Overnight was cold with temperatures in the low 30’s. Things improved little during the course of the day. Some snow squalls hit in the late morning and lingered through early afternoon. The wind became stronger in the late afternoon. Our roof mounted PTZ cams shuddered in the wind today and sometimes it was hard to tell which falcon we were focused in on. Astrid arrived at the nest box at precisely 3:00 AM, which was actually 2:00 AM until Daylight Savings Time kicked in. We joked that Astrid came to the box to set her clocks ahead. At 3:46, she flew off but then came back only minutes later. At 4:47 Astrid called out when she saw Ares fly into the canyon. Soon he was in the box, but as soon as he got there she flew out and over to the State Building. It’s likely she was expecting her mate to bring her breakfast.
At 6:57, Ares appeared to have rustled something up. It looked like half a Starling. He stood there at the box holding it in one foot for a couple minutes and then he careened over towards Astrid. He landed on a ledge right next to her’s. In an attempt to lure her over, he brought the food back to the nest. When it became obvious that she had no will to join him there, he flew it directly to the ledge she was on. How’s that for service?! While there, he began feeding her like she was a chick in the nest – ripping off little pieces and holding them to her beak. She did eat a few pieces this way. Five minutes later he was back at the box and eating some of the “gift” out on the long perch. Later, Astrid showed up and claimed the balance of the prey. She flew west with it and to the hotel. There, she finished it off quickly and then flew to the nest. The pair mated at the box at 7:40, after which, Ares went to the steeple.
At 9:16, the falcons were at the box conducting a ledge display. It was one of the stilted, stand-off type dances that aren’t quite as much fun to watch. After Ares dove out of the box, Astrid did some housekeeping chores which culminated in a nice scrape. She then joined Ares on the State Building at 9:26 PM. Two minutes later she was on a steeple perch. They mated there at 9:44. An hour later it looked like a blizzard was hitting in the canyon. Moderately heavy snowfall was being driven by strong, steady winds. At 11:00, Ares was sheltering from the storm in the nest box and Astrid was on the east face of the State Building. At 12:14 PM we watched Ares leave the box and float away into the ensuing blizzard. He was back a minute later. For a while he appeared to be incubating invisible eggs. The next ledge display took place at 12:30. It was a lively one that featured lots of beaking and vocalizing. At 12:48, the dance ended. Both falcons dashed out and soared around the State Building several times on the winds. Ares tore by one of the PTZ cameras heading west. Soon after he was spotted kiting and hovering over Genesee Street. At one point he did a wild corkscrew dive! After that stunt he did some more fancy flying around the State Building.
At 1:00, Ares came to the nest and relieved Astrid. There were no eggs in the box but it sure seemed like they were sharing incubation duties. At 1:37, there was an aborted mating attempt on the State Building. I thought that perhaps it was just too windy to pull it off on such a narrow ledge. At 2:07, the falcons both flew out of view. Ten minutes later, Deb noticed that both were perched on the hotel. Astrid was feeding on what looked like a Woodcock. At 2:45, one of the falcons dashed by a PTZ camera at high-speed heading east. What followed was a nearly a two hour gap in sightings. The falcons were likely taking a break and sheltering from the cold wind. Astrid showed up at the nest box at 4:53 PM. Ares joined her twenty minutes later and the two shared a lively dance that features much posturing and vocalizing. At 5:21, the dance was over and Ares performed a dramatic flyoff into the canyon. Astrid sailed off almost and hour later. Both were out of view by 7:11. Goodnight Peregrines.
