Author: Matt Perry

It was a cool morning followed by a somewhat warmer afternoon with temperatures eventually reaching into the forties. Again it was sunny for most of the day. Astrid arrived at the nest box at 11:47 PM (technically Monday), which was her earliest arrival for this young breeding season. This time, instead of staying out on the cross-perch as she has in recent nights, she moved into the box and perched on Ares’ mega-scrape. This looked a lot like pre-egg laying behavior to us, but as we’ve learned from previous years, she usually does this a few times before actually producing an egg. She remained in the box until Ares arrived with food at 3 AM. The prey was a Woodcock. She took it and flew over to the Hotel where she proceeded to feed on it. Although it was really too dark to see what was happening over there, but we don’t think she had very much of it before shoving it aside.  Ares stayed at the box for quite a while after that. At 5:30, Ares was back at the box with more food. We couldn’t see the prey well enough to determine what is was, but it was small and mostly de-feathered. One thing was clear, Astrid showed no interest in it. At this point she was on the State Building and remained there until about 6:30. As for Ares, he came and went from the box another couple of times in rapid succession. The second time, he no longer had the food. At 8:12, Astrid was relocated on the State Building. Twenty minutes later both falcons were at the box. Astrid came in doing her famous donkey calls. Sometimes we have to wait until much later in the season to hear those! This display featured a great amount of beaking. At the conclusion, Ares left first, but she didn’t stay for long. At 9:10, Ares was at the box and chirping, but then he flew up to his rooftop lookout on the State Building. Before I could jot that down, he was back to the box again. This happened a few times until at 9:40, both of them were at the nest. She scooted over to the east veranda for a minute and then left.

At 10 AM, Ares was chirping at the box while Astrid was flying around the canyon. She put down on top of a pillar west of the nest box. They mated there a couple of minutes later, and they mated again 15 minutes after that – and then again twenty minutes after that. Apparently the pillar perch was quite conducive for that kind of thing. Directly after the last mating, Ares came to the box clutching a meal. He brought it over to Astrid and tried to give it to her, or use it as a lure to get her back to the box, but she only seemed keen to mate. He went back and forth between the box and the pillar, but he couldn’t change her mind.  At 11:25, they mated on the pillar for the fourth time. Then, just as the sunlight was beginning to illuminate Astrid on her pillar perch, she left and went over to the steeple where she could stay in the shade. Why she wanted to stay in the shade is anyone’s guess. It was a fairly chilly day.  There was an aborted mating attempt on the steeple. After doing some flying around in the canyon and scuttling the local Pigeon flock, the Peregrines both flew to the nest box and at 12:12, they shared a ledge display. About five minutes later, Ares left Astrid to do some work around the box. She bit the lip of the box, picked up stones, did a few scrapes – all stuff like that. For a while, Ares seemed pleased to just be watching her in the nest, but then he dashed out to get her a food tribute. In less than one minute he was at the box with a bat. One might think he’d know by now that Astrid doesn’t like bats. She stood on the cross-perch for a moment and then flew off. He stayed on the lip of the box and ate the bat for lunch. About a half-hour later, at 12:56, Ares came to the box with a fresh Killdeer – the first one that he’s caught this season. He plucked it some and then flew around with it, returned periodically to the box. When it was clear that this gift also wasn’t having the desired effect on his mate, he stowed the food somewhere and then came back to the box to work on his scrape project. A little while after that, Astrid took a perch on the State Building. There was an aborted mating attempt at 1:20 PM. Afterwards, Ares was at the box and working on the other scrape – the one on the east side of the floor. At 3:38, a food exchange happened at the nest box. At close to 5 o’clock, Astrid and Ares were together at the box again, and this time they performed a ledge display. Astrid stayed in the box for some time following the last dance. After a few housekeeping shores, she stood with her back to the box opening and to the sun and she held her wings slightly out. It was a stance we normally associate with shading the eggs. It looked like she was getting some practice in. The length of time she is spending sitting in the box is an indication of the approaching egg-laying. It looks like the event is getting ever closer and may only be a day or two away. I know that we’ve claimed this before, but this time I’m putting two exclamation points after this sentence!! At just before 6PM, the flacons switched out, almost as if one was relieving the other from incubation duties. We didn’t have a confirmed sighting of Astrid after that. Ares came to the box a few times and went up to his rooftop look out, but we couldn’t locate her by camera or by an on-the-ground effort. These birds can still easily elude us despite our technology. He was last seen leaving his perch at close to 8 PM. Likely he went to his night perch. Will Astrid come to the box tonight and lay her first egg of the season? It might be worth a small wager. I for one would hold off on the big bet for just a little while longer.

