Rain fell for most of the night – sometimes heavily. By morning precipitation was lighter and temperatures were in the high thirties. The wind seemed to be constant and quite strong in the downtown canyon. Astrid had come into the box at 6:40 PM Thursday evening and remained there until 1 AM Friday morning. During that time she sat on her scrape for quite a while but didn’t lay an egg. She also spent a lot of time out on the cross perch. She returned to the box sometime before 3:15 – I can’t be precise because our recording failed. At about 3:30, Ares came to the box and the two falcons did an extremely abridged ledge display. His departure was very abrupt and it was almost as if he had been thrown out. She stayed until 4 o’clock. Both falcons were visible on the State Building by 6:30. Ares was on his rooftop lookout, probably watching for prey. Rain and high wind aren’t as much an impediment to Ares’ flight as they are to the flight of most of his prey, which tend to keep grounded on bad weather days. Fifteen minutes later, he was at the box and chirping excitedly. Astrid soon arrived at the nest and the two shared an extremely short dance. Afterwards she flew out on a southern heading. At 7:30 AM, she put down on the north face of the State Building. First Ares landed at the box and left after only a few minutes and then, ten minutes later, Astrid came. I think they need work on their timing. Both birds were back on the State Building by 8:30. He was in and out of the box a few times before 10:45. Right after that we found them both on the Hotel. A minute later, Astrid was back on the State Building and she had prey (Starling). We had no idea where the prey came from. It probably came from Ares or maybe from Ares’ pantry. He regularly stores prey on the ledges of the State Building and Astrid sometimes rummages through them to find what she likes.
At 11:15, Astrid was on the steeple and Ares was back at the box. They mated on the steeple at 11:26. Afterwards, Ares returned to the box. Twenty minutes later he had flown and then taken a perch on the State Building. Astrid was still on the steeple. For the next two hours, Ares moved around a few times, but Astrid was sedentary. At 1:15, Ares was flying around the canyon. Deb observed another raptor-type bird soaring through. It was noticeably larger and was probably a Turkey Vulture. It first seemed that Ares was going after it, but then he diverted and went for a Pigeon instead. The larger bird continued passing through without being hazed. After missing the Pigeon, Ares came back to the box. He remained in hunting mode for a while and was seen pursuing prey in the canyon a little while later. In that time frame, a flock of Pigeons flushed and flew around the bank building. One hit a screen on the east side of the bank. That Pigeon was not hurt, but did perch on a window sill for a while to recover. At 2:30, Astrid finally took off. She headed west and we aren’t sure where she went after that. She ultimately showed up on the Hotel at 3:10. She wasn’t there for long. She took advantage of the strong winds to gain altitude and circle high above the canyon. She was obviously playing on the wind. He also did some beautiful soaring before coming back to the box. She landed on the State Building, but again, didn’t stay very long. By 4:10, we lost sight of both falcons. Ares returned to the fold about a half hour later, but Astrid didn’t come back for a couple of hours. Where does she go? Ares kept watch for her – first from a high window ledge on the State Building and then finally from his rooftop lookout. At 6:08, when he saw her heading for home, he darted back to the nest box and began vocalizing. His vocalizing became quite intense as she made her way into the canyon. She landed on the State Building and left him lobbying for her to come over for a ledge display. She was bound to make him wait. At 6:22, Astrid and Ares mated on the State Building. Only five minutes later, Ares retrieved most of a Woodcock out of storage and brought it to the box. Astrid came right over and took the gift. Ares didn’t let go right away and so she had to do some tugging to get it. She flew over to the Hotel, where she ravenously ate her dinner – and she finished the entire thing. Ares watched her feed from his high lookout. Once she had finished her meal, both converged at the box and had a ledge display. It was a short one, but and it mainly consisted of beaking. After the dance, Ares left and Astrid did some scrapes and other housework. At 7:10, it got a little weird: Astrid had been in the box and then suddenly jumped out onto the cross-perch. She was chirping loudly and seemed to be irritated. She blasted off and at the same time, a falcon (presumably Ares) left the rooftop and headed north. Both were out of sight for a little while and then Ares showed up on his rooftop lookout. He came back to the box and chirped as Astrid soared back through the canyon. She landed on the State Building, but didn’t stay very long. At 7:38, he left the box and at 7:43, she left her perch. Both probably went to their night perches at that time. Astrid will probably come back to the box sometime later this evening. We shall see. Will she lay an egg? Don’t ask me.