The overnight period was quite cold with temperatures getting down into the low twenties. Lingering flurries tapered off before sunrise, but temperatures struggled to get to the freezing mark. Temps hit the forties in the afternoon, but the wind made it seem colder. The sun was out, but did little to offset the cold. Astrid was tight on her eggs all night. At 11:18 PM, Astrid got off the eggs and went to the edge of the box to eliminate. She returned to her clutch right afterward. At 11:22, she experienced a few contractions and then produced the egg. She resumed incubation almost immediately after laying. Deb calculated the time between the laying of the last two eggs to be 60 hours and 38 minutes. That would be considered an average interlude for Astrid. At 5:50, Ares came to the nest to have a turn at incubating. Astrid got up and we were able to just barely make out three eggs in the nest (it was still pretty dark). At 6:02, Astrid returned to the nest. Ares obviously didn’t want to leave. She crowded up next to him. He was looking subservient but, at the same time, he seemed resolved to stay. She kept pushing closer. They beaked periodically. At 6:08, he gave up and left the box, and she climbed onto the eggs. At 6:35, Astrid was calling on the nest. She saw Ares fly in and land on a west ledge with prey. After plucking it for ten minutes he brought it to the long perch. Before Astrid had a chance to take it, he was up again. He left with it but then brought it back seconds later. This time she took it and flew over to the hotel to have breakfast. Meanwhile, he got another turn on the eggs. He chirped when he saw her come back into view and land on the State Building. They switched again at around 7:20, and then Astrid was back on the eggs.
At 8:18 AM, Astrid was calling from the nest again. It seemed there was an intruder in the canyon – this time it was a hawk and not a falcon. Ares appeared to be ushering it away. The falcons did a quick switch at 8:35, and then Ares was on egg duty. At 9:26, Astrid landed on the crossperch. She wanted to take over on the eggs but, once again, Ares didn’t want to leave. She was gentle about ousting him. She came up from behind him and slowly pressed closer until he shifted and let her get onto the eggs. The changeover took about ten minutes. They switched again right before 11 AM. This time Ares was on duty. Astrid did some flying around the canyon once she had been sprung. She came back to the crossperch and then left again – finally settling on the State Building. At 12:32, Ares got off the eggs, hopped over to the crossperch, and launched into the canyon. She was asking to mate, but he was only interested in flying. She called from the nest when he flew by. At 1:00, he landed on his steeple perch, but was up a minute later. He was on the east face of the State Building for a little while after that. At 1:20, Ares came to the nest. He wanted a turn on the eggs, but this time it was Astrid that didn’t want to leave. He wasn’t as considerate as she had been when she compelled him to leave. He went behind her and pushed her off. She complained, but she did leave and then he got onto the eggs. She went over to the hotel.
At 3:50 PM, he began calling in the box, but was staying on the eggs. It’s likely he was only reacting to Astrid flying over to the State Building. The falcons switched at 4:10, and then Astrid was incubating. He brought her food only ten minutes later. She accepted it and then Ares got another turn on the eggs. At 4:35, Ares started giving chirping alarm calls, which usually means there is a falcon intruder in the canyon. If there was, it was a male, because Astrid was still on her perch. She flew to the box and was back onto the eggs by 4:39 – only minutes after Ares left. He showed up on the State Building about eight minutes later. At 5:00, Ares brought more prey to the box. It was something small. Astrid took it over to the hotel and was done with it in a few minutes. Meanwhile, Ares was back on egg duty. He stayed on the nest until 5:20, when he suddenly decided to sail off into the canyon. Less than a minute later, Astrid arrived and took over nest duty. She seemed settled in for the night. Ares remained visible on the State Building until about 7:30 PM and then he was presumably off to his night perch. Goodnight falcons.
