The overnight period was cold and windy with temperatures remaining in the high teens. At least it wasn’t snowing! The skies were partly clear during much of the day, but the wind persisted, and the temperature creeped up to thirty degrees. Astrid spent the night in the nest. At 1:19 AM she sat up, seemed to have a contraction, and then looked like she was tucking something beneath her. Of course, we thought that egg one had arrived, but that wasn’t the case, she was only sitting up and adjusting herself. We’re getting as bad as Ares! It’s important to note that she is not late by her own historical standards. In fact, three out of the eight previous seasons, she laid her first egg on April 1. In her inaugural breeding season (2014) she laid her first egg on April 10. At 6:18 Ares screeched to the box and relieved Astrid on the scrape. During the changeover, despite the darkness, we were able to confirm the absence of an egg. At 6:30 Ares gave some long calls and dashed out of the box. He flew low around the steeple for some unknown reason. Two minutes later she came back to the nest. At 6:47 Ares brought prey to a window ledge west of the nest. Astrid became highly excited and flew over to meet him. She accepted the gift and promptly flew to the hotel. After some feather plucking, she fed for a while. Meanwhile Ares returned to the nest and did some chores inside the box including making a scrape. At 7:36 Astrid was on the State Building and Ares was out of view.
At 9:48 AM Ares was back at the nestbox and giving squeaking calls – talking to his mate who was still on her high perch on the other side of the canyon. We don’t know if there were any mating attempts since, once again, the wind was drowning out most of their sound. A few minutes later Astrid was at the nest and calling. She settled down but wasn’t holding herself in a position that made us believe egg-laying was imminent. At 11:10 Ares zoomed into the box for a changing of the guard. It was a hybrid between a ledge display and a changeover. Whatever it was, it was quick, and she was out. She glided low around the corner of the bank building and heading north towards the hotel. She landed on the lower ledge where there are a few small puddles of water. In past seasons we’ve noted that Astrid sometimes takes drinks of water during the egg-laying process. Sure enough, after a few minutes, she approached one of the puddles and had a few sips. At 11:36 Astrid and Ares did a ledge display at the nest. There was plenty of beaking, but it was short. After he left, she made a couple of scrapes and did some vocalizing. By 12:31 PM she had begun to snooze. The falcons switched ten minutes later, and Ares took over on the scrape. Astrid made a brief visit to the hotel and after that moved to the State Building. It didn’t seem like she was in egg-laying mode.
At 1:12 PM Ares left the box but then came right back. I heard no mating chatter, so I don’t think it was a mating run. At 2:15 he was giving long calls from the box. He then hopped over to the west veranda. Astrid floated over to the box and Ares hopped back in for a ledge display. The dance featured a lot of beaking. He glided off after about five minutes. She remained and did a scrape and some box biting. At 3:27 she became very excited as Ares flew in with prey. He landed on a west ledge, and she flew over to accept it. She took it over to the hotel only to realize she didn’t want it. It appeared to be a Woodcock. Ten minutes later the pair were together in the box conducting another ledge display. He left after a minute. They danced again at 4:19 and at 5:12 – both times Astrid wouldn’t leave. That gave us hope that she wanted to stay so she could lay her egg. They danced at 6:00 and then again at 6:47. Surely, they were dancing fools today. Again, Ares sailed out each time – ceding the box to her. He was on the State Building at 6:50 PM. Astrid remained in the box and did some chores including making three scrapes. At 7:22 she defecated over the edge of the box which was a sign that egg-laying could be very close. At 7:26 PM Astrid laid her first egg of the 2022 breeding season. The new egg was reddish brown and it glistened as rays from the setting sun hit it. We only got a few glimpses of it and then Astrid tucked it beneath her. The night was going to be another cold one and she would be tight on top of it all night. Ares had left the State Building by this point and probably went off to his night perch. He will most likely not see the egg until tomorrow morning. Congratulation’s falcons!