Today started out cool again with temperatures in the twenties, but the mercury made it into the low 40’s by early afternoon. Today the winds were not as strong as they had been in recent days. In the very early morning, we were blind to what was happening in the falcon box and in the canyon. All of our cameras went out at 1 AM. Fortunately, Deb was able to get them back on line by 6:15 AM. It only took going in to work early on a Sunday morning! When she arrived in the parking she could see one falcon was on the State Building and one at the box. That’s doing it the old fashioned way! With the cameras streaming again, we could confirm that there was no egg in the nest. It now seems very unlikely that our falcons are going to break their early egg-laying record date of March 26^th, which had been set in 2016. That’s all well and good. Only two of four eggs hatched that year and we believe that cold temperatures in late March had a lot to do with that. At 6:30, Ares was in the box giving long calls. We didn’t know if he had given Astrid a food tribute or not this morning. There seemed to be at least a portion of a bird carcass on the Hotel. Its possible Astrid fed on it there before shoving it over and essentially storing it.  By 7:00, we hadn’t seen Astrid in a while and Ares had been calling to her with long screech calls. Finally she showed up on one of the steeple perches. Eight minutes later, the pair mated right there on the steeple. During the next few hours, Astrid was out of view again, but Ares made several visits to the nest box. Meanwhile, Pigeons were having a field day at  some of the falcons’ favorite hangouts. They were walking around on ledges and roof tops and acting like they didn’t have a care in the world. Even after Ares pursued one of in their ranks, all the others kept on with their prancing and fluttering. At 10 o’clock, Ares screeched back to the nest. He was highly excited, which was an indication that his mate was nearby. Sure enough, she jumped into the box and the pair shared a ledge display. She took the west side of the “dance” floor this time, which was unusual. In fact she was standing in Ares’ prized scrape, which he had to be pleased about. After about six minutes of the pair profoundly bowing to each other, Ares left the box. Astrid remained to do some housekeeping. She made three scrapes on the east side of the floor.

