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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!

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezH8xKANn80

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOfkf-ywMPI

The overnight was quiet with no feedings. The temperature was in the low sixties. Morning was warm and partly cloudy with temps reaching 70 degrees by noon. Afternoon was hot with a high of 80 degrees. The wind did give some relief. Astrid was on the steeple until late last night and Ares was on the north face of the State Building. At some point she came to the nest. At 3:20 AM we noticed that it was Ares guarding the nest from the crossperch and she had taken a perch on the hotel. She was probably hunting. By 5:00 she had moved to the State Building. At 5:27 the parents switched, Astrid came to the nest to check on the chicks and Ares flew off into the canyon. At 5:29 Astrid found a chunk of food in the box and started feeding it out to the nestlings. Likely that hunk had been stolen by one of the chicks during an earlier feeding. At 5:46 Astrid was on the steeple. At 7:21 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it and carried out a feeding. Since the male chick was being fed first, the female tried biting off pieces of food for herself. It wasn’t working that well and so she soon reverted to letting Astrid feed her. The meal was over by 7:32. Thirty minutes later Astrid was on the east veranda. At 8:26 Astrid came to the nest with food. She proceeded to feed it to the nestlings. The feeding was over at 8:36 and Astrid went out onto the crossperch. As it happened, she was in the firing line of one of the chicks. Astrid collected some whitewash on her wing but seemed to take it in stride.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hb7jQueOe8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZWeCBYjQTY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faX44i76hzM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j14C-fku0pY

By 8:48 AM Astrid was up on the roof of the nestbox. It was unlikely that anyone was going to be in that office on a Sunday, so her intention was more precautionary that reactive. At 9:22 Ares came to the box to do a chick check. The nestlings immediately began squealing. At 9:34 both parents were in guard positions at the box. He left at 10:10 and she went back up on the roof of the nestbox. At 10:44 we heard Ares screeched through the canyon. Did he have prey? If so, he wasn’t showing up at the nest with it. A few minutes later one of the chicks was giving an insistent cackle call. Astrid came to the crossperch to see what was happening. At 11:53 Astrid was once again on the roof of the nestbox. Ares then screeched to the long perch and Astrid took off. At 12:16 PM she was back on the steeple. A few minutes later he came to the nest and got the chicks really squealing.  At 12:19 Ares was trying to come into the box but one of the chicks kept biting at his bill and trying to get him to feed her. He came in only to leave just as fast. He did two more chick-checks just like that one in the subsequent hour. At 1:43 Ares brought a Black billed Cuckoo to the crossperch. Astrid blasted over to the box, grabbed the cuckoo and conducting a raucous feeding session. The meal was over at 1:53 and Astrid was out. At a few minutes before 2:00 both parents were on the steeple. At 2:30 they were cackling about something – probably a non-falcon intruder was traversing the canyon. At 4:00 Ares came to the box to do a chick check. He then stayed to do some shading. By that time in the afternoon the sun was flooding into the box and the temperature was close to 80 degrees. Twenty minutes later Astrid was in the box shading and then at 4:35 Ares was back on parasol duty. At 5:29 Astrid returned to the nest with prey. She conducted the feeding. Ten minutes later the meal was over, and she was out. At 7:00 Astrid was back on the roof of the box and the steeple after that. Ares brought more prey at 7:25 PM. Astrid grabbed it away, hopped into the box, and handled the feeding. This would probably be the last feeding of the day, but don’t quote us on that. Goodnight all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53vk62JNXKE

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

The overnight was cooler with some rain showers. Fog came in very early. Temperatures were in the low 60’s. Conditions remained mostly the same through morning with intermittent showers and cool winds. The afternoon was warmer, the rain stopped and the wind persisted. Astrid was on the west veranda for part of the night and then on the long perch for quite a while. Ares brought prey to the nest at 2:37 AM. Astrid took it and did a feeding. By 5:00 both parents assumed guard positions on the verandas. At 6:17 Astrid came to the long perch and got the chicks excited. At 8:06 Ares brought food. Astrid took it and started a feeding. Ten minutes later the meal was done. At 8:23 the chicks were doing some wing exercising. Their flight feathers continue to grow even as the white down still covers their entire bodies. At 8:25 Ares was on the long perch giving long calls and the nestlings squealed in response. At 9:11 Astrid brought prey to the nest. She hopped in and conducted the feeding. At 10:51 she was up on the roof of the nestbox. Probably no one would be in the offices today, but she wasn’t taking any chances. At 12:09 PM Astrid was on the upper steeple perch. By then it was raining a little harder and it had become much windier. At 12:12 Ares came to the box and once again he got the kids squealing. At 12:55 cackling calls from one of the chicks brought both parents to the box in a double hurry. Astrid left after a moment, but Ares stayed in the box to get screamed at by one of the chicks at point blank range. At 1:12 Ares brought what appeared to be a Virginia Rail to the box. Astrid took it and doled it out evenly between the two chicks. At 1:20 one of the nestlings bit at Astrid’s tail as she was leaving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNu6CeHsAmI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O17z7FCs88k

