Peregrine Breeding Log for March 23 – 24, 2019:
Saturday, March 23rd, began cold and windy. About two inches of snow fell overnight. Temperatures were in the mid-twenties in the early morning and struggled to reach the high twenties by noon. We had some difficulty monitoring the falcons today due to ice buildup obscuring one of the PTZ cameras and incessant wind that made it difficult to hear some of their vocalizations. The falcons showed up at the box together at 4:50 AM and performed a very brief ledge display. After the dance Ares went onto the perch, spread his wings and let the wind carry him away. The falcons then did a switch at the box. It was like a dress rehearsal for when they have eggs and they are sharing incubation duties. Just before 7 AM, the pair arrived at the box for another ledge display. Prior to that Ares did some flybys, screeching as he does. He even swooped by the PTZ camera. At 7:45, Ares brought prey to the box. Astrid took it from him and flew to the hotel. She didn’t feed for very long, which made us wonder if it was another species on her list of bad menu items. In short order, she left the hotel. As for him, he was in and out of the box a few times. At one point she flew by him, which elicited light chirping calls from him. These birds almost always vocalize when they see each other from a distance. At 10:00, he was in and out of the box a few times. Both falcons were doing some very fancy flying on the winds. Ares zipped around the State Building, kited in front of the building’s west face and then tore through the canyon – diving quite low to scare up any small birds that frequent the lower rooftops. Astrid then spent a little time on the east side of the ADK Bank building. There she was out of the wind. She came back to the box at 11:00. Ares followed her in with prey and they did a transfer on the nest. She took it over to the hotel and this time she settled down to eat it.
(The date is incorrect on the above video link. It should read “3 23 19”)
They mated up on the State Building at noon. A half hour later, Ares was up on the main lookout post on top on the roof. Was he hunting? At 12:50 PM, following a failed mating attempt, Ares came back to the box. The falcons did a fair amount of flying in the afternoon – Ares more than Astrid. Strong winds typically equal free flying for falcons. Their flying takes far less energy. At 3:10, A&A converged at the nest box for a ledge display. He left about 3 minutes later. After he was gone, she stood in his scrape for a few minutes. She also did some other work around the nest including biting at the wooden lip of the box. She made no less than three scrapes on “her side” of the box. Utilizing the wind, she made a dramatic flight out of the box at 3:30. A minute later she was on the hotel feeding on something large (probably a Woodcock). We assumed that the prey came from Ares’ pantry. Whether he gave it to her directly or if she withdrew it herself, we didn’t know. She did have a good meal though. By 4 PM she was back on the State Building and he was at the nest. There was a failed mating attempt at 4:30. Shortly after, Ares screeched to the nestbox with prey. When she didn’t come over for it, he took it the ledge right above hers on the State Building. As it happened, Astrid wasn’t interested in eating again (she just had a big meal). She stayed put – alternately preening and napping. He went back to the box and sporadically uttered long territorial calls.
At 5:40, the pair mated on the State Building once again. He then boomeranged right back to the box where he worked on his big scrape for a while. At 6:10, he did some high speed soaring on the wind and then he was at the box again. Astrid was gesturing for him to come and mate, but he wasn’t responding. She began bowing and giving her “chur-up” calls, but he still wasn’t taking the cue. It was possible there was an intruder in the territory, although we saw none. Both falcons immediately took to the air and were gone for a half hour. Ares came back to the State Building at 6:45. Astrid came in from the south at 7 PM. Ares flew out to meet her. Deb was in place to see a great airshow by A&A. They exchanged some sharp chirping vocalizations as they soared together over by the hotel. They then played in the air above Genesee Street before dashing around the ADK bank building. Ares came to the nest. At 7:20, Astrid was seen on the east face of the State Building. Ares had been at the box but left at close to 7:30 PM. He probably went to join her. Goodnight falcons.
Sunday, March 24th, got off to a cool start but it warmed up fast and temps were in the mid-40’s by noon. The strong winds that characterized the last 2 days died down overnight (although there was a slight reprise by later afternoon). Astrid and Ares piled into the nestbox at 5:45 AM. They performed a ledge display that lasted no longer than 15 seconds and then Ares was out. Once he was gone, she sat in his uber-scrape for quite a while. He brought her a small food tribute at 6:30. She took it to the hotel. Ares accompanied her and perched nearby while she fed. He screeched back to the box at 6:45. At 7:25, both falcons were together at the box again. He wanted her to come in and dance and she wanted him to mate. Ultimately, her will prevailed and they mated a few minutes later. Astrid then sidestepped her way onto the east veranda perch. There they mated at 7:34, and then again at 8 AM! Both spent some time on the State Building after that. At 8:10, Ares was at the box with prey. It looked to be a male nuthatch. He plucked it on the main perch. He then zipped over to a ledge adjacent to the one Astrid was on. Tying to lure her over, he screeched back to the box. He remained at the box for a while, occasionally giving long calls. At 9:45, Astrid was at the box and Ares was up. She did many chores around the box including scrape making and box lip biting. They mated at the box a few minutes later.
At 10:10, Ares was on the east face of the ADK Bank with prey. We didn’t know if it was old or fresh. We didn’t see it, but there was a food transfer and Astrid brought the meal to the hotel. Deb observed her approach to the hotel. She said Astrid came in low as if she was going to land on the hotel’s lower ledge, but then once she got close to the structure, she swooped up and landed on the higher ledge. Ares joined her on the hotel – apparently standing guard. The days of him muscling in on her meals are long gone. They were both at the box again at 10:50. Astrid jumped from the box over to the east veranda. They mated there a few minutes later. Astrid took some time to explore the east veranda and peered at the office window for a while. She also looked curiously up towards the veranda camera a few times. She could have been looking at something beyond the camera but if so, we don’t know what that was. By this point, Ares was up on the lookout post on top of the State Building. She left the box at 12:35 and we didn’t know where she went. However, Ares seemed to know where she was. He made about 4 or 5 quick trips to the box – each time giving long calls and excited chirps. He was very ramped up. Each time he left he flew around the east side of the State Building. If we interpret Ares’ flight paths correctly, she was probably over there. She moved to the north face of the building at 12:50. Ares came to the box and nearly melted down with excitement. They mated a short time later.
In the early afternoon the wind had picked up again and the falcons’ flights were quickened by it. Ares was also doing his rendition of a Jack-in-the-Box. He was in and out of the box a lot, while Astrid mostly stayed put on the State Building. At 3:40 we thought there may have been an intruder in the canyon. There was lots of vocalizing and Ares was doing very fast flights around the State Building. She finally took off too, but we saw no third bird. At 4:15, Astrid returned to the State Building and Ares was at the box calling to her. He was in and out of the box a few times until they ultimately confirmed mating at 5:40. Ten minutes later he appeared at the box with prey. She came over, took it from him and flew over to the hotel. At 6:02, we knew she had taken off based upon his excited calls from the box. Astrid was gone from our view for a little while after that. She reappeared on the lower hotel ledge at 6:30. At 7 PM, the falcons had been out of view for a while. Suddenly they both barged into the box (first him and then her) and did a ledge display. It was very abridged and he was out within a few minutes. She remained until 7:30, at which point she probably went to a night perch. Goodnight Falcons.
We are rapidly approaching the egg laying window for Astrid. The average first egg date for the five years she’s been laying is April 1st. The earliest she has ever laid has been March 26th. She is beginning to behave like she is ready to lay, but we don’t expect her to be record early this year. Stay tuned.
