Peregrine log March 2, 2019
On Friday March 1st, Ares arrived at the next box at 6:39 AM, which is relatively early. Astrid appeared on the State Building a few minutes later. He really wanted her to come to the nestbox and he tried luring her over with his most irresistible squeak calls. It wasn’t having the desired effect right away and so he took a short nap. (the falcons took a lot of naps on Friday) At 7:40, he was awake again. He gave some long screech calls and that seemed to perk up Astrid. She flew right over and landed on the west veranda’s perch. Of course, he nearly had an excitement meltdown. He issued a great barrage of chirps. Five minutes later, Astrid gave the signal that she was receptive to mating. He flew out of the box and the pair successfully consummated their bond.
For much of the morning, both falcons spent time sunning themselves on the hotel, but they also did some hunting. At one point, Ares was back at the box making chirping calls. Perhaps she was doing a flight display for him, or it could be that she was chasing Pigeons somewhere in his field of view. By 10:30, she was back on the west veranda and Ares was trying to coax her into the box to perform a ledge display. She wasn’t cooperating. An hour later he was feeding on what appeared to be leftovers on the hotel. Astrid loped over to him on the ledge, but he wasn’t in a sharing mood. He flew off with the meal but left part of it behind (intentionally?) She proceeded to feed. By noon, Ares was in and out of the box a few times and Astrid was reclined on the hotel ledge. It almost looked like she was incubating. She may have been doing this for warmth or perhaps she was staying low so the Pigeons that fly in under the ledge wouldn’t see her. Now that I think of it, she did look like a cat ready to pounce. At 2:30, Ares finally got his way and the two shared a ledge display at the nestbox.
At about 5 minutes into what could be considered a very lively dance (with lots of beak swiping), Astrid made a fast exit and shot through the canyon. Ares took off too and soon after we heard Peregrine alarm calls. Likely there was an intruder in the canyon but we don’t know if it was another Peregrine or not. By 2:50, both falcons were back and were together manning their highest lookout post located on top of the State Office Building. For the next hour, one or the other would be up on the lookout. Were they watching for prey or intruders? Perhaps both. Ares made a few stops at the box during that time. At 4:15 we noticed that Astrid caught a Pigeon and was eating it on the hotel ledge. In no time, Ares was over there too, trying to beg and/or steal away a piece. After a few unsuccessful tries he did get some nice chunks. At 5 PM one of the falcons was back up on the State Building lookout.
Saturday (March 2nd) began with one of the falcons on the lookout perch at 6 AM. We thought that was a little unusual. Fifteen minutes later Ares screeched over to the box. After about an hour he began chirping and that was an indication that Astrid was in view. Maybe so, but we couldn’t find her with our cams. That is until 7:30, when they were both spotted on the hotel. She was busy digging into some unknown prey and Ares (predictably) was standing by and waiting to grab some. His persistence paid off and he managed to get a fair portion. Astrid has been eating well lately and when she’s full, she’s more predisposed to part with food. Although we heard Ares call once, we didn’t see the falcons on the cams again until 8:45, when Ares was spotted feeding on something on a window ledge west of the nestbox. Interestingly, he seems to be catching what might normally be considered food tributes for his mate but then proceeds to eat them himself. There’s still plenty of time for him to rectify that behavior. Both falcons were at the box at 10:40. Ares was giving excited chirps and “chur-rup” calls and Astrid was giving her trademark donkey calls from out on the box’s main perch. Ares wanted her to come in for a dance, but she was indicating that she wanted to mate. He tried to comply; he flew out but aborted the attempt. After that, she remained at the box for a while and eventually began doing some chores – digging and biting at stones mostly. At 11:30, she blasted out of the box and possibly buzzed by his perch on the State Building. She returned to the box right after. Ten minutes later the pair mated on the box’s perch. At noon the pair remained guarding the box – her from the perch and him on a ledge to the west.
By 1 PM, Ares returned to the box and was lobbying for Astrid to come over. She took a perch on the steeple and the two remained in those positions for quite a while – occasionally dozing. A little later on, she visited him at the box, but they didn’t perform a ledge display. After 4 PM, the falcons began visiting the lookout on the State Building. For a time both were up there. They looked like the King and Queen of the world way up there. Soon Astrid was making forays out and then returning. She appeared to be hunting. At least one falcon remained visible up on the roof until about 5:20.