At 1:34 PM Ares came into the box to do a chick-check. Astrid did one at 4:00. Once again one of the feisty chicks bit her tail as she was leaving. At 5:23 Ares brought prey. Astrid took it and started a feeding. One of the chicks – we think the female, grabbed a chunk of food and took it to the side of the box, but wasn’t able to feed on it proficiently. She opted to be fed alongside her brother. When the main part of the food was done, Astrid recovered the stolen chunk and fed it out to both chicks. During the entire meal the nestlings were raucous and loud. After Astrid was gone, one of the nestlings backed up onto the lip of the box to eliminate. It seems a little early for that kind of behavior! At 6:00 PM Astrid went up onto the roof of the box again. But she didn’t stay there for long. She was on the steeple after that. At 6:47 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid handled the feeding. Ares went to the same steeple perch Astrid had been on earlier. In the nest, one chick was getting fed while the other watched Astrid’s tail bob up and down. And yes, there was some tail biting – it’s just too irresistible. That chick soon joined the queue and got fed. After the meal Astrid went to the State Building. The chicks settled down at that point – more or less. There was some more wing flapping and strutting around, but they ended up relaxing – one with its bill resting on the lip of the box, both looking out into the canyon. Will there be any more action in the evening? The answer to that is YES! Ares brought more food at 7:31 PM. Astrid appeared right away and soon got another feeding going. The chicks seemed more than willing to pack some more in. Goodnight all.

Little Falls Falcon Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfbQgHXGSM8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7P-7Ev4Yck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCHpD6lPHDI

The overnight was balmy with temperatures staying in the mid-sixties. After sunrise there were a few light showers in the area, it was overcast and windy. The temperature was in the mid-seventies by noon and the high seventies by mid-afternoon. Thunderstorms were in the forecast, but nothing more than a light rain fell on the region. Astrid was in and out of the nest area during the night. All in all, it was an active night. Ares brought food to the nest at 1:05 AM. Astrid took care of the feeding. She then brought another small meal to the box at 2:18. She came back with even more food at 2:37. That time it took the chicks a few minutes before they were interested enough to feed. By 5:00 AM Astrid was on the long perch and Ares was on the State Building. At 5:37 Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid met him there, took the food, and flew off into the canyon. She then shot back to the box and did a feeding. Only one of the chicks was in line for this meal; the other was standing by but not vying and Astrid wasn’t trying to entice him. The chick that wasn’t feeding did a lot of wing flapping instead. At 5:48 Astrid left with the uneaten portion of the meal. Both parents were on the State Building at 6:08 and then Ares darted off to the northwest, probably after prey. At 6:55 Ares was back in the box. He picked up some food scraps on the floor of the nest and started trying to feed one of the chicks. Astrid burst into the box and attempted to take it away from him, but he jumped out of the nest carrying the scrap with him. At 7:46 Astrid was up on the roof of the nestbox – obviously anticipating people being in offices. At 8:40 Ares showed up with prey. Astrid hopped down to take it and conducted a feeding. At 9:00 Ares brought more food. Astrid took it, flew away, came back and then flew off with it once more. That time she likely went to store it. By 9:20 Astrid was back on the roof of the nestbox.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCx9_CEqvN0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHat0WZlS8c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul1lkxn8NKY

The next feeding was at 11:40. Astrid had gotten the prey from Ares. Shen returned to the box roof once mealtime was over. At 12:10 PM both parents were on the State Building. Thirty minutes later Astrid was to the nestbox roof again. At 2:31 Ares came to the long perch for a chick check. The nestlings squealed when they saw him and then their excitement evolved into wing flapping. The presumed male chick was seen biting at his sister’s tail and then footing her (grabbing at her with his foot). This was the first time that behavior has been seen. The pair also did some beaking. At 2:41 Astrid came to the nest with food. She proceeded to dole it out to the eager chicks. At 2:55 Ares screeched to the nest. He hopped inside and tried to hand out some scraps from the floor (which appeared to be mostly feathers). He then spent an extended time on the long perch guarding the nest. At 4:00 Astrid came to the crossperch, and really got the chicks excited. They squealed and flapped. She then assumed her guard position on the box roof. At 5:21 PM Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid grabbed it and did another lively feeding session. Increasingly, the nestlings are becoming interested in what happens in the world outside of the box. Their vision keeps improving and now they can track flying objects (mainly other birds and their parents) as they traverse the canyon. This evening both nestlings’ heads moved in sync as they tracked their mother flying by the nestbox. They also are beginning to see their parents coming from far away and they react by calling out and squealing. At 7:56 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it and conducted what would most probably be the last feeding of the day. By 8:45 PM Astrid was guarding the box from the west veranda perch. Goodnight falcons.