Egg Laying is Likely Over and Yet Mating Continues & Late Day Intruders

Peregrine Breeding Log for April 6 – April 7, 2019:

Saturday, April 6^th began with misty rainfall. It was overcast and milder than it has been. Temperatures rose from the mid-thirties in the early morning to 50 degrees by noon. Astrid spent the entire night on the eggs. Our first view of Ares came at 6:19 when he appeared on the State Building. Six minutes later he came to the box and the pair switched. This was the first time Ares has gotten to see the new egg. He wasted no time in trying them on for size. He climbed right on top of them. After the switch, Astrid went up to perch on a pillar west of the box. She made a short visit to check on how Ares was doing with the eggs. It’s possible that she was requesting a mating – if so, it wasn’t happening. She went over to the steeple after that. At 8:15, she returned to the box and this time she was aiming to take over on the eggs. Ares was very settled in and didn’t want to leave. After some gentle persuasion he moved off and left the eggs to her.  He came back only a half-hour later and requested another switch. He muscled right up to the end of her tail like she often does with him. That’s right! He tried to usher her out, but she wasn’t cooperating. He gave up and hopped on to the east veranda. A few minutes later he was gone.

At 10:30, Ares was on the hotel processing prey. He brought it to the box two minutes later. When Astrid scrambled over the crossperch to take, it looked almost like she dropped it. She was on the State Building after that. She may or may not have been feeding up there; it was hard to tell. While she was gone, Ares held the fort, but initially, not very well. He got right off the eggs again and stood on the crossperch for twelve minutes. That was a moderately long gap in incubation. After feeding (presumably) Astrid went back to her perch on the steeple. She came to the nest at 12:25 and the pair did a quick switch on the eggs. Another rapid changeover took place at 2:20. That time Ares came on egg duty and Astrid went over to the State Building. At 3 PM, we lost track of Astrid for a while. Deb noticed a Bald Eagle and some Turkey Vultures flying west of the canyon. There were probably other migrants around as well. Perhaps Astrid was out policing the territory. With his high-pitched chirps, Ares let us know when she arrived back in the canyon. Once again, she was perched on the north face of the State Building. Some movement inside an office near the box made Astrid come over. She stayed on the crossperch giving the adjacent office window a dirty look for about 10 minutes. Ares seemed contented to have her so close at hand while he incubated. Finally, she entered the box, swiped bills with him a few times and they switched.

At 4:50, Ares was on a window ledge west of the box plucking prey. Puffs of feather flew past the office windows. Five minutes later Ares brought the processed meal to the box and Astrid danced over the crossperch to take it. She flew it over to the hotel ledge. After her meal she perched on the steeple. At 6:25, she returned to the crossperch, signaled to Ares her desire to mate and he complied. It’s unlikely that Astrid will be laying a 5^th egg, so any mating at this point could be considered extracurricular. Afterwards, she settled onto the eggs and all was calm for about ten minutes. She then started giving excited calls. An intruder was in the territory somewhere, although we couldn’t locate it with the cameras. Ares was on the State Building but had yet to scramble. Did he not see it yet? At 7:20, Ares was engaged, although we didn’t know exactly what was happening or who the intruder was. Astrid calmed down eventually, and she never got off the eggs. Ares wasn’t seen after 7:30, but most likely he went to his night perch.

Sunday, April 7^th was warmer than usual right from the onset. The day was partly cloudy to mostly sunny. By noon the temperature had gotten up to the mid-60’s. Astrid as on the eggs all night. Ares was first seen at around 5:15 AM. He was perched on the west face of the State Building. He left a little while after. At 5:42, Ares brought a small piece of food to the box. Astrid took it over to the hotel ledge. She was finished in only a few minutes. Ares had a large crop. He probably fed for a while before bringing her the tidbit. He didn’t settle down on the eggs until about five minutes after arriving. At 7 AM, Astrid came to the crossperch, gave some donkey calls and left. She then went to one of her steeple perches. A half-hour later she was back and took over on the eggs. Ares was heard giving his trademark screech at just after 8:00. He just swooped in and landed on a window ledge west of the nest. After a little processing, he brought it to the box and Astrid scrambled over to take it. She flew right over to the hotel with it.

Astrid was finished with her meal by 8:22. She stopped over at the box for a short converstaion with Ares and then she was out again. She landed on the State Building a few minutes later. The next switch occurred at 9:24 and Astrid took over on the eggs. Ares was seen on the hotel ledge at 10:45. For part of his stay, there was a Pigeon on the same ledge about a dozen feet from him. The falcons’ next switch on the eggs took place at 11:12. It was Ares turn on the eggs. At 1:10, Astrid was on the steeple perch again. Ares came off the eggs at 2:06, and she arrived to take over about five minutes later. It was over 60 degrees out and so we weren’t overly concerned about the eggs being left uncovered for short periods of times. They switched at 3:44, and Ares was on duty. Astrid took a relatively low perch on the State Building. At 5:12, the falcons began giving lively vocalizations and that usual means there’s an intruder in the canyon, Ares soon came off the eggs and was possibly trying to engage the stranger.

In the midst of the presumed sparring match, our pair tried to mate on the State Building. As it happened, they didn’t exactly line things up properly and Ares had to abort his landing. They shared another mating attempt at 5 PM. Right after that both A&A were out of view for a while. It’s likely they were going after an intruder. At 5:30, Ares was back to the nest. He only half got on to the eggs. He was more straddling them then sitting on them. He seemed warm and was holding his beak open. He was also still giving sharp “peek” notes. He wanted back in the fray! Astrid returned from her adventure and landed on the steeple. At 6:20, she came to the crossperch, bowed to Ares and requested a mating. He complied. Afterwards he landed on two different perches on the west face of the State Building in short order. Perhaps he was selecting some stored food. As it happened, only a couple of minutes later he was giving her a meal at the nest. As usual, she took it over to the hotel to eat. Astrid baled from the hotel at 6:41. Her departure was abrupt and was possibly an indication that the intruder was still active in the on the territory. Seven minutes later, loud chirping call were echoing though the canyon. The pair were dealing with something and we just couldn’t get a fix on it. Astrid finally came back onto the eggs at 6:58. The eggs had been uncovered for about 38 minutes this time, but it was 60 degrees out, so probably no worries. That was it for the known action in falcon town. Good Night falcons.