Astrid came to the nest box at 4 AM on Friday. She didn’t seem like she was ready to lay an egg, so we had no expectations. She stayed at the box until Ares came in and relieved her. She was back by 7 o’clock, and at that point Ares tried to interest her in a Woodcock breakfast, but she wouldn’t take it. He came back a little later with some unrecognizable piece of prey. That she took and presumably ate. For the balance of the morning, Ares was popping in and out of the box with great frequency. Rain was coming down steadily and it didn’t seem to bother him. On the other hand, Astrid is no fan of the rain and she mostly kept tight to a ledge on the west face of the State Building. Ares desperately tried coaxing her back to the box, but she wouldn’t budge. That is until noon, when she made two rapid fire visits. Each time Ares hoped she would come in for a ledge display, but he was disappointed. In the early afternoon, he couldn’t get a rise out of Astrid no matter what he did. He tried wailing, bringing food, buzzing by her and more, but there was no response from his mate. Finally at 3:30 PM, the rain slowed down and Astrid participated in a ledge display at the box. They then proceeded to mate five times in the next two hours! At 6 PM, Astrid finally took the Woodcock that Ares first tried to give her in the early morning. The pair ended their day with a quick ledge display at the box. Following the display, Astrid remained at the box and is still there as I’m writing this at 10:20 PM. Will she lay her first egg of the season tonight? We shall know tomorrow.
