We had a cool start to the morning with temperatures in the twenties. As the morning progressed the temps rose well into the thirties, and by late afternoon we had breached the 40’s. Early on the sky was mostly overcast but ultimately the sun prevailed. Moderate winds developed early and showed little sign of subsiding. By late afternoon, the winds were medium strong and constant. Astrid arrived at the box at 3:51 AM and was very vocal. Ares was probably close by, but it was too dark to see much of anything in the canyon. While she was at the box, at no time did she seem to be preparing to lay an egg. At 5:20, Ares came to the box and hoped inside, but Astrid took that opportunity to leave. It was reminiscent of the way they switch-out when they are sharing incubation duties. Astrid went over to the west face of the State Building where she was only just visible by one of our cams. It looked like Ares joined her over there for a few minutes before moving to a ledge on the north face of the building. At 6:15, Astrid and Ares came to the box. She stayed on the cross-perch while he was inside. It was still so dark inside the box and he was so still (frozen in a bowing position) that we thought he had left, but he hadn’t. He was still there, pointing at his mate like a birddog. At the time we joked that he was showing her how to lay an egg, just in case she had forgotten. She soon edged her way onto the east veranda perch, but within five minutes she had flown. He left right after she did.
It was then that the day’s excitement began. A male (presumed) intruder came into the canyon and drew Ares full attention. The two birds were sparring in the air space above the State Office Building. The stranger landed on the roof of the building and Ares dove at him repeatedly to dry to dislodge him. The intruder took to the air again and flew high above the canyon with Ares in pursuit the entire time. The unknown falcon again landed on the roof of the State Building and Ares went into full hazing mode – diving at him over and over, but not making physical contact. Ares then broke off his efforts and perched on the other side of the roof. This intruder was being particularly difficult to dislodge and so far Astrid hadn’t engaged him. In fact, at that time we had no idea where Astrid was. It did seem like this transient was going to require more substantial persuasion efforts. Ares did another round of hazing and then flew off to get something from his pantry. And then, with the intruder still in place on the State Building, Ares brought the food to the nest box. He was calling for Astrid to come and take it. Well somebody came, but we were not sure if it was Astrid or the stranger. They flew up just short of the box and Ares dashed out at the same time. We don’t know if a food exchange happened or not. Following that all falcons were out of view for about twenty minutes and then Ares came back to the box. At 7:30, he was in the air again and so was the intruder. They were flying over the eastern part of the canyon, above the County Building. The stranger landed on the roof and our resident pair subjected him to some spirited hazing. One of our falcons definitely got in some hits before they drove the bird off to the east.
At 7:50, Ares brought food to the box and Astrid blasted in to take it (this time it assuredly was Astrid!). She took the meal over to the Hotel ledge. Things were relatively quiet in the canyon for a while after that. The falcons spent time on the State Building; Ares popped in and out of the box and then the pair mated on the Steeple at 8:50. At 9:20, an American crow flew through the heart of the canyon and pulled both falcons into action. Usually they let crows get away with this kind of thing, but not today; they were super sensitive, and that was likely due to the intruder incident. They drove the crow downward and off to the east. Afterwards both falcons returned to their previous perches like nothing happened. Ten minutes later they mated on the steeple yet again. At 10:13, they mated on the State Building. Following that, Ares flew around the whole canyon in a circuit, zoomed past Astrid and landed on a ledge above her on the State Building. It seemed like a territorial proclamation to us. In effect he was showing all would-be usurpers that it was his canyon and his mate. Less than a minute later, both falcons were at the box. It seemed like they were going to do a ledge display, but Astrid was distracted and obviously agitated. Was the intruder back? She took off and quickly gained elevation. Soon she was high over the western part of the Canyon. Ares assumed his lookout perch on the roof of the State Building, but we didn’t see any intruders with our cameras. Soon both falcons were out of view. Ares returned at 11:30 and a few minutes later he was at the box. He began calling excitedly, and that was because Astrid had just come back into the fold and landed on the State Building. Ten minutes later they mated. At noon, they converged at the box, but Astrid was again too agitated to dance. She didn’t come into the box – only vocalized and turned around. When she flew out again and she seemed to be going after something with purpose. Ares returned to the roof of the State Building, but was soon gone and he didn’t return for a half-hour. She was back a few minutes later, no worse for wear. At 1 PM, the falcons mated again on the State Building, and for those of you not keeping track, that makes five times so far. At 1:40 the pair mated on the steeple, which came as a surprise since none of us knew that she was on the steeple at that time. He went back to his lookout post after that. For the next couple of hours the pair were quite active; Ares came to box numerous times. He worked on his masterpiece of a nest scrape and kept an eye on his mate. She did some nice flying too. The winds were quite strong in the afternoon. That taken together with the bright sunshine made for perfect flying conditions and the falcons took full advantage of it. At 3 PM, there was an aborted mating attempt on the State Building. Don’t worry, we won’t count that one. Twenty-five minutes later they managed an eminently countable mating on the same ledge.
At 3:45, the couple had an excellent ledge display at the box. This one featured a lot of beaking and for the first time today, Astrid wasn’t so agitated that she called it off before it began. In fact, it ended the traditional way, with Ares diving out first. Astrid remained to check out her mates’ massive excavation. How many eggs do you think can fit in there? She made a normal scrape on the other side of the floor and did some other housekeeping chores. At 4 PM, she flew over to the State Building. They mated there at 4:45 – and that made nine and counting! Fifteen minutes later, the pair had a long distance conversation across the canyon. Ares was at the box and Astrid was on the State Building and yet they were calling to each other as if they engaged in a display. At 5:22, Ares zipped out of view for a while, but came back to the box quickly and with prey. By the look of the food, it was already processed. Astrid wasted no time in coming to get it. They had a bit of a tug-o-war with it before he let go. She brought it over to the Hotel, but ate only part of it. Five minutes later, she was back at the box. We thought they were going to have another ledge display, but Astrid was agitated again and left abruptly and after only a couple of dance moves. At 6 o’clock, they mated for a tenth time, and then, 45 minutes later, for an eleventh time! After that, we think Astrid went to her night perch. Ares, on the other hand, was still active until nearly 7:30. He divided that time between the box and on his roof lookout. That marked the end of a very busy day.