At 10:30, the falcons were acting somewhat oddly. While at the box, Astrid appeared to become agitated. She began giving loud chirping-type alarm calls. Ares arrived and he too chimed in with his own chirp notes. She reacted to his presence by bowing and seemingly requesting mating, but then she moved out on to the perch of the east veranda and resumed her vocalizations. After a few minutes of this, she took off and he followed after her. Was there an intruder in the canyon? Not that we saw. Could there have been a migrant raptor flying way above the State Building? Well, maybe. Lots of migrants have been passing through the region this past week, including a few species that could give the falcons some grief – namely, Golden Eagles and other Peregrine Falcons. Neither falcon was seen again until Ares came into the box at 11:30. Right after he arrived, his calling reached a fevered pitch. That meant he had obviously seen his mate. Sure enough, Astrid landed on a window ledge just west of the nest box. She called a few times and then was gone. Ares took off after her again. He doesn’t like to let her out of his sight at this time of year. Just before noon, Ares was up at his lookout perch on top the State Building. A few moments later he was at the box. Astrid came flying in and then zoomed by our roof camera. She again landed on a window ledge west of the nest box, but this time she was looking up and giving long and somewhat breathy wailing calls. She may have been looking at a Red-tailed Hawk that was flying high over the territory or perhaps she saw something else. Falcons do have much keener eyes that we do and they possess the ability to focus in on distant objects far better than we or our cameras can. Perhaps she saw something more ominous than the hawk. She flew off at 12:11 and was quickly out of our view. Predictably, Ares launched out after her. At 12:25, Astrid arrived at the cross-perch and she seemed only slightly less anxious than she had been earlier. Ares tried to mate with her, but he came down at the wrong angle and had to abort. When he came back he went directly into the box. He wanted her to come in for a ledge display but she wanted to mate. Both were being very stubborn. After the ten minute standoff, she left and went to the Hotel ledge but wasn’t there for long. At 1:15, Ares was perched on the steeple, but he didn’t stay there long either. He soared off to the west – possibly following after Astrid. Fifteen minutes later he was back at the box and all amped up. He left quickly. Astrid had just caught a Pigeon and was disassembling it on the Hotel ledge. Ares took a perch further down the same ledge where he could monitor his mate while she dined. Astrid proceeded to eat nearly the entire thing in one sitting. Ares took a little piece that became dislodged while she was tearing into it. While she was feeding, Ares took about five different perches – keeping watch for Hyenas, we reckon. After her Palm Sunday meal, Astrid took a perch on the steeple and did some preening. Her crop was so big it looked like a feathered goiter on her neck – albeit a regal one! At 2:15, they mated there on the steeple. Ares went over to the Hotel and tried to make a meal out of the scant remains left there. He then came back to the box and did some tinkering with his excavation project. The falcons mated again at 3:05.

When Ares next returned to the box, he made a scrape on the opposite side of the box from where his mega scrape is. He was working in the place where Astrid usually makes her scrapes. At 4 PM, they mated on the steeple, and then did the same thing again only ten minutes later! At just before 5:00, both falcons came to the box for a very unconventional display. He was inside the box and she was on the east veranda. Both were vocalizing like mad. She was waltzing around the veranda in an almost frolicsome manner as if she had just discovered Shangri-La. Soon she was swooping around the canyon and putting on a big aerial show. He seemed to be content to just watch her from the box, but then he was up too. We lost track of them for about 15 minutes, and then he was back at the nest and calling. She landed on the north face of the State Building and that’s where they mated. Ares then returned to the box, hopped onto his scrape and moved some stones around. It looked like he ate a few, which isn’t unusual. At 5:57, he left but was back only a minute later with some well processed prey. He flew by Astrid’s perch on the State Building and then came back to the box. When he came back this time he started feeding on the prey right there on the cross-perch. Astrid then came up to the box (or just short of it) as if to take the meal and then diverted over to the steeple and requested mating. He flew by her with the food a few times and then came back to the box. He then unilaterally decided to finish the meal himself. At 6:30, Astrid flew off and was out of our camera’s view for a while. Ares went up to his lookout on the roof of the State Building. At 7:18, he returned to the box and then things got lively. Astrid had just flown up to take Ares’ place on the roof when an intruder (likely a male Peregrine) flew in from the north and buzzed right over Astrid’s head. Ares left the box and flew in to intercept. With wings flapping at full speed he went around the east side of the State Building. The stranger then flew back towards the north with Ares on his heels. Astrid remained on the roof until about 7:45 and then, presumably, she went off to her night perch. Hopefully it wasn’t long before Ares did the same. And that was just one day in the life of the Utica Peregrine Falcons.

Today was cool and mostly clear with a pretty stiff wind that was especially noticeable on rural hilltops and in the downtown canyon. Temperatures were initially in the twenties, but quickly rose into the thirties by morning’s end. Astrid first came to the box at 3:19 AM. She stayed quiet on the cross-perch and didn’t even enter the box until Ares brought food to her at 4:38. The prey appeared to be a woodcock, Astrid grabbed it and flew over to the Hotel to eat it. She fed for close to a half hour and then joined Ares at the box for a ledge display. At around 7 o’clock, Astrid launched after something and Ares followed her. It’s hard to believe she’d go after prey so soon after having such a long feed. At 8:30, the falcons aborted a mating attempt, but then they managed a successful one only 15 minutes later; and that was confirmed by sound only. If Ares gives a chatter call that’s at least six seconds long, then the mating was close to full duration. His vocalizations were loud so we knew Astrid was close by, but where she was we didn’t know. Finally she was located. She was on one of the steeple perches.

