Astrid was on the nest for a very cold overnight period. Temps got down into the high 20’s. At around 5:25 AM she started calling to Ares to relive her. He showed up five minutes later and took over on the eggs. He did some chirping as she flew to the State Building. She did some flying around the canyon after that – likely she was hunting. The next switch at the nest took place at close to 7:44 and then Astrid was back on the eggs. An hour later she was vocalizing as if she saw him. but we couldn’t find him on the PTZ cam. At 10:20 he was back on the Sate Building and tightly wedged up onto the corner of a narrow window ledge as only Ares can do. He came to the box at 11:06 but Astrid did not want to leave yet so he flew over to a steeple perch. He returned to the nest at 11:44 and the pair had a conversation, but Astrid was still not ready to go. He flew off again.
The next switch happened at 1:02 PM. Astrid finally decided to go out and stretch her wings. At 1:44 she was feeding on something sizable on the hotel – probably a Pigeon. We assume she caught it herself and did not get it from Ares’ pantry. She checked in at the nestbox at 3:12 but flew out directly after that. An intruder was in the canyon only minutes later. Astrid was the first to see it and she purposefully darted off her steeple perch on an interception course. Ares started giving chirping alarm calls from the nest. He got off the eggs and flew out. He was back at 3:19. The eggs had been unattended for only 4 minutes. Presumably, Astrid was still chasing off the intruder. She was back on the crossperch at 3:21. She was sporting a large crop from her recent meal on the hotel. She and her mate vocalized for a little while and then she moved to a steeple perch. The next changing of the guard took place at 4:23 – and then Astrid was on the eggs. Ares made hunting forays from high perches on the State Building for a while, but then at 4:37 another intruder came into the canyon and landed on a window ledge not far from where Ares was perched. The stranger appeared to be another adult male Peregrine. Ares chased after him and we didn’t see him again until 5:46 when he returned to the State Building. As Astrid continued incubation duty in the nest, Ares kept watch for the next two hours. He retired to his night perch after that. Goodnight falcons.
