The overnight was cold and snowy. Temperatures were around 20 degrees and snow was falling heavily in the early morning. We thought we might not see much of the falcons today – imagining they would stay tucked on a south facing ledge on the State Building, but Ares screeched over to the nest box at 6:25 AM, which was well within his normal arrival window. Less than five minutes after he arrived, Astrid buzzed by the box, almost landing on the crossperch, but then flying away again. She came right back and put down on a window ledge to the east of the nest box. Ares immediately began calling to her and inviting her to come into the box. Having Ares show up was interesting but having Astrid fly through a snowstorm was much more unexpended. She doesn’t tend to like inclement weather and when faced with snow showers, she usually refrains from flying. Of course, the clock is ticking, and we are now about 30 days out from the start of the egg laying window. No one knows this better than Astrid. So, despite the weather, she is making an effort to keep the breeding season on track.
Not long after arriving she tucked in on the window ledge until all we could see of her was the tip of her tail feathers. At 7:20 Areas gave some long calls; he wanted her in the box for a dance. They were still in the same places at 8:00, but then, forty-five minutes later, Astrid was out on the crossperch asking to mate. She was in position with tail pointing out into the canyon. He dove from the box, circled back but didn’t follow through. Perhaps the wind threw off his approach. She hopped into the box, and he flew up to his favorite pillar perch. At 8:53 she moved back to the east veranda, and he returned to the box a half hour later. They remained in these spots for the balance of the morning and even into the afternoon. Ares dozed off several times – tucking his bill into his shoulder feathers. Astrid stayed awake but she tucked in on the east veranda platform and faced the office window. She was surrounded by lots of her own footprints. It’s an interesting thing to see Peregrine Falcon footprints in the snow. It’s not something that people get to see very often. Occasionally, Ares would rouse from his slumber, give a long call, some squeaks, and then go back to dozing.
At 12:34 PM Astrid moved out to the east veranda. The wind strengthened in the afternoon and (as usual) the downtown was transformed into a wind tunnel. Freezing rain and snow began falling and the temperature, which had come up a bit in the morning, started to drop. At 1:42 Astrid took a perch on the north face of the State Building. Ares floated to the box, vocalized, and then lit out onto the wind – zooming off at tremendous speed and making an arc across the canyon. At 2:30 both Peregrines were together on the State Building, but not for long. Soon Ares was up again. He was back at the box at 3:31, staying inside and out of the weather for a little while. He started making squeaking calls when she left her perch at 3:54. He remained at the box until close to 5:00 PM. After that we presume the pair went to their night perches. Hopefully Saturday will be a better day for them. Good night all.