Friday, March 25, 2022 – The Laying of the First Egg of the Season is Likely Not Imminent

The overnight was chilly with temperatures dipping below the freezing point. The sky was partly cloudy in the morning and the temperature peaked in the mid-forties. Fog rolled in about an hour before sunrise and it shrouded the downtown canyon until nearly mid-morning. Astrid was on the west veranda and Ares was at the box at 4:52 AM. We’re not sure if they visited earlier than that. My recordings stopped overnight, and I couldn’t check back before that. At 5:03 Astrid hopped into the box and the pair shared a dance. Ares bailed out six minutes later. He came back at 5:56 with a fresh caught Woodcock. Astrid showed no sign of accepting it and he flew away to store it. At 6:18 Ares screeched to the long perch but stayed for only a moment. Astrid left the nest at 6:28. He came back to the box five minutes later and she arrived five minutes after that, but she immediately dove out again. She was on the west veranda at 6:43 and he was calling to her from the nest. He left shortly after 7:00.

At 7:07 AM Ares was back in the nestbox. The pair mated on the west veranda at 7:30 and then Ares went to his pillar perch. At 8:13 he screeched to the nestbox and they mated fifteen minutes later. At 8:42 Ares returned to the box with the Woodcock. Astrid was not interested so he nibbled on it himself for a few minutes before going to put it back in storage. He was back and vocalizing in the box at 8:48. She left her veranda perch a few minutes later. They mated on a west ledge at 9:27. An hour later he was at the box and calling. She hopped into the box for a very short dance and then she was out again and to the steeple. He then did some digging around in the gravel. Both were up at 11:00 but then he came back to the nest. Fifteen minutes later she was on the steeple again and he was out of view. At 11:46 he was at the nest and she was out of view but he was calling like he could see her. She then landed on the west office perch ane did some feather preening and some toe cleaning (a falcon self-pedicure). A few minutes later he began calling and then he was up. The falcons were both out of view at 12:30 PM

At 12:53 PM Ares screeched back to the nest. He was highly excited. Astrid blasted into the box and the two shared a dance. He was out a couple of minutes later. At 1:40 Ares was back to the box and vocalizing but we didn’t see Astrid. A female Kestrel flew through, and Ares went to his lookout post. At 1:48 he flew to the nest and was calling. He was reacting to Astrid sailing around the State Building. She landed on a high perch on the north face of the State Building. At 2:18 we noticed that Ares was perched on one of the light poles on the roof of the bank building. It a common perch for our immature falcons but an uncommon one for the adults outside of fledging season. A Pigeon hazed him just as he was flying off. He headed directly to the box and began vocalizing. Ten minutes later the pair mated on the steeple and then Ares boomeranged to the nest. At 3:42 Astrid flew to a west ledge and Ares, probably anticipated a ledge display, headed back to the box. She flew, bypassing the box and landed back on the steeple. They mated there at 4:12. Fifteen minutes later there was either a food exchange (it didn’t happen at the box) or Astrid pulled a meal out of Ares’ pantry. She took it to the hotel and Ares sat nearby guarding her as she fed. At 4:44 Astrid had moved to a high perch on the State Building. By this point it had started raining. At 5:00 PM Ares was up on his lookout post. He came to the box 20 minutes later. At 6:20 the pair were holding their positions – him at the box and her on the State Building. With the chilly weather and the rain, we weren’t expecting any late day action from them. He joined her on the State Building at 6:27. He came to the box one more time at 7:08 and stayed for about ten minutes. Astrid remained on the State Building for a while longer and then at a few minutes before 8:00 PM she landed on the crossperch. She left five minutes later. Astrid doesn’t act like the laying the first egg of the season is imminent. We think that she is at least five days out, but we’ve been surprised before so we shall see. Goodnight falcons.