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The overnight was warm with temperatures staying close to 70 degrees. By noon we were in the high eighties. Astrid was around the nest area for most of the night. We happen to notice that Ares was visible on the State Building at 2:00 AM. At 4:06 Astrid left the nest to fetch some prey out of storage. She brought it back and did the first feeding of the day. When it was over, she moved out onto the long perch, and from there, the west veranda. At 5:25 Ares was in the box with the nestlings. Less than five minutes later she was in with the chicks, and he was out. At 5:37 he returned to the east veranda with a meal. Astrid came over to take it. She initially flew off with it but then was right back to the nest and starting a feeding. At 5:49 Astrid was out and one of the chicks was doing some wing flapping. As it happened both parents were on the west veranda perch. At one point it was almost like Astrid was bowing and asking to mate for a second, but that couldn’t be right – could it? Regardless, Ares was busy preening his foot. At 5:53 both parents were giving cackle-style alarm calls. She launched and he followed. At 7:12 Ares was back with food. Astrid took it and started a feeding session. As usual, the chicks were already full, but Astrid was trying to pack them anyhow. At 7:25 the session was over, and she left with a small piece. At 7:39 she returned but quickly moved to the west veranda.

At 9:04 AM Astrid was inside the box and trying to feed out some scrap on the floor – looked to be mostly feathers. She gave up quickly and was out again. Ares was in right after. He picked up a piece of something (a small hunk of mostly feathers) and handed it to one of the chicks. The chick ate it and Ares went to the crossperch, his mission completed. At 11:00 he gave some long calls and then went into the box with the squealing nestlings. By 11:30 Astrid was on the steeple and Ares was on the long perch. Astrid moved to the west veranda at 12:10 PM. Ten minutes later both parents were out of view. Ares screeched back to the nestbox at 12:33. At one point, while the chicks were alone in the box, one of them was resting with its beak against the lip of the box. It was the first time we had seen this behavior this season. At 1:04 Ares screeched in, picked up some scrap from the floor of the box and went out onto the long perch. Astrid then blasted in, took it from him, and entered the box intent on doing a feeding. It lasted about two seconds and then Astrid was up and out. At 1:53 Ares screeched to the nest once again. He came inside and did some shading until about 2:18 PM. At 2:28 Ares was gone from the nest and Astrid was on the steeple. The wind had picked up by this time and the temperature was in the high eighties. At 2:44 she came to the crossperch but wasn’t there for very long. We didn’t see her again on camera for a few hours.

At 3:35 PM Ares came to the box to shade the chicks. Since the nestlings were on opposite sides of the box, he only was able to shade one of them. Ten minutes later, Ares was out on the crossperch and the two chicks had coalesced in one corner. They were certainly becoming more proficient at getting around in the box. Their walking is less awkward and quicker. At 4:16 Ares had both chicks beneath him at the back of the box and he was able to give them shade. However, that only lasted a minute, and the two odd, animated snowmen soon waddled off to their separate corners. At 4:31 Ares had them together again and was able to shade them both in the same corner. Again, it didn’t last, and they soon wandered away and he was left shading nobody – but doing a great job of it! At 5:17 Astrid returned from her spa afternoon (we assume) and took a perch on the steeple. Moments later she was on the east veranda. While there she was peering at the office window as if someone were in there. Probably not on a Saturday, Astrid. From there she hopped onto the box roof and gave a dirty look to that window for a while. Meanwhile the chicks were squealing in the box. One of them was busily strolling around the place. At 5:50 Astrid came to the crossperch, and the nestlings were squealing up a storm. She left and then came back a minute later with prey. She then conducted a feeding. At 6:09 the meal was done and she left the nest. Only five minutes later Ares came to the east veranda with prey. He waited for a few moments to see if Astrid was going to come and take it. When she didn’t, he seized the opportunity and hopped into the box to try and do a feeding. He was off to a great start, albeit with only one chick participating. He fed out at least ten bites and then something happened. He abruptly took the food and dove out of the box. He was half screeching and half cackling as he left. There must have been an intruder issue. Astrid was on the steeple at the time and didn’t appear to be very put out. Ares was on the roof of the bank building (with the prey) for a moment and then he was up again. Astrid was in the air as well by this time. At 6:22 Ares was on the steeple. He no longer had the prey. Did he store it or give it to Astrid? Ares then came to the box. Once inside he tried to feed out some little scrap of food on the floor, but nobody was interested in it. At 6:38 Astrid came to the box and Ares left. She did some shading for a little while and then she just stood guard on the crossperch. At 6:55 one of the chicks laid face down on the floor of the box with her rudimentary wings spread and her ridiculous chicken legs also spread out. It was as if she were going to attempt to make gravel angels. At 7:08 Ares was on the steeple. At 7:42 Astrid was engaged in a feeding. We weren’t sure if she got the food out of storage or if Ares brought it. By 8:30 Astrid was on guard on the crossperch and the falcons were likely set for the night. Goodnight all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMotEBAp-Fc

