Overnight was cold and windy. Temperatures got down into the low twenties. After sunrise, temps slowly rose into the thirties. The steady wind resumed by midday. Unfortunately, I lost my overnight recordings to an unscheduled computer shut down. This means that I’m not sure if the falcons were active between the hours of 1 to 4 AM. Ares screeched to the nestbox at 4:15. He screeched away again only a minute later. He returned with prey at 5:40. Astrid met him at the box, accepted the gift, and flew away with it to some unknown location. At 6:04, Ares flew into the canyon, once again, giving his best screech call as he flew. In terms of vocalizations, he pretty much becomes a pterodactyl during the breeding season – or at least a bird that could get work dubbing in pterodactyls for movies. At 6:10, Astrid piled into the nestbox, followed closely by her mate. There was no ledge display and she flew away almost immediately after arriving. She landed on the north face of the State Building and he assumed his post on the lookout above her. He was back in the box by 6:17, giving long calls. He was in and out of the box a few times before 7 AM. Before returning the last time, we heard the mating chatter call. Evidently the pair mated on the State Building
At 7:42, Astrid was on a window ledge east of the box and Ares was talking to her from the nest. They were both at the box at 8:10, but Astrid didn’t stay for a dance. Five minutes later they were both on the hotel. One appeared to be feeding on scraps. At 10:23, Astrid was on a window ledge west of the box and Ares was in the box chirping. The pair mated a few minutes later. At 10:50, Ares was back in the nestbox. He began giving volleys of cackle-type alarm calls, which probably meant a non-falcon raptor was passing near the canyon. After the second volley, he darted out towards the County Building, propelling himself with rapid, steady wingbeats. He veered off before reaching the building and, still cackling, he headed for his lookout perch on the roof of the State Building. At 11:22, there was an aborted mating attempt on the west ledge. Both were out of sight for about an hour after that. At 12:50 PM, Ares was chirping at the nest. Astrid arrived and the pair performed a ledge display – although it was more like a standoff, with both birds bowing to each other from their own respective sides of the box. When it was over Ares did one of his cowabunga dives out of the nest. At 1:24, he returned to the box and the pair conducted a switch. It was like the kind of changeover that happens when they are sharing incubation duties – except there are no eggs. Perhaps it was a practice switch.
At 3:00 PM, Ares returned to the box with prey. Astrid accepted it and took it over to the hotel. She remained on the hotel for a while after finishing. At 3:45, A&A were together in the box for another ledge display. This one was slightly more active than the one before. After Ares bailed out, Astrid did some housekeeping around the box. She also made a scrape in the stone on the floor of the box. At 5:21, Astrid was on the State Building on a narrow ledge above a top row of windows. Ares was plucking prey on a window ledge west of the box. When he was done with prep, he buzzed by Astrid and then returned to the box, still with food in his talons. Astrid wasn’t budging so he flew up to a perch next to hers on the State Building. After conversing with her he flew back to the nest with the prey. It seemed clear that Astrid had no intention of coming over. The prey appeared to be a Woodcock, which would explain Astrid’s lack of interest in it. Ultimately, Ares gave up trying to coax her over. He took the food and stored it somewhere. By 6 PM, both falcons had been out of view for a little while. A flock of crows moved through the canyon just as the sun was setting, but they didn’t seem to bother the falcons at all. Just then Ares made a dramatic entrance at the box. Astrid joined him there and the pair had another awkward standoff dance. After the display he flew over to the east lookout perch while Astrid made another scrape in the box. Both were out of view by 6:15. Goodnight falcons.