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It was very rainy off and on today – mostly on! Despite that the falcons had a fairly active day. As usual, it started early with Ares bringing a meal to Astrid at 4:27 AM. She didn’t take it, but let him have his early turn in the box. He stored the meal and then came right back. Throughout the day the pair took turns being at the nest box – sometimes incubating and sometimes only guarding the eggs. We believe that continuous incubation did begin in the late afternoon.  The pair mated at least five times today, including once during heavy rainfall. There were at least 3 food exchanges – one appeared to be a bat. Finally, Astrid laid egg number three at approximately 7:40 PM. We only glimpsed the new egg for a second when she shifted and so we have no pictures of it yet. We will be sure to post some tomorrow once the light returns.

 

Tuesday evening we lost track of Ares for a while. It’s possible that he had gone hunting in the late afternoon and got stranded somewhere during heavy rain fall. Astrid seemed to be calling for him in the evening, but he didn’t respond. By early morning (5:15 AM) he reappeared and took his turn guarding the eggs at 6:20. The pair has yet to begin full incubation, which is normal at this stage. The pair were more active in the late afternoon. Astrid was seen on several different perches around the downtown canyon. Ares brought back a Mourning Dove at 7:20 and Astrid ate it on the Hotel. There were a total of four matings today (that we know about) and at least two food exchanges. Astrid was also seen drinking water on the Hotel. We should see the 3rd egg laid sometime in the early evening on Thursday. Full incubation could begin at any time. In fact it may have already commenced, which would mean that the countdown to the first hatch would also begin!

Astrid spent the night in the nest box again last night and at 6:45 AM she produced her second egg of the season. What was different this time was that Ares was at the box when the egg was laid. In the course of four seasons, Astrid has laid a total of 14 eggs and this was the only one that Ares was present for. Astrid was a little more vocal when laying this egg and we think it may have been a more uncomfortable experience than usual for her. She did seem fine afterwards and for the rest of the day. Today there were a couple of food exchanges – the only recognizable prey item was a starling. Astrid was seen drinking water on the Hotel ledge once in the afternoon and she took a brief shower while standing on the box’s perch in the rain. The pair both took turns sitting at the box and sometimes sitting on the eggs, but full incubation has not yet begun. Rain fell off and on throughout the day today, but the heaviest rain was in the late afternoon. There were a total of five matings reported today. We expect the next egg to come sometime Thursday in the late afternoon or early evening.

Ares decided he wanted to be present for the laying of this egg. He arrived just seconds before Astrid produced her second egg of the season!

Astrid spent last night at the nest box but left at 3:30 AM when Ares arrived with her breakfast. I don’t think that she took it though. It was very dark and I could barely make it out on our PTZ camera, but it looked like they tried to mate on the State Building before 5 AM, which may be a record early time for that kind of thing. He tried to give her another food offering at 6:00 upon her return to the box, but she still wouldn’t take it. Things seemed quiet in the canyon for the first half of the morning, but that tranquility was disrupted when an intruder came blasting through. There was pandemonium for a while. Astrid seemed particularly put out this time. Following some chasing Ares assumed his usual lookout position on the top corner of the State Building and surprisingly, there he received a hazing from the other bird. Following that, our pair again took the upper hand and the intruder wasn’t seen again for the rest of the day. In the late morning a long chatter alarm call given by Ares was probably in response to some other species of raptor (not a Peregrine) migrating over the Downtown area. Thankfully, the afteroon was much less contentious. Astrid was seen drinking water from puddles on the Hotel ledge no less than three times and there were as many as six mating seen and/or heard between afternoon and dusk. Ares brought some dinner (it was an unrecognizable hunk) to Astrid in the early evening. This she accepted; she flew over to Hotel ledge to devour it. We expect the second egg of the season to be laid sometime in the early tomorrow morning. Stay tuned!