The overnight was cool and a little foggy. It was close to fifty degrees at daybreak. During the morning the sun was out, and the temperature quickly rose to 70 degrees. By late afternoon the temperature was in the high seventies. Astrid spent part of Thursday evening out on the crossperch and not brooding. Notably, for the first night in a long time, there were no overnight feedings. Ares brought prey to the nest at 4:54 AM. Astrid took it and conducted a long feeding session. Ares had moved to the west veranda and remained there while the feeding was going on. At 5:48 Ares brought more prey to the box. This time it was a migrant sandpiper called a Dunlin. He has caught a few of those in the past. Astrid fed it to the chicks who took it slowly since they were already full from the last meal. Astrid left the box when the meal was done at 6:01 and Ares screeched over to chick-sit only a minute later. He proceeded to do his approximation of brooding. At 6:30 Astrid flew over from the State Building and took over brooding. Ten minutes later she was out on the crossperch – and then, shortly after, she was back and brooding again. At 7:25 Ares brought food to the east veranda. Astrid scrambled over to take it, flew into the canyon with it, boomeranged back, and took it into the nest. She then conducted another feeding. At 8:40 Ares came to the east veranda with still more prey, Astrid took it, flew into the canyon and, once again, flew into the box and carried out another feeding. The chicks were still full, so it was a truncated session. When it was over at 8:44 she took off and presumably stored the leftovers.  Four minutes later Ares screeched in and started guarding/brooding the chicks. At 8:52 the parents began a series of rapid switchovers: She took over from him; she left abruptly; he was back; he was out……etc.  it was getting confusing! At 9:48 Astrid got up onto the nestbox roof which meant she was mad about people in offices. She managed to restrain herself from hazing the 15^th floor this time. At 11:21 Ares popped into the box to do a chick check. He wasn’t in with them long. At 11:36 he had prey and he landed on the east veranda. Astrid grabbed it from him and started a feeding. The feeding had scarcely begun when Ares started cackling. He soon took off after something. Astrid then became highly distressed. She produced a loud cackle call and dived out of the box with the food in her talons. We didn’t see what it was that upset them, but it must have come close to elicit such a dramatic defensive response. At 11:37 she was back to the box. She cackled again and then resumed doling out the food to the chicks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlbgbQ9Og2I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX20rqM5qtw

At 11:45 AM Ares was back from his police action, and he was minding chicks while Astrid was on the State Building. At 12:41 Ares left the nest. We heard chirpings-type alarm calls this time which indicate that they were dealing with a Peregrine intruder.  At 12:42 Astrid returned and was on the west veranda. She was then back and forth between the nest area and the State Building several times in the subsequent half hour. By 2:00 Ares had been in the nest box with the chicks. The temperature had risen into the mid-seventies by this time, and it was mostly sunny. However, a persistent wind made conditions inside the box more tolerable. Astrid came in and relived Ares. She brought some prey in with her and started a feeding. At 2:34 Ares screeched to the long perch. At 3:54 he was shading the chicks. Astrid came in two minutes later and took over shading duties – at least for a few seconds. She was out on the crossperch by 4:15. Five minutes later she moved over to the east veranda. The chicks were then left alone for an extended time. The parents weren’t even in view for much of it. At 5:29 Ares screeched to the nestbox. The chicks had been crowded into the only shady corner of the box, and they began squealing when they saw their father come in. A minute later Astrid came in to take over watching the nestlings. During this time, we noted that one of the chicks did some proper wing flapping for the first time. At 5:45 Astrid was back with another meal. She proceeded to feed them in their shady corner. In less than ten minutes the meal was over, and Astrid had left the box. At 6:17 it was Ares’ turn to bring food. No sooner had he landed on the crossperch then Astrid blasted in from nowhere and grabbed it. She tired to get the chicks interested in another feed, but they weren’t very enthusiastic. She gave up after a few minutes of trying and left to store the food. And then, only seven minutes later, Astrid was again trying to feed them. Three minutes later she gave up and left. At 6:27 Ares was to the nest with prey! Astrid took it and once again, was trying to top off the nestlings. It still wasn’t really working. She took the food and flew into the canyon with it. While she was gone one of the chicks held a bird leg in her talons and picked at it. After angling it and dropping it a few times, she swallowed the thing. At 6:48 both parents were observing the nest from their perches on the State Building. At 7:23 Ares flew over to the box and got the nestling squealing in their corner. Three minutes later Astrid was in trying to feed them again. She doesn’t give up easily! She was out after only a few minutes. We weren’t sure if they finished the meal this time or if she stopped it prematurely. At 8:40 Astrid was on the west veranda and from there she moved to the crossperch. She was gone at 9:37 PM and probably watching the nest from the State Building. One of them was up there anyhow. At a few minutes before 10:00 Ares screeched to the box with food. Astrid blasted in and did a feeding. The hours between 9:00 and midnight are actually the rarest time for feedings to take place at the Utica nest, so it was a unusual event. Goodnight falcons.