Mating on the State Building

At 9:35, the pair came to the box and shared a ledge display. They were beak to beak for the entire three minute dance. Astrid inspected the box afterwards. She slowly circled the floor, did some house cleaning and made a scrape. Ares returned with a gift for her less than five minutes later. He hoped into the box with it, but she declined to take it and flew out instead. At 10:00, there was a failed mating attempt on the steeple. Not long after that, Astrid flew off to the south. She was flying fairly low and didn’t seem to be in pursuit of anything, but then again she was out of view very quickly. At the time we weren’t sure were Ares was, but suddenly he darted past on rapid wingbeats. He was following her. At 10:20, Ares returned to the nest box, and from there he went to his lookout post on top of the State Building. He began giving his cackle alarm call, but stayed on his perch. He was initially looking to the southwest and then shifted his attention to the north. What was he looking at? A distant raptor flying over, perhaps? He soon stopped and began preening. At 10:37, we located her on the Hotel ledge. A few minutes later she cruised over to the State Building and shortly afterwards, the pair mated again. At 10:50, Ares took a steeple perch while Astrid remained on the State Building.

At 11:15, they were both in the air. She landed on the steeple and then moved back over to the State Building. They mated there at 12:15. Fifteen minutes later, Astrid flew off and as expected, Ares followed right behind her. Ares came back to the box at 1 PM. He was calling continuously and getting very worked up. Obviously he saw Astrid, but we couldn’t find her with either PTZ camera. Finally she put down on the State Building and we knew Ares hadn’t seen a mirage. As far as we know, not much happened in the early to mid-afternoon, but our monitoring was spotty during that time. We know that both falcons were on the State Building for a while; Ares was on his roof perch. After 3 PM, he was seen coming to the box a few times. During his visits, he worked on his trench. At 4 o’clock, the pair had a ledge display at the box. These was no beaking; the two participants simply bowed to each other from either side of the box. Five minutes later, Ares flew out. After he left, Astrid had another self-guided tour of the box. She checked out Areas’ tour de force creation. Soon they can be the first Peregrine Falcons on their block to have an in-ground pool. Astrid did two scrapes of her own on the other side of the box and then, of all things, she made two scrapes in Ares’ quarry. The pair continued to be up and down and in and out for a while after that. For that reason they were hard to keep track of remotely. At 4:50, the pair mated. Ares did some fancy flight maneuvers before coming back to the box. Both were on the State Building by 5:20, and they mated there twenty minutes later. Just before 6 PM, Ares brought food to the nest box. He tried to give it to Astrid, but she had no interest in it. He left and then came back a few minutes later without the prey. She went over to the Hotel and he met her there. He tried again to give her the food. At one point they almost looked like they were doing a ledge display, but it was just Ares, trying to coerce his mate into taking the prey. She wasn’t amenable. At 6:30, the pair mated again on the State Building, but it was on the short side, so it may not have been an effective mating. A half-hour later, Ares had prey again (maybe it was the same prey from earlier). He flew back and forth in front of Astrid a couple of times.  He tried his best to entice her over. It worked – she came to the box, she followed him over, grabbed the food from him and ran. She was feeding on the Hotel shortly after. Once she finished her meal, she flew. We reckoned that she went back to her night perch. Ares disappeared at 7:30 PM. Both were off to their night perches. Goodnight birds.

