Today began with light drizzle. Skies were overcast and temperatures ranged from the mid-thirties to the mid-forties. Our first view of the Falcons took place at 2 AM. The pair shared a ledge display which featuring some intense beaking. After the dance, Ares leaped out of the box and Astrid remained, looking a little like she was preparing to lay an egg. Ares returned at 4 o’clock and they switched out. The switch was carried out in a way similar to how they do it when they share incubation duties. Ares left the box at 4:20, only to return at 5:40. While he was there he ate a few stones – or looked like he did. At 6:30 he was on the corner of the Hotel ledge and Astrid was up on the roof of the State Building. A few minutes later she was at the box and he was on the roof. They mated on the long perch about 15 minutes after that. Soon she was up and he was at the box. In the next hour he was in and out of the nest several times. At 6:42, Ares arrived with a starling. He did some plucking but mainly he was just waiting with it. In fact, as late as 8:24 he was still waiting for her to come and take it. Finally he gave up; he flew to the hotel and probably stored the meal there. Anyhow, he came back to the box without it. Astrid showed up on the steeple at 8:52, and the pair mated there. She was at the box shortly after. While there she did some scrapes and some housekeeping. She bit the lip of the box which is apparently something that’s very important to do. Shortly after that she flew to the steeple and the pair mated. Only minutes later Ares brought food to the box and she came by to take it. She flew over to eat it on the Hotel and he followed her there. He perched close by and watched her while she polished it off.
At 9:50, Astrid went to her steeple perch and Ares went to the box. There she remained for the rest of the morning and up until 3:36 in the afternoon. Ares seemed quite content with her position on the steeple. He could easily see her right from the box. In other words, he could keep track of the two things that were most precious to him – Astrid and the nest site. The steeple is also a perfect place to mate since there’s unlimited headroom. He doesn’t have to scrunch himself down or pull in his wings like he does when they mate on the State Building. For certain, Ares’ anxiety levels had ratcheted down quite a bit during this period. Before 3:36, while she was on the steeple, the pair had mated three times successfully and there were two aborted attempts. Following the last successful mating, Ares went up to his lookout post on top of the State Building. Since there was no indication of an intruder, and since Astrid was accounted for, he was more than likely using it to watch for prey. At 4:10, Ares came to the box with prey. It was a Woodcock that he probably caught before dawn and had stored somewhere. When Astrid didn’t come for it, he flew off and probably put it back into storage. Both came to the box at 4:40 and performed a ledge display. This one featured a moderate amount of intense beaking. Afterwards he darted across the canyon and took a perch on the steeple while she did some chores around the box. It looked like she was digging a small hole at the edge and box beneath our original wall camera. What that was about is anyone’s guess. She made a scrape and bit the lip of the box for a while before hopping out onto the cross perch.
At 5:30, the falcons became very animated. Both converged at the box and engaged in some high volume vocalizations. She flew out and the came right back and then jumped onto the east veranda. Then she was up again. Ares was right behind her as she flew east and then north. We lost track of them after that and didn’t see hide-nor-feather for about an hour. That’s when Ares came back to the box. He was giving long wailing calls, which morphed into excited chirrup notes when he saw his mate. We couldn’t pick her out with the cameras, but he obviously knew where she was. He flew from the box to the State Building and then back to the box. This time we saw here for a second before she disappeared behind the east side of the State Building. Ares was up and down a few more times and he spent some more time on his rooftop lookout post. At 7:41, we got a good look at Astrid. She was feeding on the Hotel ledge. Ares landed on the ledge nearby and was monitoring her. Five minutes later, Ares was up and probably off to his night perch. Astrid finished her meal at 7:52 and came to the nest box. She made loud chirrup calls on the cross-perch before settling into the box and onto one of the scrapes. This is the earliest she’s come to the box yet this season. She may very well produce her first egg of the season tonight or early tomorrow morning. We shall see.