Little Falls Falcon Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiF4EO_7_ps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofd3Hvxb8Ko

The overnight was very cool with some showers in the area. Temperatures were in the mid-40’s. Rain and cool temps continued through the day and showered were intermittent. Astrid was with the nestlings all night long. Ares brought a small food item to the box at 12:46 which could be considered early for even the earliest of early birds. Astrid took it and fed it out to the chicks. He didn’t come back to the nest until 4:50. As it happened, he didn’t have food that time but was asking for a turn on the nest. Astrid showed no sign of wanting to leave so the two parents spent about five minutes in the nest together with the chicks. Ares then flew out and went to his pillar perch. A few minutes later he was snoozing. At 5:50 he was wide awake and on the lookout post on the roof of the State Building. These days that means that he was probably hunting. We hadn’t heard any alarm calls, so it was unlikely he was watching for intruders. At 6:50 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it and started a feeding session as Ares hopped over to the west veranda. At 7:07 when mealtime was over Astrid went back to brooding. At 7:51 she left the nest and Ares came in to take over. She was back a minute later only to depart again in short order. It was raining again by this point – not Astrid’s favorite weather condition. At 9:23 Astrid left the box once more. She wasn’t back and brooding until close to 10:00. Five minutes later we heard Ares’ distinctive screech call from somewhere nearby. He probably flew in with prey. Astrid left the nest and, sure enough. she was back less than a minute later with a starling. She then proceeded to do a feeding. One of the chicks got a few bites from Astrid while the other tried to take its own portion from the prey itself (not successfully). At 10:11 Astrid abruptly stopped the session and left with most of the meal. She probably thought the chicks weren’t hungry enough and she turned it into her own breakfast. Ares came into the box at 10:12. He looked to be very soggy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRWXMnZNhr8

At 10:42 AM Astrid returned to the nest and to brooding the chicks. Ten minutes later we noticed that Ares was again back on his pillar perch.  At 11:33 he suddenly darted off towards the west. At 11:46 he screeched back to the nest with prey. Astrid grabbed it and conducted a feeding while Ares hopped over to the west veranda. When the meal was over Astrid resumed brooding. At 1:12 PM Astrid was on the roof of the nestbox, most likely someone had come into the adjacent office, and she wanted to keep an eye on them just in case they were enemies of falcons. Without missing a beat Ares was back in the nest with the chicks. He was there until 2:00 when Astrid left the roof and came into the box. Ares ceded the nest and nestlings to her before sailing off. Astrid only remained with the chicks for less than two minutes. Ares happily came back quickly and resumed his chick sitting. At 2:16 we heard a loud thud sound. Astrid had just plunked down on the roof of the nestbox. Five minutes later she was on high ledge on the State Building. Ares went out onto the long perch at 2:38. The nestlings were alone in the box and squealing for a while after that. Astrid came back to the box and was brooding again at 3:24.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDYiY1lh5Kw

