The overnight period was cold with temps falling into the high twenties. Morning temperatures rose quickly with the aid of a bright and unobstructed sun. By noon, it was 60 degrees. Astrid remained on the egg all night long as expected. Ares brought her breakfast at 5:45 AM. She took it to the hotel ledge. He was out on the crossperch at 6:19 and Astrid was on the east veranda. They mated five minutes later. She was back on the egg at 6:26. Astrid called out when she saw Ares land on a west ledge with prey. Tufts of feathers floated into the canyon as he plucked his catch. At 6:51, he brought it to the east veranda. Since Astrid wasn’t coming out to get it, he flew off and then tried to get her to come to the crossperch. She accepted it and flew back to the hotel with it. She soon realized that she didn’t want it. She stored it somewhere and took a perch on the State Building. At 7:08, Astrid came to the crossperch. Ares was on the egg and seemed to want to stay there. He was staying put and making squeaking calls even as she beckoned to him to came and mate. They mated at 7:12. She got back on the egg afterwards.
At 7:32 AM, the falcons switched at the nest and then Ares was in charge of the egg. We heard a mating take place somewhere in the canyon. We weren’t sure where Astrid was before that, but we finally spied her on a pillar west of the nest. She came to the crossperch at 8:11, and soon was asking to mate. Another mating occurred less than five minutes later. Ares went to the State Building and she went to her egg after that. They switched again just before 9 AM. Ares left the egg alone at about 9:20. Astrid took over the nest ten minutes later. At 10:04, The pair were together in the box and having a lively conversation. Ares wanted his turn in the nest. A minute later he was out and dealing with a falcon intruder in the canyon. Astrid was on the egg but vocalizing excitedly. She was not at all happy. She was close to laying her second egg and she was being compelled to fend off an interloper. After trying to warn off the foreign falcon from the crossperch, she launched into the canyon and gave chase. Ares came to the box at 10:28, presumably to guard the nest his mate was protecting the territory. She returned at 10:24 and within 20 minutes she had laid her second egg of the season. The official time for its appearance is 10:43 AM. The interval between the laying of egg one and two was just under 61 hours, which is average for Astrid. At 11:09, Ares was back to the nest. He wanted to see the new egg. He got up close behind her and tried to compel her to stand up. She wasn’t in a cooperative mood and she wasn’t leaving. He left instead. At 12:15, he was back and the pair shared another lively conversation. She still wasn’t budging, and he left a few minutes later. At 1:27, Astrid looked to be in full incubation mode, but that’s not likely to begin for a day or two. The falcons switched at 1:34, and Ares was in the box. He was highly excited to take over and beaked with Astrid before the changeover was complete. When she left, she flew out of his view (something he’s not happy about). He stood up again and looked around for her.
At 2:32 PM, Ares was off the eggs again and giving long calls into the canyon. At 2:52, he left the nest and headed out towards the hotel. After a brief stop on a ledge he lifted off again and headed for the State Building. The local pigeon flock scrambled and dashed through the canyon. Astrid came to the box and started calling. Ares took a perch on the State Building while Astrid settled onto her two eggs. The next switch took place at 3:17, and Ares was back on duty. He wasn’t there for long and his mate was back on the eggs at 3:40. At 4:05, Ares screeched over to the west veranda. He had a Woodcock in his talons. Astrid scrambled over to get it from him. No sooner did she leave with it than Ares began giving cackle alarm calls. We weren’t sure what that was about, but it probably meant that a non-falcon raptor was passing through. Meanwhile Astrid was feeding on the hotel. I guess that Woodcock was acceptable repast for her on this occasion. Astrid was back on the crossperch by 4:32. At 4:37, the pair mated somewhere near the nest – possibly on the crossperch. Astrid spend some time guarding the eggs after that. The sun was flooding the box in the late afternoon and she resorted to doing some shading by then. The falcons switched again at 5:11 PM, and then Ares was on the nest while Astrid went to the State Building. At 6:56, Ares was calling at the box as if there was a falcon intruder in the canyon. He took off after it while Astrid remained on her perch on the State Building, The eggs were left unattended until Astrid showed up at the box at 7:42. She quickly settled down for the night. We didn’t see Ares again for the balance of the night. Goodnight all.