Overnight was warmer than it had been in recent times. Temperatures bottomed out in the low 50’s. A light rain began overnight and continued throughout the first half of the day. Astrid arrived at the nestbox at 12:30 AM. She flew out and came back a couple of times before 5:00. That’s when Ares showed up. At 5:30, Astrid came back and the pair shared a non-dancing ledge display for almost an hour. During virtually the entire thing they just quietly faced each other. Deb remembered that they’ve done this before when egg-laying time is upon us. At the end of the display, Ares departed, but came back moments later with a food offering. She took her breakfast to the hotel. He flew over her slowly as she started to feed. He is extra diligent about keeping good track of her at this time of year. At 6:49, He came to the box and Astrid landed on an east ledge. They mated a few minutes later. He then came back with a hunk of leftovers for her. He hopped over to the east veranda with it, but she wasn’t interested in taking it. She launched into the canyon and he followed after her. A minute later, one of them was on the hotel feeding. Just after 7:00, both returned to the nest area and they mated 45 minutes later. Soon after that one of them was heard giving a cackle-type alarm call. Likely it wasn’t a serious incursion since neither Peregrine left their perch. The next mating took place on a west ledge at 8:30 AM.
At 9:19 AM, the pair was engaged in a lively ledge display at the nestbox. It involved plenty of beaking and some expected posturing. Ares flew out after five minutes. He went to his favorite pillar perch and she hopped onto the crossperch. At 9:42, Ares brought his mate what appeared to be part of a Starling. She grabbed it and flew to the hotel. At 10:06, they mated at the nestbox. Directly after, Ares went to the hotel to polish off Astrid’s meal scraps. He was back at the box at 10:15 and Astrid was asking to mate again. The falcons were largely inactive for the subsequent two hours as the rainfall became steadier. For most of that period, he was in the box and she was on the west veranda. At 12:18, the pair mated once more and then Ares fetched some prey from his store. She took the gift and, predictably, brought it to the hotel. She left the hotel after finishing her meal but we couldn’t find where she ended up. At 1:43 PM, Deb located her on a pillar perch to the east of the nest. At 2:24, Astrid was asking to mate. Ares hopped right past her and went into the box. He wanted to dance. As it happened, that is just what they did. After the ledge display, Ares assumed his pillar perch while Astrid did some work inside the nestbox – important stuff like biting the lip of the box and digging in the stone. She did a couple of scrapes as well.
At 3:26 PM, Astrid was at the hotel for a drink. This is true, she was drinking water from a puddle on one of the ledges. Ten minutes later, she was on the steeple and the pair mated there. Ares’ mating chatter call was heard again at around 3:50, but it sounded short and likely represented an aborted attempt. At 4:23 they were more successful mating on the west veranda. Three minutes later Ares brought one of his stored Woodcocks to Astrid, but she didn’t want it and flew to the steeple. We believe it was the first Woodcock Ares offered that day. We were pretty sure he put it back in the pantry after her refusal. At 6:04, A&A were back at the box together for a dance. It was over in a minute when he dove out. The next mating happened at 6:43 PM. It took place on the west veranda. He was on his pillar perch a few minutes later. At 7:00, she was requesting another mating. He flew out like he was ready to comply, but then didn’t follow through. He either went to his night perch or out hunting. Afterall. It was getting close to dusk and the time that Woodcocks start to do their flight displays. Astrid remained on the crossperch until 7:47 and then she was off to bed. Will she come back sometime during the night? Will she lay her first egg tonight? Possibly. Goodnight falcons.