We had a cool start to the morning with temperatures in the twenties. As the morning progressed the temps rose well into the thirties, and by late afternoon we had breached the 40’s. Early on the sky was mostly overcast but ultimately the sun prevailed. Moderate winds developed early and showed little sign of subsiding. By late afternoon, the winds were medium strong and constant. Astrid arrived at the box at 3:51 AM and was very vocal. Ares was probably close by, but it was too dark to see much of anything in the canyon. While she was at the box, at no time did she seem to be preparing to lay an egg. At 5:20, Ares came to the box and hoped inside, but Astrid took that opportunity to leave. It was reminiscent of the way they switch-out when they are sharing incubation duties. Astrid went over to the west face of the State Building where she was only just visible by one of our cams. It looked like Ares joined her over there for a few minutes before moving to a ledge on the north face of the building. At 6:15, Astrid and Ares came to the box. She stayed on the cross-perch while he was inside. It was still so dark inside the box and he was so still (frozen in a bowing position) that we thought he had left, but he hadn’t. He was still there, pointing at his mate like a birddog. At the time we joked that he was showing her how to lay an egg, just in case she had forgotten. She soon edged her way onto the east veranda perch, but within five minutes she had flown. He left right after she did.

It was then that the day’s excitement began. A male (presumed) intruder came into the canyon and drew Ares full attention. The two birds were sparring in the air space above the State Office Building. The stranger landed on the roof of the building and Ares dove at him repeatedly to dry to dislodge him. The intruder took to the air again and flew high above the canyon with Ares in pursuit the entire time. The unknown falcon again landed on the roof of the State Building and Ares went into full hazing mode – diving at him over and over, but not making physical contact. Ares then broke off his efforts and perched on the other side of the roof. This intruder was being particularly difficult to dislodge and so far Astrid hadn’t engaged him. In fact, at that time we had no idea where Astrid was. It did seem like this transient was going to require more substantial persuasion efforts.  Ares did another round of hazing and then flew off to get something from his pantry. And then, with the intruder still in place on the State Building, Ares brought the food to the nest box. He was calling for Astrid to come and take it. Well somebody came, but we were not sure if it was Astrid or the stranger. They flew up just short of the box and Ares dashed out at the same time. We don’t know if a food exchange happened or not. Following that all falcons were out of view for about twenty minutes and then Ares came back to the box. At 7:30, he was in the air again and so was the intruder. They were flying over the eastern part of the canyon, above the County Building. The stranger landed on the roof and our resident pair subjected him to some spirited hazing. One of our falcons definitely got in some hits before they drove the bird off to the east.

At 7:50, Ares brought food to the box and Astrid blasted in to take it (this time it assuredly was Astrid!). She took the meal over to the Hotel ledge. Things were relatively quiet in the canyon for a while after that. The falcons spent time on the State Building; Ares popped in and out of the box and then the pair mated on the Steeple at 8:50. At 9:20, an American crow flew through the heart of the canyon and pulled both falcons into action. Usually they let crows get away with this kind of thing, but not today; they were super sensitive, and that was likely due to the intruder incident. They drove the crow downward and off to the east. Afterwards both falcons returned to their previous perches like nothing happened. Ten minutes later they mated on the steeple yet again. At 10:13, they mated on the State Building. Following that, Ares flew around the whole canyon in a circuit, zoomed past Astrid and landed on a ledge above her on the State Building. It seemed like a territorial proclamation to us. In effect he was showing all would-be usurpers that it was his canyon and his mate. Less than a minute later, both falcons were at the box. It seemed like they were going to do a ledge display, but Astrid was distracted and obviously agitated. Was the intruder back? She took off and quickly gained elevation. Soon she was high over the western part of the Canyon. Ares assumed his lookout perch on the roof of the State Building, but we didn’t see any intruders with our cameras. Soon both falcons were out of view. Ares returned at 11:30 and a few minutes later he was at the box. He began calling excitedly, and that was because Astrid had just come back into the fold and landed on the State Building. Ten minutes later they mated. At noon, they converged at the box, but Astrid was again too agitated to dance. She didn’t come into the box – only vocalized and turned around. When she flew out again and she seemed to be going after something with purpose. Ares returned to the roof of the State Building, but was soon gone and he didn’t return for a half-hour. She was back a few minutes later, no worse for wear. At 1 PM, the falcons mated again on the State Building, and for those of you not keeping track, that makes five times so far. At 1:40 the pair mated on the steeple, which came as a surprise since none of us knew that she was on the steeple at that time. He went back to his lookout post after that. For the next couple of hours the pair were quite active; Ares came to box numerous times. He worked on his masterpiece of a nest scrape and kept an eye on his mate. She did some nice flying too. The winds were quite strong in the afternoon. That taken together with the bright sunshine made for perfect flying conditions and the falcons took full advantage of it. At 3 PM, there was an aborted mating attempt on the State Building. Don’t worry, we won’t count that one. Twenty-five minutes later they managed an eminently countable mating on the same ledge.

