It was chilly again today with temperatures remaining in the 30’s. The snow that fell on March 2nd remains very much with us and its reflective qualities make the pre-dawn hours in Downtown seen especially light. Undoubtedly this assists the falcons with nocturnal flying and hunting. Ares showed up at the nest box sometime before 5 AM. He remained there for about an hour, calling out occasionally. At 6:00, he flew over to the State Building, screeching the whole way. Astrid’s response was to immediately come to the box. Ares returned and the pair did a quick ledge display that featured an extraordinary amount of beaking. The falcons took turns bouncing in and out of the box for the next hour. After that, Ares was seen on the Hotel ledge plucking prey and then feeding. At 7:05, Ares came to the box with the leftovers in his talons. Astrid dashed over, impatiently grabbed the food from him, and then made off with it like a thief. He wanted you to have it, Astrid!
At 8:30, Astrid was at the nest box. Ares came over and the two conversed a bit, beaked once, and then Astrid departed. She seemed disappointed that he didn’t have more food for her. Apparently, Ares got the hint, and at 8:45, he was back at the box with a meal. However, this time he had a hard time getting Astrid’s interest. He came and left a couple of times and produced some loud vocalizations (according to Deb in her office), but nothing worked. Astrid came over and the food transfer happened right inside the box. Interestingly, at 10:30, she was in the box again. He came over and the two switched out in a manner similar to how they behave when sharing incubation duties. No eggs yet, kids. Perhaps they were simply getting some practice in. At just before 11 AM, the pair mated on the State Building. Through early afternoon, Ares was in and out of the box quite a bit. Astrid seemed to be content to remain on a ledge on the State Building, and that’s where she was when they mated again at 12:30. Two hours later, Astrid was on the west veranda’s perch and seemed to be signaling a willingness to mate. Ares flew in, but instead of obliging her, he tried to coax her into performing a ledge display inside the box. That day, neither falcon had their way. A half-hour later, both converged at the box again and this time Ares had a gift for his mate. She accepted it inside the box and then flew to the Hotel ledge to eat it.
A little after that, Astrid had moved to the far northeast corner of the box, and there she remained there for a while. After being undetectable by our cameras for about 90 minutes, Ares made an appearance at the nest box. Astrid joined him soon after and the two exchanged some vocalizations. Astrid did some of her low pitch “donkey” calls, which are usually not heard outside of the breeding season. So, if there was any doubt, and of course, there wasn’t, breeding season in falcon town is well under way. At 5 PM, Astrid was signaling to Ares that she wanted to mate again; this time he obliged her, and the pair mated right there on the nest box’s cross perch. Less than a half hour later, Astrid was gone and probably off to her night perch. Ares was seen perched on the County Building until at least six o’clock, after which he too had gone to his night perch.