The overnight was relatively mild with light rain and some fog developing by daybreak. Temperatures ranged from the low thirties up to 40 degrees by noon and 60 degrees by late afternoon. Ares screeched to the nestbox at 2:20 AM and then screeched out again only a minute later. At a few minutes before 5:00 Astrid and Ares were inside the box doing a ledge display. That lasted for about 10 minutes. Ares went over to the State Building and Astrid stayed in the box. She sat very still and rather upright in a manner we recognize as her pre-egglaying posture. This is not to say that she was about to lay an egg; she is likely more than a week away from that. Essentially, it was more like a practice session and it was her first such sitting this season. As for Ares, there is nothing he appreciates more than her sitting in the box. It means that eggs are coming soon and that’s what he is most interested in. At 6:36 Ares brought prey to her in the box. The exchange took place on the crossperch and then she took it to the hotel. Ares flew up to the lookout post where he could keep his eyes on both her and the territory. At 7:00 he came to the box. She finished her meal a few minutes later and then she went to a perch on the State Building. At 7:32 Ares screeched back to the box. Thirty minutes later the pair mated on the State Building.
At 8:18 AM Ares brought more prey to the box. He flew up to the State Building and to the ledge adjacent to Astrid’s ledge. We couldn’t hear them talking but we presumed he was trying to interest her in taking the food. Astrid then flew to the box and Ares to the veranda. They transferred the food on the veranda platform. She flew away with it and appeared to be heading for the hotel but that’s not where she ended up. A minute later she was on the steeple, and she didn’t have the food, so we assume that she either dropped it or stored it. Ares left the nest area after wiping down his bill on the perch. He screeched back to the nest at about 8:50 and then the pair mated on the steeple at 9:36. He went back to the box afterwards. He then spent the next hour and a half watching Astrid on the other side of the Canyon and giving volleys of long calls. There was an aborted mating attempt at 10:50. At 11:32 Astrid came to the east veranda. Ares jumped into the box and tried to get her to come in for a dance. She in turn requested a mating. Her way prevailed and at 11:40 they mated on the east veranda. At 12:16 PM the pair came together at the nest for a ledge display. It lasted for about 5 minutes and then Ares flew out. Astrid then stayed in the box and did some housework. She made two scrapes, dug in the stone, and bit the wooden lip of the box. At 12:33 she took off and both Falcons were out of view for a while.
At 1:00 o’clock Ares screeched to the box with prey. It was a Killdeer, probably freshly returned from the South. She flew over and took it from him on the crossperch. Once she had it in her talons she flew West towards the hotel, but once again, she did not end up at the hotel. Ares flew over to the steeple end screeched as he landed on the perch. It is possible that Astrid was eating her meal on the West face of the bank building. Of course, our cameras cannot view that side of the building. It was clear that Ares knew where she was. He wouldn’t have been content otherwise, and he seemed unperturbed. Indeed, these days he has to keep her in sight at all times. At 1:04 Ares was giving long calls on the steeple. Minutes later he flew back to the nest. Astrid showed up on the west veranda at 1:07 (that was not enough time to eat her meal so she must have stored it). Ares hopped into the box and started giving volleys of squeak calls. He was trying to encourage his mate to come in for a ledge display. She flew off instead and went to the steeple. At 1:36 both falcons were up and out of camera view. He was back to the crossperch five minutes later. He began squeaking again as Astrid landed back on the steeple. At 2:25 Astrid became upset when she saw a person in an office adjacent to the nestbox. She left her perch and sailed over the State Building.
Ares came to the box at 2:41 PM. Astrid landed on the crossperch a few minutes later. She was eager to mate, and he was eager to dance – the same old conundrum. She soon gave up and flew over to the steeple. At 3:12 the falcons were both out of view again. He returned to the box at 4:11. He then started practicing his shading techniques at the nest. He actually spent a considerable amount of time throwing shade on the floor of the box and keeping invisible eggs from overheating. Just before 5:00, first Astrid and then Ares flew out of view. Both came back to the nest area five minutes later – her to the east veranda and him to the box. Once again, Ares dedicated himself to shading the eggless nest scrape. He continued doing it even while Astrid was trying to persuade him to mate. Finally, at 5:32 he reluctantly abandoned his invisible eggs and obliged Astrid. They mated on the east veranda. At 5:42 the falcons were out of camera view once again. Where were they going off to today? She came back to the steeple at 6:00 PM and Ares returned to the nest. He spent some time cleaning his bill which likely means that he recently caught and stored prey. At a few minutes before 7:00 A&A met up at the box for a ledge display. He left after about three minutes, and we presume he went off to a night perch. Astrid stayed to do some chore in the box and to make a scrape. She finally left at 7:33. We thought she went to bed, but she was back at 8:25 PM. More on that next time. Goodnight all.