Astrid spent a snowy cold night sitting tight on the nest. She announced Ares arrival on the State Building at 5:52 AM. They switched a few minutes later. At 6:10 Astrid was seen flying around the State Building – probably checking Ares’ pantry for her breakfast. At 7:00 we found Astrid on a window ledge on the State Building. She was feeding on something. She went to the steeple after that. Her large crop showed that the meal was a sizable one. They switched at the nest at 7:30 and then Astrid was back on the eggs. Ares was then out of view until 10:46 when he showed up on the Grace Church steeple. His crop was huge. It looked like he had eaten a whole flamingo or had been taking courtship lessons from a Frigatebird. He was giving screeching calls from his perch and Astrid was calling back with chirps. We think she wanted him to take over on the nest, but he wasn’t ready for that.
He stopped at the crossperch at 11:10 but then flew right back out again. After that he was perched on the State Building for a while – on a thin ledge up above the top row of windows. We noticed a person was walking on the roof of the building not far above Ares’ spot, but he didn’t move, and Astrid didn’t seem to get upset either. They finally switched at 11:46. Astrid had been on the eggs for well over 4 hours. At 2:05 PM Ares was still on the eggs and Astrid was on a State Building ledge. She had been perched there for quite a while. The switched a few minutes before 3:00 and then Astrid was on the eggs. At 3:27 Astrid was giving cackle alarm calls from the box. There was likely a non-falcon raptor flying through the canyon. Ares was out of view at the time. They switched again sometime around 4:00. He was on the eggs and she was on the State Building. At 5 PM she was having dinner at the hotel. She was flying and possibly hunting after that. They switched again at just before 6:00. Ares was visible on the north face of the State Building for a little while after that. Astrid was on the nest for the night. Goodnight all.
