Peregrine Breeding Log for April 10 – April 11, 2019:
Wednesday, April 10th was consistently cool for the entire day. Temps were mostly in the 40s with a biting wind that made it feel even colder. Astrid spent the night on the eggs and Ares arrived on the north face of the State Office Building at 6:12 AM. She uttered some of her trademark low donkey calls when she saw him. She was eager to take a break from incubating. She hadn’t stretched her wings since she relieved Ares on the previous afternoon, fully 15 hours before! At 6:14, Ares came over and gave her a break. After leaving the nest in the early morning Astrid often flies back and forth in front of the west face of the State Building, checking Ares’ pantry ledges. However, since work has been taking place on the exterior of the building, she has been less interested in looking. She must have been more hungry today, because she did ultimately fly around the building a few times, presumably checking for edibles. At 6:48, we located her on the hotel, and she did have prey – likely something she caught herself, It looked fairly sizable but wasn’t a Pigeon. At 7:20, she was finished and located back on the Steeple. Twenty minutes later, she was at the box asking to get back on the eggs. It took some convincing, but Ares left.
At 7:50, Ares screeched through the canyon. He came to the box at 8:40, and he was vocalized in a big way. Of course, then he just zipped right out again. Perhaps he was alarmed about the work taking place on State Building. Men were descending from the roof on scaffolding suspended by wires. To the best of our knowledge, the Utica Flacons never had experienced men going up and down on the sides of a building they cared about. He came back an hour later and was all excited, about the same thing we presumed. He was out again in less than a minute. At 10:47 (he was coming by once every hour), he was back. He gave some long calls and landed on the new perch outside Deb’s window. It was the first time he had ever been seen using it. He was up and to the box a couple of minutes later and the pair executed a quick switch. Upon leaving she first went to the hotel and then to the steeple. Moments later she was up again and giving alarm calls. The men on the scaffolding was probably the reason. She had returned to the steeple by 11:20. Twenty-five minutes later she was at the box and it took her ten minutes to convince Ares to get off the eggs and let her take over. This time she was extremely nice and patient about it. Again, she used only gentle persuasion – lots of beak swiping and no tail stomping.
At 1:25, Ares screeched though the canyon and made a short and dramatic appearance at the nest. Ten minutes later he was back again, and this time he really wanted to switch. He was uncharacteristically pushy with Astrid – invading her space and practically kicking her out. His new aggressive approach didn’t work so well. She refused to budge, and he flew over to the steeple. At 2:26, Astrid did some calling on the nest and we wondered if the pair had an intruder issue. None was confirmed. Ares came and took over on the nest only two minutes after she left. She was next seen on the steeple at 3:10. The next changing of the guard took place at about 4:30, Astrid did some beak swiping with Ares while convincing him to leave. She started calling again at 5:45, but again, we weren’t sure why and we didn’t know where Ares was at that time. He was spotted on the hotel at 6 PM, and then on a window pillar west of the nest at 6:20. The last place we observed him was on the County Building. He was gone by 6:45. Goodnight falcons!
Thursday, April 11th was off to a cold start – only 26 degrees at 5:00. By noon the temperature rose as much as twenty degrees, but it still seemed cold. Astrid spent the entire night on the eggs. Ares was first glimpsed at 5:15 AM, perched on the west face of the state building. The pair executed a quick switch at the box at 6:10. After leaving the box, Astrid circumnavigated the State Building a few times. She was probably looking for stored food. After that we didn’t see her for a while. Finally, she was glimpsed flying off the back steeple perch. At 8:20, she made a quick stop at the box to check on Ares and the eggs. They vocalized a few times and then she was off. Her next stop was back to the steeple. She was there until 8:42, when she came to the box for a switch. Ares quickly vacated and she took over on the eggs. Ares initially went to the State Building but then was located on the hotel. Later on in the morning, work on the east face of the state building involving suspended scaffolding resumed and the birds weren’t happy about it. By 10:30, they were doing a lot of vocalizing in the canyon. Ares went to the steeple shortly after that.
At 10:40, Ares came to the box and tried to relieve Astrid, but she didn’t want to go. He left instead, and on his way out he screeched past Deb’s office window. He landed on the hotel ledge after that. Ares was back to the box at 11:28 and the pair did some more conversing, but Astrid still wouldn’t come off the eggs and so he was up again. The next changing of the guard took place at 1:05 PM – and it was a fast one. After leaving the box, Astrid circled the State Building a few times – no doubt accessing the threat posed by the workers on the east face of the building. She landed on the steeple perch that we can’t see with our cams. By 2:40, Astrid had changed steeple perches and we could see her again. She arrived at the box a little more than an hour later. At first it seemed she was asking to mate – he stood on the crossperch facing in and bowing at Ares. After standing on the perch from almost ten minutes, Ares relinquished the nest to her and he went to the State Building.
At about 4 o’clock, I heard Ares screeching a few times from the canyon. Ten minutes later, Deb saw him flying high over the State Building. We didn’t see it, but reasoned there was an intruder around. Astrid began calling and came off the eggs. She launched into the canyon but then was back in the box and on the eggs within 4 minutes. We didn’t see Ares again until 6 PM, when he showed up on the hotel. He left ten minutes later and then presumably went to his night perch. Astrid remained tight on the eggs. We expect her to remain so giving the cold nighttime temps. Goodnight falcons!