ledge east of the nestbox. Rain and thunder continued intermittently through the afternoon and into the evening. The temperatures dropped into the mid 60’s. At 3:02 Astrid took up her guard position on the roof of the box and Ares assumed his guard post on the lip of the box. At 4:18 Astrid was up, and Ares had moved onto the long perch. At 4:50 he was on the steeple and Astrid was on the box roof. At 6:30 the chicks were getting a little cagey and no doubt a little hungry. They were moving around more and squealing more often. With a new round of rain and thunder, Astrid was stationed on the box roof again and Ares was on his pillar perch. By the end of the day the chicks were looking a bit different. More dark feathers were beginning to protrude from the white down covering their bodies. Their dark wing and tail feathers are also continuing to grow out. No doubt on Thursday they will have a more salt & pepper look about them. By 7:10 the chicks were doing more wing flapping and more squealing. They were asking to be fed. Ares was on the south facing steeple perch at that time and didn’t seem to be actively hunting. At 7:39 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it and conducted a very raucous feeding session. Goodnight all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF5FNKT0xWs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzeRp9tsbvs

The overnight was warm with temperatures in the mid 60’s. During the day the temps rose quickly and by mid afternoon it was close to 90 degrees. Astrid was close to the nest for most of the night. Ares brought a small prey item at 3:05 AM. Astrid took it and flew off into the darkness. She brought it to the hotel and made it her breakfast. At 5:09 Astrid was on the long perch and Ares was on the east veranda. At 5:16 Astrid hopped up onto the box roof. That got the chicks squealing. At 5:18 Astrid found some unutilized prey on the floor of the box. She had it for only seconds before the female chick stole it from her and took it to the corner. Astrid soon had it back and the first thing she did was to tear off pieces and feed it to the female chick. Meanwhile the male nestling was having a one-man wing flapping fest. He then bit at Astrid’s tail as she was leaving. A couple of minutes the female chick became more animated and both were flapping their wings like mad. At 5:33 Astrid was on the State Building and Ares was on the steeple. At 5:56 Ares brought prey to the nest and handed it to Astrid inside the box. Astrid started out by feeding only the female, but the male eventually pushed his way in and got fed. At 6:11 the female nestling was trying to bring up a pellet. At 6:19 both falcon adults were perched close to each other on the County Building. Fifteen minutes later they were both up. At 6:51 Ares brought food to the east veranda. Astrid took it and flew away from the nest area. She boomeranged back to the nest and started a feeding. At 9:11 one of the chicks backed up and onto the lip of the box and eliminated. It appeared to trip while balancing on the box lip but came down into the box and was fine. Astrid seemed intrigued about what happened. She hopped onto the crossperch and then went into the box. She seemed to be looking for something. She kept looking down. We wondered if Ares had food and they dropped it during transfer, but the video showed that wasn’t the case. Ares hadn’t been there. Was it possible Astrid saw the chick’s whitewash fall and thought it was something else? Or did she see the chick momentarily balancing on the lip of the box and thought that they were trying to master the crossperch. Astrid wasn’t just looking down; she was dancing along the crossperch like she was in demonstration mode. Well, it’s too early for that kind of stuff!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jixd_XbuMHg

At 9:34 AM Ares was back with food. Astrid grabbed it from him and fed the chicks. At 10:22 he brought more food and, once again, she fed it out to the nestlings. At a few minutes before noon Ares came to the box to do a chick check. He found all to be in order and he left with the chicks squealing after him. By 12:30 PM Astrid was standing guard over the nest on the east veranda. At 1:24 Ares was in the box providing shade. It was hot – nearly 90 degrees, but the box wasn’t entirely flooded with sunlight yet. At 1:55 Astrid was on the steeple. Wind was buffeting the camera – otherwise we hadn’t noticed it was so windy. At 2:03 Ares was in the box again and checking on the chicks. A few minutes later Astrid brought some food in and started a feeding. Likely she wanted to get a feeding in before the hottest time in the afternoon. Typically, the parents refrain from providing meals when the chicks are too hot. At 3:18 Astrid was inside the box providing shade for the nestlings. They weren’t really taking advantage of it but perhaps they appreciated the company. Ares took over at 4:10 but he didn’t stay for long. He returned at 4:46 and provided shade during the worst part of the afternoon when the sun was infiltrating most of the box. Of course, the chicks were in the corner, and he was mostly casting shade on one of the eggs, but that’s OK – he was providing moral support. At 5:43 Astrid took over as the peregrine parasol. She was diligent enough to shade both eggs while the chicks made their own arrangements. At 6:07 PM Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it and did a feeding. At 6:35 Astrid upped Ares from his perch on the lower steeple – her not too subtle way of telling him to go out and get some food. At 7:45 Astrid was guarding the nest from the east veranda. The chicks were getting a little restless by 8:00. We think they were hoping for another mealtime. As of 8:45 PM no more feeding were forthcoming. Perhaps that would be it for the night. Goodnight falcons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yDKsJRQ9lc

