It was overcast and windy last night with temperatures in the forties. Rain threatened in the morning but didn’t get started until afternoon. Temps stayed in the 50’s for most of the day. Astrid was on the nest through evening, but then made a quick foray out at 1 AM. She was back a few minutes later but stayed on the crossperch. At 4:04, Ares brought a Woodcock to the west veranda. She accepted it and took it to the hotel while he remained on the long perch guarding the nest. Astrid was on the State Building after finishing her meal. She returned to her eggs sometime after 5:00. The falcons did a quick switch at 6:21 and Ares got onto the eggs. After ten minutes he had come off them again and was giving long calls into the canyon. By 7:13, he was on the crossperch issuing light squeaking calls – the kind he gives when he sees Astrid. She had landed on a pillar west of the nestbox. The next switchover occurred at 7:30. It was a slow one – almost like a ledge display. At one point it looked like Ares was trying to look beneath Astrid – possibly to see if she had laid any new eggs. He left five minutes later. At 8:00 AM, he brought her more food. She took it to the hotel. Eighteen minutes later she was on the west veranda and there was a failed mating attempt. Apparently, she flew off the pillar as soon as he came close to her. At 8:48, alarm chirps rang through the canyon. There was a Peregrine intruder somewhere in the canyon and soon A&A were both out of view. Ares barged back into the box at 9:00, but only stayed for a second. He came back right away with food. Perhaps he thought this would be an inducement for her to come. It worked and Astrid came over to accept the gift. However, we weren’t sure what she did with the food. She was back to the nest without it only 15 minutes later. She was asking to mate on the crossperch. Ares complied and then she got onto the eggs.
At 9:24 AM, Astrid came off the eggs, picking at stones,and digging around the box for a while. Suddenly Ares was dealing with an intruder. They were flying too high for our PTZ cameras to see them. Astrid didn’t get involved and stayed on the crossperch – calling and looking not at all pleased. At 9:53, Ares was on his pillar perch and Astrid was on the eggs. At 10:28, She was calling for him to take over on the nest. He came right away and then she was able to take a break. A mating took place at 10:37 – not sure where they were, we only heard Ares’ chatter call and it sounded like they were close. At 11:00, we located her, she was by the ledge puddle on the hotel. After her drink she went to the steeple. They mated there at 11:52. Ares was at the box, but not incubating, just on guard duty. At 12:48, he was giving long calls. Astrid was up from the steeple at 1:18, and we weren’t sure where she ended up. About ten minutes later she was on a west pillar. Meanwhile, Ares was seen turning the eggs over. The pair mated on the pillar at just before 2 PM. Right after that Astrid came to the box and got onto the eggs. Ares spent some time on the steeple perch. At 2:20, Astrid was giving warning chirps. There was no doubt there was an intruder was active in the canyon. The intruder was on Ares’ lookout post on the roof of the State Building and Ares was diving at him to dislodge him. He chased the stranger towards the hotel, sparring along the way, and repeatedly diving at it as it flew. A few minutes later, Astrid decided to get involved. She flew up to the lookout first and then launched in the direction of the intruder. She was soon out of view. Meanwhile, Ares came to the box to guard the eggs. Astrid returned to the State Building at 2:48. She stayed perched there for a little while and then she was off somewhere. Ares took some food (probably something he had stored) and flew through the canyon with it. Was he bringing it to Astrid on some unseen perch on the north face of the hotel?
Ares was back to the box at 3:36 PM and Astrid was on a steeple perch ten minutes later. The pair mated there at 3:48. Astrid was on duty at the box a view minutes later. Ares adopted the lower steeple perch where Astrid had been earlier. The Peregrines switched at 4:33 and Ares was on the nest, but just for a few minutes. The rain and wind was getting increasingly intense as the afternoon went on. Astrid arrived at the nest at around 5:20 PM, and she seemed to be in for the night. Ares was on the north face of the State Building and remained there until about 7:00 PM. Goodnight falcons.