Wednesday, March 13th had a cold start but conditions moderated as the day went on and by noon temps were well into the 40’s. The Peregrine Falcon pair were very active today and, although we confirmed no ledge displays, there were 9 or 10 matings and three food exchanges. This morning Astrid surprised us by being the first one to the box. She came in chirping at 6:15. We didn’t see Ares until 6:40 when he appeared on the State Building. Shortly after that, suddenly he was in the box and she was gone. At 7 AM, she was relocated on a window ledge east of the nest. Ten minutes later (judging by the lively vocalizations), some manner of interaction took place. All we knew was that she was in the box and he was gone. He came right back with prey and proceeded to pluck it on window ledge west of the box. At 7:30, Ares gave some long calls and took the food tribute over to the box. Astrid accepted it and hauled it over to the hotel to eat. The first confirmed mating of the day took place on the box’s long perch at 8:50. Another happened at 9:07. The third confirmed mating of the day took place on the west veranda at 9:30. An aborted mating attempt happened fifteen minutes later and the fourth successful one of the morning occurred at 10:20. Astrid spent some time on the steeple after that. We thought there may be a mating there, but it was not to be. The next bit of action came in the form of a food tribute. Just before 11:00, Ares brought prey to the box and Astrid dashed over to accept it. She took it over to the hotel and made short work of it. When she finished, she flew over to the west face of the State Building. Ares squeaked from the box when she passed by. At 11:45, he gave a cackle alarm call and scrambled out of the box. He was chasing something to the west, but we didn’t know what his target was. Astrid kept her perch during his sortie. He screeched back to the nestbox at around 12:15.
During the early afternoon, Astrid remained fairly sedentary while Ares was in and out of the box a few times and also made a few visits to the lookout. At 2:10, Ares made a scrape in the box – and yes, it was in his king-size divot area. Somehow, after that they made another one of their seamless quick switches and then it was her in the box. Five minutes later, Ares brought food to her and she accepted it. This time she brought it over to the State Building. Both were at the box again at 2:30. A possible mating or even short dance may have happened at that time, but it couldn’t be confirmed. However, the fifth successful mating of the day took place at 2:45. He was back at the box an hour later and she was out on the perch again, asking to mate. Of course, he was lobbying to have a ledge displace, but she wouldn’t comply and in short order, they mated for the sixth time. Both falcons were at the box at 2:30 and they shared a lively conversation. Fifteen minutes alter they mated. Suddenly she was the one that was in and out of the box. Both were at the nest at 3:45. Once again, Ares wanted to dance and she was only interested in mating. Neither happened at that moment. The dance versus mating thing repeated itself at 4:15. A seventh mating occurred at 5:20 and then another at just before 6 PM. You can tell that these two put daylight savings time to good use! We located Ares on the hotel at 6:30. He had caught prey and was taking a share off the top. A minute later he brought his mate a chunk of it. She scrambled down the veranda perch to reach him and accept. She then took the food to the hotel. When she finished, she flew over to the State Building and unceremoniously upped Ares from his perch on the lookout. She stayed in that place until close to 7 PM. He remained in sight for a short time after and then, presumably went off to his night perch.
Thursday March 14th, was warmer than it has been in some time, with temps topping out in the 50’s. It was a little windy but the winds were not cold for a change. The falcons were very active again today, with matings, ledge displays, and food tributes. The pair remained in view of our cameras for nearly the entire day and spent much time in the general vicinity of the nest box. Our first view of the falcons took place at almost precisely 6 AM, when Ares arrived at the nestbox. He came in chirping which meant that Astrid was likely within his view. Sure enough, she was. Even though it was well before sunrise, lights from the city illuminated her from below as she flew around the west face of the State Building. Right before 6:30, both were at the nest box. He was on the gravel floor asking her to come in for a ledge display and she was on the main perch, bowing and asking to mate. She soon moved to the perch on the west veranda. He left as well, and we weren’t sure if there was a mating attempt or not at that juncture. The next we saw him he was on the lookout post on top of the State Building. He soon dove back to the nest and began vocalizing. He also did some housekeeping which included making a scrape in the growing crater he’s been chipping away at on the right-hand side of the box. At 7:20, he left the box and successfully mated with Astrid. Only ten minutes later, she was asking to mate again, and he complied. The pair mated at 8:00. A half hour later, they tried again, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
At 8:45, Ares returned to the box with a food offering. Astrid didn’t seem interested and instead was requesting another mating. He waited a few minutes and then hopped onto the west veranda platform. That peaked her interest. She tried to tug the food from him, but he wouldn’t let go. She then grabbed it with one foot and he relinquished his hold. She took the gift over to the hotel ledge and proceeded to eat it. While she fed, a Pigeon buzzed right by her. The bird was likely protecting its nesting site beneath the ledge. When she was finished with her meal she remained for a little while and basked in the warm sun. Next, she joined Ares at the box for a 9:15 ledge display. At the end of their dance, Ares spent a few minutes sitting in his giant scrape. After he dove out, she did go over to his super scrape and stood in it as if trying it out for size. She even made her own scrape on top of his! After that she spent some time doing housekeeping chores around the nest – picking up and moving stones and biting at the lip of the box – all important stuff! At that time, Ares was up on the lookout post, but whether he was looking for prey or intruders, we couldn’t say.
By 10:20, both falcons had disappeared from our view, but then Ares screeched back to the box at 10:35. I thought I heard some cackle alarm calls right before he arrived, but we could find no evidence of an intruder. Almost 20 minutes later, Astrid flew to a window ledge on the east side of the nest box. The pair mated at 11:12. We didn’t see Ares for a half hour after that. Finally, Deb picked him out on the west face of the State Building. A few minutes later he flew. Astrid (still on west veranda) was expecting him to come and mate with her, but he passed right by her and went into the box. While there he spent some quality time on his mega-scrape. At 12:40, she was back and he was gone. Obviously, the pair was keeping a near constant presence at the nest – shadows of things to come once they begin incubating. After flying around the State Building at top speed, Ares put down on the lookout post – a popular stop as of late. He was soon back to the box and she had moved to the west veranda perch. The pair mated at 1:15 PM, it was the fifth known mating of the day. Five minutes later, Ares was back with a food tribute. He obtained it so fast, we thought he must have gotten it out of storage, but who knows. When he saw she wasn’t interested, he flew out with it, but then came right back to tempt her a second time. What happened next was an exact repeat of the prior food transfer. He went over to the west veranda, she grabbed the prey from him and took it to the hotel. Both were at the box again at 1:45. The pair shared a highly abbreviated ledge display that ended abruptly when both participants dove off the dance floor – first her and then him. Both were out of view until Ares returned to the box at 2:20 PM. She then landed on the west veranda. They mated for the 6th time. She stayed put for a few hours after that. For the most part Ares did too, but he did make a few brief forays into the canyon – always returning to the box.
At 4:30, they tried to mate again, but Ares came in too high and had to abort the attempt. He diverted and landed at the box instead. Another failed mating attempt occurred at 5:30 ish, but then they succeeded with their next try only ten minutes later. For the next couple of hours, Ares was going between the nest box and the lookout. They were both at the nest at 6:00. She signaled that she wanted to mate, but as soon as he flew out, she jumped into the box. He must’ve noticed that because dashed up to the lookout instead of boomeranging back around to her. At 6:30, Ares launched from the lookout and flew with purpose toward the west. We didn’t know what he was after, but he came back into view a few minutes later. Both finally went off to their night perches at around 7PM. Good night falcons.