Peregrine Breeding Log for April 18 – April 19, 2019:
Thursday, April 18th started out warm and damp. We had intermittent showers during the day and increasingly strong winds out of the southeast. Temperatures were mostly in the 50’s. After her brief foray from the nest box at 10:37 Wednesday night, Astrid stayed on the eggs all night. Ares came to the box at 5:55 AM. She was eager to switch and yielded the eggs to him. After leaving the box she took a tour of the canyon – dashing north by the ADK Bank building at one point. As is typical, she spent some time flying around the west face of the state building. At 6:30, she was on the steeple. While there she actively looked around and appeared to be in hunting mode. Twice she darted out from that perch only to return. Presumably she was going after prey. An hour later she came to the box. She asked to switch, but Ares didn’t want to leave. After 5 minutes of persuasion, he let her have her turn. At 7:40, Astrid began periodically vocalizing in the box. We didn’t know if that meant an intruder or not. It could have been her reacting to the sight of raptors migrating over the canyon. We couldn’t see anything with our cams.
At 9:13, the falcons switched again, and Ares came back on the eggs. Ten minutes later she was on a window ledge west of the veranda and giving her famous donkey calls. She soon came into the box and began trying to coax him off the eggs. She did some beak swiping with him, but he still didn’t want to leave. When she gets truly impatient for him to get up, she gives a rolling “tutututututututut” call. She tried that and it did the trick – he was out. At 10:25, a much quicker changing of the guard happened. Astrid then came back at 10:53 and wanted to switch yet again. They discussed the matter inside the box for about seven minutes and then a reluctant Ares departed. At 11:10, Astrid began calling loudly from the box. We couldn’t see what she was reacting to. It could have been another Peregrine or it could have been another passing raptor. Ares was vocalizing too, although from where we hadn’t a clue. Despite how upset she was, she was did not leave the eggs. At noon, she began calling again but still couldn’t see any stranger. Ares was out of view at that point.
The next switch took place at 12:45, and then Ares was back on the nest. After being in and out of view for a while, at 2:30 Astrid landed on a window ledge west of the nest box. Ten minutes later she was on the box’s crossperch asking to switch. Ares had been on the eggs for a while but didn’t want to go and so she left instead. We missed the time of the next switch, but it happened sometime before 4:30. Ares was spotted on the hotel at 5 PM. She called out when she saw him fly over to the State Building a few minutes later. At 6:30, Ares was on the County Building and he remained there until 7:19. We’ve now just surpassed the mid-point of the falcon’s incubation period. We appear to be on track for the first hatch to tack place the first week of May. In other words, it’s just around the corner. Good night all.
Friday, April 19th began warm as well as a little wet and windy. It only got warmer as the day progressed. By noon temps were in the high 70’s. Astrid spend the whole night on her eggs. By 5:43 AM, she was eager to be relieved at the nest and had begun giving her low-pitched donkey calls. Five minutes later when Ares landed on the State Building, her calling became louder. She departed from the nest without waiting for him to arrive. As it happened, he was at the box and on the eggs less than a minute after she left. The next switch happened at 7:12 and then Astrid was back on the nest. By 7:30, something was up in the canyon. Ares came off the nest and Astrid returned. Workmen had begun nosily power-washing the west face of the State Building using suspended scaffolding. The men not been doing anything for about a week and suddenly the falcons had to get used to them again. Ares had come back on the nest, but at 8:12, they switched again. Interestingly, when the workers took a break and stopped blasting, Ares perched on a west face ledge for a little while.
While taking his turn in the box, Ares gave a few long calls and then closed his eyes for little while. At 11:09, Ares became upset by something. He began calling and came off the nest. He flew into the canyon – leaving the nest. Sat 11:13, she suddenly showed up and climbed onto the eggs. Interestingly, she has been calling every time he leaves or comes into view. It’s the same thing he does when he sees her (not just during the breeding season). Ares came to relieve Astrid at 12:40, but she wouldn’t go and sent him away. He came back only ten minutes later and tried again. This time he walked in a circle around her. She had no intention of leaving and he was out again. He tried again at 1:47 and the third time was the charm, she let take a turn. While she was free, she visited several perches, but we never saw her with prey or feeding. She was on the steeple at 5 PM. That’s when Ares decided to leave the box. They were both together on the State Building for a minute and then Astrid went to the nest. Rain was falling at that point and the falcons seemed to call it a night early. We didn’t expect to see or hear from Ares after that, but then at 10:10 PM, I heard him give an alarm call. Shortly after that we could just make him out perched on the north face of the State Building. Astrid was sitting in the box and not making any sounds. However, she was peering out. Ares stayed in view for about ten minutes and then he was gone. 