The overnight brought a cool down from the unseasonable warmth of Sunday. Temperatures were in the mid-30’s by sunrise. Rain arrived by mid-morning and fell intermittently throughout the day. Ares came to the box at 3:42 AM. He had a freshly caught Woodcock in his talons. It was the first one of the season. It dangled from his talons as perched on the crossperch calling for his mate to come and get it. Of course, she wasn’t coming. Somehow he forgets every year that his mate has no interest in Woodcocks – even those that are so thoughtfully procured in the pre-dawn hours. At 3:55 he flew off with it – maybe to bring it to her or, more likely, to store it on one of his pantry ledges. Two minutes later he screeched back to the box without the Woodcock. He called out into the dark canyon trying to engage with Astrid who was probably still on her night perch and maybe sleeping. Ares left only to come back at 4:20 with the Woodcock again. He flew off with it briefly, perhaps to do a flyby of Astrid’s perch to tempt her with the prospect of an awesome feast. He was back to the box at 5:00 and, at the same time, she showed up on the north face of the State Building. She still showed no inclination to come over to the box, despite his desperate calls, and the flaunting of her gift. He half-heartily plucked the Woodcock, but that made no difference. She still didn’t want it plucked or un-plucked. He finally gave up and flew off to store it.
Ares was bouncing in and out of the box so much, it was hard for us to keep track. At 6:30 he switched from squeak calls to long calls and his angst was tangible. She was on the County Building by this time, and he was directing his calls towards her. At 6:36 the pair had an aborted mating attempt on the County Building. Ares was back in the box at 6:50 and doing chores – biting at stones, moving stones around, important stuff like that. At one point he made a nice scrape in the gravel. At 7:20 there was another aborted mating attempt on the County Building. At 8:21 AM Astrid arrived on a west ledge near the box. Ares became highly excited and began calling to her. The pair mated five minutes later. It was raining by this point but that didn’t seem to affect the falcons’ spirit or mood. At 8:36 he brought a gift to her. It wasn’t the Woodcock, but something smaller. She took it over to the hotel and made it her breakfast. Ten minutes later she had finished her meal and was on the east veranda. They mated at 8:51 – and then again at 9:57. Following that Ares flew up to perch on top of his favorite pillar. They mated at 10:38 and then he again flew directly back to the pillar. The same thing happened at 11:13. He had become a yoyo between the pillar and his mate on the east veranda. At 11:28 Ares was on the corner of the west veranda and Astrid was on the east veranda’s opposite corner. They were Peregrine bookends guarding the box. He left at 11:38 and came back with a small meal which he handed to Astrid inside the nestbox. She took it over to a west ledge to eat. It didn’t take her long and then she was back to the crossperch. At 11:54 he brought her another tidbit. She took it to the same west ledge and quickly devoured it. She returned to the long perch this time and he dashed up to his pillar perch. At 12:16 PM the pair mated on the west veranda and then Ares yoyoed back to the pillar. After that he was on the east veranda and her on the west. They were in guard positions again. At 1:06 he hopped back into the box and made a scrape in the stone. By then she had tucked in on the west veranda – probably due to the rain.
At 1:40 PM both falcons were again perched on opposite sides the verandas. They looked like a pair of gargoyles. At 2:05 Astrid hopped onto the crossperch and asked to mate. Ares dove from his perch as if he was going to comply but then failed to come back. At 2:18 Ares was back in the box and Astrid was on the crossperch. She moved to the east veranda and a couple of minutes later the pair successfully mated. At 3:00 Ares flew from the pillar to the box. Twenty minutes later they mated again on the east veranda, after which he yoyoed back to his pillar perch. He was back and forth between the pillar and the box twice more in short order, and then at 4:35 he went out of view for a while. At 5:33 Astrid was also away from the box area, but not for long. She returned to an east ledge at 5:44 and they mated there only moments later. He was back at the box at 5:56 and she left at about the same time. He gave a few angst-filled long calls and then held vigil until well after dark. He finally flew off at 6:30 PM. A strong storm passed through the downtown area not long after he retired. Wind and rain battered the box and the cameras. Goodnight all.