At 5:19 PM Ares came to the west veranda with substantial prey. Astrid scrambled over to get it. She grabbed it and flew off into the canyon, boomeranged back to the nest and began a feeding. At 5:21 Ares came into the box and watched the ensuing mealtime for about five minutes. He may have been taking notes again. At 5:34 Astrid was back to brooding. At 6:05 Ares arrived with more food. He hopped into the box this time to give it to Astrid. She took it and tried to rally the already full chicks to feed. Initially, one of them took some bites while the other flapped their rudimentary wings a few times. We think both managed to have a little since Astrid was insisting. At 6:14 Astrid resumed brooding the pair. They were pushed up in front of her, nestled in her breast feathers. It was the ideal image of the falcon family at home. At 7:35 Ares came into the box and asked for a turn with the chicks. Astrid left the nest two minutes later.  At 7:43 he went to the east veranda but was back in to brood the chicks after a few moments. He sort of brooded them and even beaked with them. At about 8:00 PM Astrid came back and ousted Ares. She immediately started brooding. Likely she was set for the night. Goodnight all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfl5iFauj-I

The overnight was quite cool with temperatures down in the mid 40’s. During the course of the morning, temps rose, and by noon it was close to 60 degrees. Skies were generally clear, and conditions were windy – which translates into good, free flying weather for falcons. Astrid was on the chicks all night. she left the box at 2:00 AM only to come back a minute later and resume brooding. At 2:25 Ares arrived at the nest with prey in his talons. He hopped right in and gave it to Astrid inside the box. She then conducted a feeding. At 3:23 he was back with more food. That time Astrid took it but flew out of the nest and into the canyon with it – probably to store it. She then returned moments later and went back to brooding. At 5:23 Ares brought in more prey. Once again, Astrid accepted it but then flew off into the canyon with it. perhaps that time she had it for her own breakfast. Ares came in to sit with the chicks while she was gone. Brooding the nestlings properly is getting increasingly difficult for Ares to manage. He tries to cover them but doesn’t come close to fitting their whole bodies beneath them. Astrid was back minutes later and quickly took over brooding and, as usual, she did a much better job covering the chicks. She is larger than him after all. At 8:27 Astrid left the box and Ares hopped in from the east veranda. We hadn’t even noticed he was there. By 8:46 Astrid was back and brooding again. It was still quite cool and windy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=780PipZCr7E

At 8:43 AM Astrid was out of the box. She came back to resume brooding two minutes later. At 10:55 Ares brought prey to the nestbox. Astrid took it from him on the crossperch and conducted a feeding. She left when it was over. Ares gave a few long calls and then came into the box via the west veranda. At 11:16 Astrid brought a partially processed cuckoo to the nest and fed it to the chicks. It was the first cuckoo we have confirmed coming in this season. It was interesting that Astrid brought it in given her well known attitude towards cuckoos. Of course, she wasn’t eating it. After the meal she resumed brooding. At 11:21 Ares was on the south facing steeple perch. He launched after something at 11:40 AM. Five minutes later Astrid moved out onto the crossperch. She was up in a moment and Ares seamlessly came in to watch the chicks. At 12:27 PM when Astrid landed on the State Building Ares made some squeaking calls and let us know about it. At 12:42 Astrid came into the nest and took over brooding the nestlings. Ares remained in the nest for a while with Astrid there. It was almost like he was studying her brooding technique. The two adults were face to face with the chicks between them – both nestlings squirming and squealing. At 12:44 he was out. Hopefully he had taken some notes to study. His next stop was the south side steeple perch.  Ares visited the box at 1:09 and asked to have a turn with the nestlings. Once again, he observed Astrid and she tried to keep the chicks huddled beneath her. He seemed fascinated. He was out several minutes later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVOpp2IlAOY

At about 1:50 PM Astrid was feeding the chicks again. We weren’t sure how the food came, or which parent brought it. At 2:51 Ares was having an extended visit with the nestlings. Astrid was on the steeple at that time. At 3:43 Ares had fetched a small chuck of prey and brought it into the nest. Astrid came in right away, grabbed it, and began serving it out. After the meal Astrid flew out and Ares came to the crossperch. Fifteen minutes later he had taken off and she was on the steeple. The chicks then had some alone time inside the nest. They seemed to make the most of it. One of them wandered around the west side of the box. That one did some minor wing flapping exercise (first we’ve seen) while the other one bit at some feathers and other material that was stuck to one of the unhatched eggs. They did some grooming – mostly of themselves but also some mutual grooming and some beaking. At 4:48 Ares came to the box with a mostly processed Mourning Dove. Astrid blew in seconds later, grabbed the food and began giving it out to the chicks. We noticed that Astrid was once again tearing off awfully small sized pieces of meat to feed the nestlings. She must realize how big these guys are right now – right? Regardless, both chicks were vying and feeding especially well. At two minutes before 5:00 PM Astrid flew out with the leftovers and presumably stored them. After she left, Ares was in and trying to brood. As expected, the chicks still didn’t fit beneath him. The falcons switched at 6:00 and Astrid took over most likely for the night. By 7:00 she was out on the crossperch – guarding the nest but also doing some preening. By 8:30 she had come back to brood, but she would be going onto the crossperch a few more times during the night. Goodnight all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d66_Gq5vnbs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8_m2ujnPG4