At 3:45, the couple had an excellent ledge display at the box. This one featured a lot of beaking and for the first time today, Astrid wasn’t so agitated that she called it off before it began. In fact, it ended the traditional way, with Ares diving out first. Astrid remained to check out her mates’ massive excavation. How many eggs do you think can fit in there? She made a normal scrape on the other side of the floor and did some other housekeeping chores. At 4 PM, she flew over to the State Building. They mated there at 4:45 – and that made nine and counting! Fifteen minutes later, the pair had a long distance conversation across the canyon. Ares was at the box and Astrid was on the State Building and yet they were calling to each other as if they engaged in a display. At 5:22, Ares zipped out of view for a while, but came back to the box quickly and with prey. By the look of the food, it was already processed. Astrid wasted no time in coming to get it. They had a bit of a tug-o-war with it before he let go. She brought it over to the Hotel, but ate only part of it. Five minutes later, she was back at the box. We thought they were going to have another ledge display, but Astrid was agitated again and left abruptly and after only a couple of dance moves. At 6 o’clock, they mated for a tenth time, and then, 45 minutes later, for an eleventh time! After that, we think Astrid went to her night perch. Ares, on the other hand, was still active until nearly 7:30. He divided that time between the box and on his roof lookout. That marked the end of a very busy day.

First full day of spring? So says the calendar. We had another chilly start to the day with temperatures in the low twenties. Later on conditions improved; the temperatures rose into the thirties and the sun was nearly unobstructed in the sky. The Utica Falcons had a very early start to their day. Astrid arrived at the box at 1:43 AM. She wasn’t there looking like she was preparing to lay an egg. In fact, she was sitting on the box’s cross perch. She later moved out onto the east veranda’s perch. Neither would be an advisable places to lay an egg. Ares became visible on the north face of the State Building at around 5 o’clock. Just before 6:00, he came to the box and had a conversation with Astrid. He was standing in his prize divot and she was still on the veranda. It seemed clear by the intensity of Astrid’s calls that she wanted some breakfast. To us it seems like all he wants if for her to come and lay an egg on his scrape. Eight minutes later she was in the air. She flew over to the Hotel ledge and appeared to transition into hunting mode. If he’s not getting breakfast, then she will rustle up some for herself. At 6:30, both falcons were flying and at the same time one of our PTZ cameras went down, so our monitoring was a little hobbled. At 7:15, Ares was at the box and calling a lot. He screeched off into the canyon just as Deb arrived in her parking lot. At around 7:40, Ares was at the nest box again, but this time he had prey in his talons. The food was mashed up a bit, but appeared to be a starling. Since Astrid wasn’t coming to take it, he left with it, but then brought it back a half-hour later. Surely she’ll want it now? Nope. Actually, we weren’t even sure where she was at that time. He left again with the food and returned without it at 8:47. Three minutes later Astrid appeared from nowhere and was vocalizing at the box. she entered the box with him, but then left before any “performance” took place. She sailed out through the canyon and headed toward the Hotel. In a moment he was airborne as well. She found something to feed on at the Hotel ledge (it looked like leftovers from a pigeon meal). He landed near her and monitored her while she fed. To him she is an object of endless fascination. At 9:20, when she was finished, both returned to the canyon. Astrid took a perch on the steeple and Ares screeched over to his guard post (the box). Two minutes later the pair mated on the steeple. Twenty minutes later, both were on the State Building. At 9:44, the pair mated again – this time on the State Building. Afterwards Ares dashed over to the Hotel and partook of some scant leftovers. Seven minutes later, he was at the box, sitting in his scrape. Yep, it still seemed pretty good. Not much erosion took place since his last visit. The pair mated on the State Building again at 11:16. Shortly after that someone opened up a window in an office adjacent to the nest box. That upped both falcons. Astrid flew by the bank of windows to satisfy herself that nothing was amiss. She returned to the State Building a few minutes later.