The overnight was warm and dry with temperatures in the low sixties. It was 80 degrees by early afternoon and close to 90 degrees after that. Astrid spent much of the night in the vicinity of the nestbox. Ares came to the nest with food at 3:00 AM. Astrid took, but instead of feeding it to the nestlings she flew over to the hotel and made it her own early breakfast. By 3:15 she was back to the crossperch and guarding the nestbox again. At 4:04 Ares was back with more food. Astrid grabbed it but then lost it to one of the chicks who snatched it and put it in the corner of the box. At 5:02 Astrid recovered the meal and fed it out to the chicks. She then spent some time on the crossperch – guarding. When she left the nestlings had a wing-flapping festival. At 6:37 Ares brought what looked like a cuckoo to the nest. Astrid took it and doled it out to the chicks. The meal was done at 6:43 and Astrid was out. By 7:00 she was on the steeple and Ares was on the east veranda. At 7:53 Astrid hopped onto the roof of the nestbox. It’s Memorial Day but someone might just show up in the office and if they do she aims to keep them in line. At 8:53 Astrid brought prey to the box. it was something fairly small and most likely it came from Ares’ pantry. She proceeded to feed the chicks. At 9:18 Ares brought what appeared to be a Starling to the east veranda. Astrid took it and conducted a feeding. For the first half of the meal one of the chicks was on the opposite side of the box and wasn’t vying for a share. That one later joined in. At 10:23 AM Astrid was back on the roof of the nestbox. At 10:30 Ares landed on the long perch and that served to make the nestlings squeal with excitement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2zq0j5E2Bs

At 11:43 Ares was on the steeple and Astrid was on the west veranda. At 12:49 Ares came back to the nestbox. For the next hour or so Ares came into the box periodically and periodically he was stirring up the natives into a falcon frenzy. At 1:27 Astrid was perched on the upper steeple. The white fluffy material from Cottonwood was blowing around downtown – so much so that it sometimes looked like a snow flurry. At 1:36 Astrid came into the box for a chick check. Predicably, the nestlings were melting down with excitement. Meanwhile Ares landed on the same steeple perch that Astrid had just vacated. Only a minute later, Astrid began cackle-calling. She then abruptly launched after a vulture flying in the south part of the canyon. Ares joined her and they both put that poor bird through its paces, ushering it quickly to the north and out of the canyon. By 1:47 Ares was back on the State Building and Astrid was on the crossperch at the nestbox. Her bill was gapping, and she was holding her wings out at the shoulder. It was over 80 degrees, and she was hot. At 1:50 Astrid darted off into the canyon. She was back on the crossperch at 2:24, and from there it was back to the roof of the box. At 3:10 Ares was inside the box offering shade to the nestlings. The box was hot but not completely in the sun. The chicks whined and moved around a lot while Ares was there. By 4:15 he was out, and Astrid was on shading duty by 4:32. Just like with Ares, even though they had a parent providing shade, they weren’t so interested in using it. For the most part they preferred the corners of the box. At one point Astrid was shading the eggs. We hadn’t seen that behavior in a while. At 5:59 Ares brought prey to the long perch. Astrid took it and handled the feeding. At 6:40 Ares was back with another meal. Astrid took it from him on the east veranda, flew off into the canyon with it, and then barreled into the box to conduct the feeding. The feeding was done in under ten minutes and then Astrid was on the long perch. Ares was on the State Building until at least after 9:00 PM. Goodnight falcons.