It was another cold night, but a somewhat milder day followed. It was windy and wind speeds increased as the day progressed. Astrid spent the entire night on the nest as expected. Ares arrived at the nest at 5:45 AM and the pair did a quick switch. Astrid was next seen on the State Building an hour later. At 7:40, she was upset about activity inside the office near the box and she rushed over. She left but then returned twenty minutes later; that time asking to take over at the nest. She was quite insistent, and he didn’t argue with her. He went to the State Building after that. At 8:42, she called from the nest when Ares returned to the State Building after being out of view for a while. At 11:09, she was conversing with him across the canyon. We couldn’t tell if she was asking to be relived or if she wanted him to fetch food for her. They finally switched again at 11:42 and she scolded him as she left.
At 1:41 PM the falcons switched again, and Ares took over incubation. At 2:05, she became upset. She was very alert and vocalizing on the nest. We thought here must be an intruder, but we didn’t see it. it turned out that Ares was buzzing by the nest building – at least that’s what we thought was happening. He returned to the State Building at 2:09 and she began calling again. Ten minutes later we finally determined that there was an intruder in the canyon. It appeared to be an adult female – probably the same one that we had seen them dealing with in the recent past. The stranger was seen kiting above the State Building for a few minutes before Ares took off to intercept her – or to fly with her. They appeared to have a playful interaction – kiting and simply flying together before they both sailed off to the north. This intruder was obviously a known entity to Astrid & Ares. At 2:52, Astrid was vocalizing again. We saw some falcon dive through very quickly on the wind. Was it Ares? A few minutes later he was back on the State Building. The next changing of the guard took place at 3:22 PM and then Ares was on the eggs. His turn lasted just over an hour and then she was back in the nest. Deb noticed that she left one egg out of the brood when she was adjusting herself. Fortunately, she noticed quickly and moved the overlooked egg back underneath her. The next switch occurred at 6:26. Ares was going to take a later afternoon/early evening shift. Astrid was out of view for a while but finally showed up on the State Building at 7:37. They switched for the last time at 8:07 PM and then Astrid took her place for the night. Goodnight all.
