The overnight period was warm and wet. Temps were in the 50’s. Some thunderstorms were in the region after sunrise. Temps rose into the 60’s as the morning progressed and the wind increased. By noon sustained winds were fierce. In the afternoon, gusts were up to 50 MPH, rain was off and on and the temperature dropped into the 40’s. Astrid was on the crossperch all night long. She did leave for a few minutes at one point but came right back to the nest. We thought there was little chance of her laying an egg since she was on the perch and not in the box proper. At 5:10, Ares brought food to the west veranda. She hopped over to take it, but they dropped it during the transfer. Ares dove after it and tried to grab it before it hit the ground, but he was unsuccessful and came back without it. He jumped into the box and she flew off. At 6:44, She came back to the long perch. He came over with more prey. This time he brought it to the edge of the box, and she was able to collect it easily. She took it to the hotel. At 7:00, both falcons were calling as if there was an intruder active in the canyon. We couldn’t hear Astrid, but we could see her beak moving as she vocalized. Also, her posturing made it clear there was another falcon near her. Ares was in the nest at the time, so it wasn’t him. After backing off the zoom on the PTZ cam, we saw the intruder perched on the roofline above Astrid. The stranger was an adult – not sure if it was a female or a male. Ares did a hazing run over it and it made a dash to the east. Astrid pursued and then they were all out of view. I guess it wasn’t such a big deal since Ares was back to the box and her to the steeple in less than five minutes. They mated on the steeple at 7:10, after which, he came back to the box. Another mating on the steeple occurred at 7:24 AM. Ares came box to the box and was chirping – maybe the intruder was back.
At 8:03 AM, both falcons were at the nest for a ledge display. A thunderstorm was in the area, but the falcons didn’t seem worried about it. Ares dove out of the box after about 5 minutes. For the next twenty minutes the falcons were acting like the intruder somewhere close by. She was on the crossperch for only a moment and then both were out of view for a while. Next, he came to the box calling. At 9:30, Astrid reappeared on top a pillar to the west of the nestbox. At 10:18, Ares flew in with food. Astrid met him on a west ledge, and they did a transfer. Astrid took her meal to the hotel. By this point in the morning the wind had picked up and the falcons were taking advantage of the flying boost it provided. Both falcons were flying faster, swooping deeper, and gracefully executing more complicated maneuvers. After doing some fancy flying Astrid landed on the State Building. Ares came to the box at about the same time. Both conversed from across the canyon. They mated on the State Building at 10:56. At 11:42, Astrid darted off to the north. Ares immediately flew after her, but then doubled back and flew to his lookout post on the northeast corner of the State Building roof. As it happened, she had gone to the lower ledge of the hotel – probably to have a drink from one of the ledge puddles. A minute later she was in the air again. She dashed around the steeple and possibly buzzed by Ares at the nest. He was excitedly calling as if a dance was imminent. At 12:06, she landed on a lower steeple perch. The wind was buffeting her, and it made it difficult for her to holed her tail straight out behind her. She was up moments later and Ares again took off after her. She landed on a high ledge on the State Building. He buzzed by her at cruising speed and then did some playing on the wind. He landed on a ledge a few down from hers. By 1:30, he was back to the box. Th and giving an occasional long call, The rain had become steadier at this point. Twenty minutes later, he was giving chip-type alarm calls. He flew out over Genesee Street and then returned to the box. He was upset about something, but we couldn’t see anything. Astrid was sedentary on the State Building during this time. She was more or less out of the weather on that ledge.
At 2:27 PM, we could see that Ares was plucking prey on the hotel. It may have been a Woodcock, but we couldn’t be positive. After feeding for a little while he took the leftovers to the box. Astrid met him and took the food to the hotel. There she had a good feed. Ares screeched in the box and then flew out to be near her on the hotel. Again, he was keeping close tabs on her. At 3:00, she was on the State Building and he was at the nestbox. Fifteen minutes later they attempted to mate on the crossperch, but it was a failed attempt – probably on account of the wind. She hopped into the box afterwards and started giving “chirrup” calls. Ares came right over, and she dove out. By 4:00 PM, both were on the State Building. At 4:24, Ares was sailing around the canyon like only a Peregrine can – dashing and kiting on the high winds. At 4:45, the pair were together at the box for a ledge display. It was more of a stand-off than a dance and he was out after only four minutes. She then did some of her usual housekeeping chores – digging in the stones, biting the lip of the box, and making scrapes. At 5:22, the pair reconvened for yet another dance at the nest. This one was only about 2 minutes long and Astrid left first. He made a scrape after she flew. At 6:43, Astrid left her perch on the State Building and flew to the hotel. There she spent a few minutes drinking from one of the ledge puddles. We’ve noticed that she typically drinks water before laying an egg. Does that mean she’s going to lay tonight? We don’t know. She laid her first egg once before on March 26th; perhaps she’ll do it again. At sometime before 7:20 PM, Astrid was in the box. She looks poised to lay to lay an egg. Goodnight falcons.
