It was cool, windy and rainy overnight. Temperatures were in the mid-thirties. By daybreak the strong winds had died down, the rain stopped, but it remained cool. Astrid was in the nest from evening through 12:07 AM. At that point she got up, stretched her wings, hopped onto the crossperch and floated off into the windy canyon. She returned at 3:07, stood on the crossperch for ten minutes, and then jumped back into the nest. A few times, in the dark, I nearly convinced myself that she had laid her first egg. I even thought I could see it at one point, but I was wrong, there was no egg. That fact was made abundantly clear when Ares arrived at the box at 5:44 AM; when he came into the box, she flew out and it was obvious there was no egg on the scrape. Five minutes later we could see that Astrid was perched on a high ledge on the west face of the State Building. At 6:18, Ares was on the State Building as well. Astrid started calling in the box at 6:41. She was reacting to Ares who had just arrived on a west ledge with prey. Ares proceeded to pluck his catch as Astrid waited expectantly. His next stop was the hotel, where he continued to process his prey. After eating some he gave the leftovers to Astrid at the box, and then it was her turn to fly it over to the hotel.
At 7:34 AM, Astrid was on the steeple. They mated there at 8:15, and following that, Ares flew to the nest. They mated again about a half hour later. At 9:40, we heard chirping alarm calls from the canyon. There was likely an intruder in the downtown area. If so, we didn’t know how they were dealing with it. Both came to the box for a two-minute ledge display. She left first and more alarm calls were heard. She was on the steeple for only a minute. He came to the box and was still sounding the alarm. Both were on the State Building at 10:09, and the situation (whatever it was) had calmed down. A&A were at the box for another dance at 10:20. When it was finished, Ares left first. At 11:06, they did a switch at the box – similar to the changing of the guard they do when sharing incubation duties. At 11:24, both falcons were on the State Building. They remained there until around 1:15 PM, when Ares tried to tempt Astrid to the box with food. When she wouldn’t come, he tired flying by her with it and then going to the box. That didn’t work either and so he brought it to her ledge and handed it off to her. At 2:00, Ares was doing some housekeeping in the box. He gave some long calls after that. About twenty minutes after that she flew and we didn’t know where she was for a while.
At 2:42 PM, both falcons appeared at the nest and proceeded to do a ledge display – one that was replete with beaking. He was out after six minutes. At 3:04, Ares was back, and he was asking to switch (as if there were eggs to incubate). He came into the box and seemed to be trying to look underneath her. They circled each other more than usual during the display and then he was out. He was back again only twenty minutes later. She didn’t seem pleased with his persistence – she gave him the equivalent of a falcon lecture and he was out again. At 4:00, Ares came to the nest and the pair switched, just as if there was an egg to incubate. Astrid was next seen on the hotel ledge not far from her favorite puddle. She had likely already had a few sips by the time I found her. We have noticed that Astrid usually has some drinks of water when she’s close to egg laying time. At 5:04, Astrid was on the steeple and Ares was on the long perch. They mated there at 5:40 PM. At 6:00, we located her having meal on the hotel ledge. After she was finished, she flew to the steeple. At 6:30, Ares was giving long calls at the box. Both falcons converged at the nest and conducted a very short ledge display. This time he went to the steeple perch. As for Astrid, she did some housework around the box. When she was finished, she remained in the nest. It looked like she was in for the night. At 9:00, Astrid was shifting her position every few minutes and acting generally fidgety. Sure enough she was having contractions 40 minutes later. The first egg of the season was laid close to 9:44 PM! Congratulations falcons
