Overnight was rainy and foggy. In the hills the fog didn’t lift until late morning. In the falcon’s canyon, conditions weren’t as bad. Temperatures lingered in the fifties and rainfall became steadier by midafternoon. Astrid was on the eggs all night as expected. We first noticed that Ares was on the north face of the State Building at 5:14 AM. He screeched over to the box at 5:48. Initially Astrid seemed willing to switch, but then thought better of it. She stood up, turned around, and got back onto the eggs, all while Ares waited on the long perch. We began to wonder if a hatch was imminent. In past seasons, when a hatch is close, she loathes to leave the nest. One problem with that theory, is that it is decidedly too early for a hatch. On the video, we couldn’t see any pips or cracks in any of the shells. Of course, we couldn’t see every egg’s surface. As for Ares, he went to the steeple for a few minutes and then took off again. He was back to the nest at 6:07 and that time Astrid was more than willing to switch. She went to the State Building first and then flew to the steeple. She was staying in places where she could closely monitor the box. At 7:20, movement in an office adjacent to the nest caused Astrid to fly over to the crossperch. She wasn’t the only one in defensive mode; simultaneously, Ares began giving chirping-type alarm calls and darted into the canyon We didn’t see the intruder, but we assumed it was a male Peregrine based on his reaction. He flew back from his police action at 7:56. Astrid vocalized when he landed on the State Building. At 8:34, she came off the eggs to pick at the pea gravel in the nest box. At that time Deb got to do a more thorough job pursuing the eggs from our different camera views. There were no visible pips.
The next changing of the guard happened at around 9:50 AM and Ares took a turn on the eggs. Astrid spent some time on her steeple perch. At 11:04, she was back to the nest and taking over from him. This time Ares went to the steeple. His movements around the canyon continued to be noted by Astrid; she called each time he returned from a foray and landed on the State Building. The rain continued and the falcons became less active in the afternoon. Ares came to the nest at 2:01 PM. He more or less barreled in, giving Astrid little option but to vacate. She flew over to a perch on the State Building. At 2:39 she was on the steeple and only a minute after that, she was on a pillar west of the nestbox. The rainfall Had become heavier by that point. The last switch of the day occurred at around 5:00, which is early by recent standards. We didn’t see where Ares went after leaving the box. Goodnight falcons and falcon folks.