The overnight was cool and windy. Some showers were around in the morning and temperatures remained on the low fifties until afternoon when they got close to 60 degrees. The wind was persistent and strong, and it made it seem colder. Astrid brooded the chicks all night long. Ares brought prey at 3:28 AM and Astrid took a while plucking it. For some reason she fed out only a few bites and then took the food out to store it. Ares brought more prey at 4:48. Again, Astrid spent some time processing it and then only fed one of the chicks. The other nestling wasn’t vying for some reason, and we became concerned. At 5:24 the one we were worried about brought up a good-sized pellet. We believe that was the reason for its lack of appetite. At 5:33 Astrid took some leftovers out of the box. Ares arrived to take over when she left. He was just in the process of trying to brood them when she burst into the nest and ousted him. Astrid is very intense this time of year. At 8:16 the falcons switched, and Ares came back to chick-sit. Both nestlings were looking up at him and begging with high-pitched squeals. Two minutes later Astrid was back, and Ares was sent out. She quickly resumed brooding as he flew over to perch on the State Building. At 9:12 Astrid left once again and once again Ares came in to watch the chicks. Astrid returned two minutes later with what appeared to be most of a plucked dove. What followed was a fairly long feeding session in which both chicks vied and fed normally. Towards the end of the session, at 9:28 the nestlings were full and didn’t want to take any more. She reluctantly stopped feeding them and went back to brooding. At 10:10 Astrid picked up the leftovers of the last meal and seemed to have a moment of indecision; she didn’t know whether to remove the food and store it or, to feed the rest of it out right then and there. She opted for the latter course. A few minutes into the feeding it was clear that the chicks were full and didn’t want any more, but Astrid kept tying. She would try from one side, and then walk around to the other side and try again. The chicks would occasionally open their bills and accept some, but it was obvious their hearts weren’t in it. Why was Astrid so intent and feeding them so much? At 10:23 she gave up and went back to brooding. There was barely anything left of the meal anyhow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh4aChH_-_4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCFD7xySXXA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skE9x6XXNxI

At 11:18 AM Astrid was feeding out some food scraps. Twenty minutes later she gave a cackle-type alarm call while brooding the chicks. She didn’t leave the nest. At 11:57 Ares came into the box and tried to take over brooding. Astrid declined his offer and stayed in place. He gave up quickly and floated away on the wind. At 12:52 we noticed that she was shuffling the chicks fairly often. Days ago, we were blaming the heat for this behavior. Was she now doing it because it was chilly? The falcons switched at around 1:40. Astrid was out, and Ares was brooding. She came back to the box at 1:53, but Ares wanted to stay so she allowed him to, and she left. At around 2:20 Astrid came back to the nest with food and then proceeded to serve it to the chicks. Ares left the box. At 3:11 PM it had warmed up sufficiently (around 60 degrees) so that Astrid was half-brooding/half-shading the nestlings. At 3:32 Astrid was out, and Ares was in. She came back a few minutes before 4:00 and Ares was out. Ten minutes later she was trying to bring up a pellet while brooding. Ares brought a pre-processed Morning Dove to the nest at 5:00. Astrid lunged out in fast motion to take it from him on the crossperch and then she conducted a feeding. Both chicks seemed to eat well. Although one of them did some wandering around in the box mid-way through the meal. After the meal Astrid left the box and Ares came in to mind the chicks. He watched them as they explored the nestbox, but seemed at a loss about how to get them corralled. Astrid then came in and took over. She went to the corner, cupped the wayward chick with the shoulder of her wing and shuffled it back to the middle of the box. She is a no-nonsense falcon mother! At 7:17 Ares brought something small to the box. Astrid took it and started another feeding. It lasted less than five minutes and then she was brooding again. At 7:24 Ares was on the State Building again, probably in hunting mode. Twenty minutes later he was out of view. Everyone seemed set for the night by that point. Goodnight all.

Little Falls Falcon Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZJgBRmXSk8

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