Peregrine Breeding Log for March 27 – 28, 2019:
Wednesday, March 27th, began cold, with temperatures in the high teens. Sunny skies and milder conditions prevailed by late morning and the mercury hit 50 degrees by mid-afternoon. Astrid came into the box sometime after 9 PM on Tuesday night and remained there all night. She often behaves this way on several evenings prior to laying her first egg. By 5:15 AM, she had gone out onto the long perch. She flew off shortly after that. Ares was heard calling a few times at around 5:30, and then he was seen on the State Building. An hour later, they mated on the State Building and then he returned to the box. At 6:40, Astrid joined him at the nest, and they performed a short ledge display. Ten minutes later, Ares had prey and he brought it to a window ledge west of the nest. They did a food exchange on the east veranda after which, both falcons flew to the hotel. While she was having her breakfast, Ares returned to guard the nest. She flew back through the canyon at 7:20, made a brief stop at the nest and then landed on a State Building ledge.
Both falcons came to the box at 8:30 and they mated 15 minutes later on the west veranda. They aborted another mating attempt in the same location only ten minutes later. At 10:15, Astrid went to the steeple and the falcons experienced yet another failed mating attempt. A half hour later Astrid and Ares began chirping loudly in the canyon. We thought that perhaps there was an intruder in that canyon, but we couldn’t find it. At 10:50, Ares was at the box and Astrid was on a window ledge to the far west of the box. They were both vocalizing a lot and they shared a dance at 11:50. Astrid was in the box at 12:12 PM. She stood in Ares’ uber-scrape for a few minutes. Technical difficulties with our video streaming and recording led to a small gap in monitoring, but when things were all up and running again (at 12:30) Astrid was still in the box and Ares was on a steeple perch. He was up in a flash, and suddenly he was on the hotel ledge plucking prey. When he was done processing the food, instead of bringing it to Astrid, he disappeared with it. It’s likely he stored in his pantry, but only he knows for sure. Astrid called when he flew through the canyon, but that didn’t bring him to the nest. At 12:50, he came to the box and the couple had a dance. For most of the display, Ares was frozen over his scrape, perhaps in a not-so-subtle manner, suggesting where the egg should be laid. Only 40 minutes later, they were together in the box again, engaging in another ledge display. That one lasted ten minutes. She did the usual housekeeping chores after he left and then moved out onto the cross perch.
At 2:25, the falcons did a classic switch at the box – along the lines of the changing of the guard they do during incubation, but of course, they don’t have any eggs yet. Perhaps this could be looked on as a practice session. Five minutes later, the falcons mated on the steeple. As if to prove there’s never a never a dull moment in falcon town, right then an intruder came into the canyon. His arrival was announced with lots of lively vocalizations from our resident pair. We have no details on the intruder, other than it was another Peregrine and most probably a male, since it was Ares that was mostly contending with. Similar to the last time, one of them was on the roof of the State Building while the other repeatedly dove at it. We just couldn’t tell who was who. Soon they both took their battle to the air and that’s when Astrid left her perch. All were out of view at that point. It’s likely that it became two against one at that juncture. At 2:48, one falcon returned to the lookout post (probably Ares), but didn’t stay long. Ares then appeared at the nest box. He was in and out a few times. One time he was seen buzzing by Astrid’s perch on the State Building. At 3:35, he was back guarding the box, and abruptly gave a cackle alarm call. Neither him nor Astrid roused from their perches, so we assumed he was only warning off a passing raptor or Raven.
At 5:10,
Astrid was up from her perch on the State Building. She flew low over Grace Church, banked and flew northwest toward the hotel. She was next seen munching on some leftovers on the hotel ledge. Ares flew over to check on her and then came right back to the box. At 5:30 PM, Astrid moved to the steeple. They mated there moments later, and then again only ten minutes after that. Both converged at the box, but she didn’t stay and darted back to the State Building. He was out of camera view by 7:00 and she was off to her night perch less than a half hour later. Good night falcons.
Thursday, March 28th, got off to a cool and windy start. Temperatures rose into the 50’s by the afternoon and sunny skies gave way to rain by late afternoon. Astrid came to the nestbox sometime before 2:20 AM. Ares brought what appeared to be a whole American Woodcock to the nest about an hour later. She wasn’t interested in taking it, so he flew off with it. He returned with the same prey at just after 4:00. That time she took it. She flew through the canyon to the hotel and landed on its upper ledge. After sitting with the prey for about 10 minutes, she started to feed. At 5:15 AM, she flew back and landed on the west face of the State Building. He left the box and followed her over, landing on a ledge adjacent. He screeched back over to the nest at 6:20. As usual, every move Astrid made was “narrated” by a highly excitable Ares. At 6:35, Astrid went to the hotel and landed on a lower ledge. It’s a spot that often has a few puddles where falcons can drink or bath. However, given that it hasn’t rained for a while, there was no water to be found. Her next stop was the steeple and that move made Ares especially excited. He made squeaking calls as well as interactive “Chur-up” calls. The pair mated on the steeple at 7 AM. Twenty minutes later, both were at the box for a ledge display. It was over after five minutes and Astrid proceeded to do some odd jobs around the nest after he left.
At close to 8:00, Ares switched with Astrid at the box. Obviously, there are no eggs yet, but they are anticipating and getting in the mode. The pair mated at about 8:15. A half-hour later, Ares came screeching to the box with prey in his talons. When she didn’t come right over, he brought the prey over to a ledge near hers on the State Building. When Astrid still refused to take his offering, he ate it himself. The next mating was at 10:00 and following that one he returned to the nest. Astrid joined him there at 10:30, and the two spent some time in spritely negotiating. He wanted her to come into the box for a dance and she wanted to mate on the perch. She got her way and the pair mated there at 9:30. At 10:45, he tried to tempt her with food again. She wasn’t interested in the latest offering either. Ares left after that and probably stored the food on one of his ledge pantries. After a dearth of falcon sightings in the canyon, Ares screeched back to the nest at 11:20. Only a few minutes later he gave a loud cackle-type alarm call. We saw nothing, but as for Ares, he could’ve been reacting to the sight of a distant migrant raptor. They are still moving through after all. At 12:45, the pair mated yet again.
At 1:20 PM, Ares was at the box and calling excitedly. He kept coming and going – it was hard to keep track of how many times. At 2 PM, he was back to giving alarm cackles. Twenty minutes after that, Astrid and Ares were together at the box performing a ledge display. At the end of it he dove out and she lingered in the box for a while. At 2:50, Astrid was very animated and calling loudly on the ross perch. It sounded like Ares gave a few calls also. But it was her calls that echoed through the canyon. It was possible an intruder was present, but we couldn’t confirm it. She soon took off from the cross perch and darted through the canyon. She wasn’t seen again until 3:10, when she appeared on the State Building. He didn’t show up on our radar again into close to 4:10 PM. The pair mated on the steeple at 4:45. By then some rain was starting to fall; it got a little heavier as it continued. Finally, the falcons calmed down a little! He brought prey to the box at just before 6:00. He called her over and this time she came without delay. She accepted the food and took it to the hotel to feed on. He was last seen at 6:45 PM, and she was last seen at close to 7:30 PM. It’s possible that she will come back to the box before too long and spend the night. Will she lay an egg? Probably not, but the odds improve with each succeeding day and as March comes to a close.
