Saturday, March 5, 2022 – Plenty of Matings, a Food Exchange & Lots of Nest Guarding

Ares in the early morning

The overnight was cold, but temperatures rose fairly quickly into the 20s during the morning. Our first sighting of a falcon took place at just after 6:00 AM. It was Ares and he was on a high ledge on the State Building. At 6:15 he was gone from his perch, and we heard a distant cackle alarm call from somewhere in the canyon. Right after that we found Astrid perched on the hotel. She appeared to be moving her bill and vocalizing, but we weren’t sure if it was her that had cackled earlier. She appeared to be in hunting mode – watching the Pigeons move about in the canyon. At 6:23 Ares buzzed directly over her and then flew to the box. Once there he began calling to her to come over. Ten minutes later she dashed after prey. She apparently missed her target and so she cruised through the canyon. She flew by Ares at the box and landed on a west ledge. Ares gave excited calls. He is always her best audience. Minutes later he gone, but at 6:52 he came back with prey. He landed on a ledge west of the box and began hastily plucking his quarry. Astrid was anticipating a gift meal and she became excited.  She called to him to bring it over, but he just kept working on it himself and seemed in no hurry to get it to her. Finally, at 7:08 he brought her what was left. She accepted it inside the box and took it to hotel. She proceeded to feed on it for about ten minutes so there must have been something there. At the box, Ares gave pterodactyl calls while she fed.

Mating on the east veranda

At 7:21 AM Astrid flew back to a ledge east of the nestbox. He hopped into the box once she came into view. He seemed to be hoping for a ledge display (dance). By 7:55 he had left the nest and had flown up to his favorite pillar perch. From their perches they did some spirited chattering back and forth. The pair mated at 9:52 and Ares returned to the box directly afterwards. A moment later he was up, only to screech right back again. Did he not get his dramatic entrance right the first time? By 10:10 both falcons were out of view. Ares then showed up on the northwest lookout post. He flew back to the nest at 10:33 AM. She arrived on a west ledge a few minutes later and the pair shared a spritely conversation.  After their talk he did a few housekeeping chores inside the box. Another mating occurred on the east ledge at 11:32. At 11:50 he was giving squeaking calls inside the box again. Astrid had moved to the steeple. Both then flew and she came over to the crossperch. At 12:34 PM Ares flew over to the nest and hopped into the box. He called for her to join him in a ledge display. She moved to the east veranda and, for a moment, seemed to be asking to mate. She then changed her mind and realigned herself on her perch so mating wouldn’t be possible. At 12:43 she was on the steeple. Fifteen minutes later he began cackle calling at the box. Evidently some raptor or vulture was flying over. We couldn’t see anything with our cams. Astrid flew back to the east veranda at 1:27. Ares hopped back into the box and started excitedly calling again. A minute later she was asking to mate and he quickly obliged.

Afternoon Ledge Display

At 1:44 PM Astrid left her perch and flew around the west and south sides of the State Building. Perhaps she was checking Ares’ pantry ledges. She then followed him to the nest area. He went into the box and she landed on the west veranda. They were vocalizing to each other in a big way. At 2:12 he moved from the east veranda to his pillar perch. Interestingly, the falcons were dedicated to guarding the box today and, for the most part, either one or both of them were keeping close by. Ares was back in the box and calling at 2:25. They mated again ten minutes later. He went to his pillar at 3:40 and then came back to the box calling. He was out again after only a minute. As for Astrid, she remained on a west ledge. At 3:45 Ares was heard screeching through the canyon. We thought that maybe he had prey, but that wasn’t confirmed. She called back to him, but there was no food transfer. At 4:00 the pair shared a ledge display in the box. When it started Astrid was standing on the lip of the box which was unusual. She did eventually come inside. He left the dance after only three minutes and Astrid stayed on to do some work around the box. She did a half scrape in the stone using only one foot. She then did a proper whole scrape using the traditional two footed method. At 4:43 Astrid began calling like she saw Ares flying in. He soon landed on his pillar perch. A few minutes later the pair mated on the east ledge. At 5:41 she left her ledge perch and he arrived at the box at the same time. She then returned to the east ledge and called excitedly. Five minutes later, both were gone and out of our view. Presumably they were off to their night perches. Goodnight to all.

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