Temperatures dipped down into the forties during the overnight period, but it warmed up quickly after day-break. It was about 70 degrees by noon. Astrid was on her eggs all night. I heard Ares give a cackle call at 5:02 AM. Was there an intruder around that early? Perhaps he had prey and dropped it. He was on the State Building for a while after that. At 5:58, Ares brought Astrid a very small prey item. She grabbed it and flew to the hotel. She was finished with it in only a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, Ares made himself comfortable on the eggs. He made squeaking calls as he watched her fly back through the canyon. At 6:36, Astrid came to the crossperch. They finally switched at 6:50 and then Ares went over to the State Building. At 7:39, he returned to the nest. The pair had a conservation over the eggs, but it culminated with Astrid settling back down and resuming incubation. At 8:50, we heard Ares screech from somewhere in the canyon. It probably meant that he caught prey and was off to process it. At 9:19, he brought food to Astrid. She took it over to the hotel.
At 10:56 AM, we heard another screech from Ares. This time it was only him announcing himself before landing on his pillar perch. At 11:51, he was at the box asking for a turn on the eggs. He crowded up behind her and stepped on her tail and wingtips. She was a bit annoyed but got up and ceded the eggs to him.
At 12:49, Astrid was seen darting through the canyon and then landing on the State Building. Ares gave some light squeaking calls to announce his mate’s return. She was on her steeple perch by 1:35. She was up twenty minutes later and then was out of our view for a while. At 3:13, she showed up at the nest and they did a quick changing of the guard. Ares went to the State Building and then to his pillar. By 4:00, the sun was drenching the inside of the box and Astrid resorted to shading the eggs. The temperature was a balmy 80 degrees. The next switch took place at 5:32. Ares was again impatient to take over and he got behind Astrid and stepped on her flight feathers. It was clear he wasn’t taking “no” for an answer. Astrid moved to the State Building for a while. At 6:51, Astrid came landed on the crossperch. She was ready to take over for the night. However, Ares didn’t want to leave yet. She granted him a little more time.
At 7:05 PM, she was back. This time Ares was ready. He flew out and she took over on the eggs.
Goodnight falcons and all.
