Snow fell through most of the day today and temperatures remained in the 30’s. Both falcons arrived at the nest box together at 5 AM, at which time they shared a ledge display. Fifteen minutes later the mated at the box. It seemed that, despite the weather, the falcons were going to have an active day. After coming and going a few times, at 8:05, Ares left the box on an apparent hunting run. He came back to the nest a half-hour later with prey. It appeared to be a plucked starling. Without missing a beat, Astrid flew over and grabbed the prey from Ares using her trademark “Grab-n-go” method. She took it back to the State Building where she polished it off in short order. After meticulously cleaning his feet, talons and beak, Ares opened his wings and floated off on the strong winds. He was out of our view for a while, but then reappeared on the Sate Building at 10:00.
At 11:10, both falcons converged at the nest box; their conversation ended abruptly when Astrid was distracted by an intruder in the canyon. She immediately set out after it – heading west past the steeple and then north. Ares initially remained at the box, but then flew over to the north face of the State Building. He wasn’t getting involved in the chase. We didn’t get a good look at the intruder, but it was likely another Peregrine Falcon, and since Astrid was the pursuer, it was probably a female. We didn’t see Astrid again until 12:35, when she had a rendezvous with Ares at the box. We thought that maybe they would mate or share a ledge display, but she didn’t remain for more than a few seconds and instead opted to perch on the State Building. At 12:55, the pair mated on there. At 1:40 PM, there was another very speedy food transfer at the box. It was an – if you blinked, you missed it, kind of thing. Throughout the afternoon, the falcons were spending a lot of time on the State Building and in view of the nest box. For the most part it was Ares was that made short visits to the box, but at 3:50, it was Astrid’s turn. She spent about 5 minutes on the cross perch. Right after she left, Ares hopped into the box, did some chirping calls, and made a scrape or two in his trench. At 5:00, we found Ares on the ledge of the hotel. He was plucking prey. When he was done, he flew over to the next box with it. Astrid came over and snatched it away (he didn’t seem to want to let go this time); she took it back to the Hotel to eat. Both falcons spent a little time on the State Building after that. At 6 PM, Ares was back at the nest with a small hunk of prey. This time, he stood on the lip of the box and ate it all himself. By 6:10, Astrid had retired for the night and Ares was gone shortly after.