At noon, Ares gave a cackle alarm call. Both falcons initially stayed in place and then Ares was up. He sped northward, but wasn’t gone for long. A little while later, we saw him on the roof of the State Building. Had he been upset by a migrant raptor flying over? Both falcons were flying again at 1 PM. Astrid did a wide circle over the canyon and then returned to her perch on the State Building. The pair mated, and then less than ten minutes later, Ares appeared at the nest box with prey. He began plucking it right there in the box. He was still processing the meal when something raised his ire. He started giving harsh “kak” calls. Was it an intruder? We saw nothing on the cams, but a migrating raptor could easily have been flying over. His cackle call transitioned into long screech calls and then he gave few more kaks. He launched off the perch and soared in front of the east face of the State Building, but he was not in pursuit of anything. He still had Astrid’s gift in his talons. He zipped around the north face of the building and glided up to perch on a window ledge right next to the one she was on. She began requesting a mating, but he only wanted to give her his gift. He bobbed the food up and down before her, but she wouldn’t take it. He put it down and picked it up and offered it to her no less than three times, but her answer was still no. After that, Ares returned to the nest box. He worked on his scrape and ate a stone of two. At 2:10, both falcons were up in the air again. We lost them quickly this time and so we weren’t sure what they were up to. Twenty minutes later, Ares screeched up to the nest box. He had prey again, but something different this time. He plucked it for a few minutes and then took it off and likely stored it. Soon he was up on the roof of the State Building. At 3 PM, Astrid showed up on a window ledges right below were Ares was. The pair was soon airborne again (why waste this great flying weather). First Ares cast himself into the wind and a few minutes later, Astrid sailed through the canyon. She took a turn around the steeple before putting down on the State Building once more. As for Ares, he landed at the nest box and put in some quality time with his project. I think it’s going to be a wine cellar. At 4:00, the pair shared a short ledge display at the box, after which Astrid conducted an inspection of Ares’ feat of engineering. Ares kept his bowed posture during her check over. After the dance, Ares left and Astrid did some chores around the box. Most notably, she made a mini scrape in the center of Ares’ super scrape.

At 4:25, the falcons were flying again. Ares, as always, became very excited when he saw his mate in the air and so he flew to the box and began vocalizing. Astrid flew slowly by the high windows ledges on the west side of the State Building. These are the cubbyholes where Ares stores meals and now Astrid was perusing them. Once she found something that struck her fancy, she extracted it and took it over to the Hotel.  She fed on it for about ten minutes and then was up again. While sailing around the canyon she saw some potential prey and made a play for it. Ares had stopped at the box, but left to join her in the sky above downtown. At 5:15, she was on the State Building again and Ares was popping in and out of the nest box. Right before 6 PM, he brought more food to the box. And then, just as he had done earlier, he brought it up to the ledge next to where Astrid was perched. They did some conversing; he tried to get her to take the food and she tried to interest him in mating. He went back to the box with the food still in his talons. This time she followed after him, plunged into the box, grabbed the food and launched out with it. Again, she took her gift over to the Hotel to eat. At 6:10, she was soaring before the west face of the State Building. We saw her use the wind and effortlessly ascend high above the building. At 6:55, Astrid and Ares mated once again on the State Building. He was in and out of the box a few more times after that. The last place we saw him was on the roof of the State Building. We believe he went to his night perch at 7:30. Astrid remained in place on her high perch until close to 8 PM. Good night Falcons. Will Astrid Lay an egg tomorrow? Some say there’s a high probability. Stay tuned!