Peregrine Breeding Log for March 19 – 20, 2019:
Tuesday March 19th started out chilly, but the temps moderated as the day progressed. There was little precipitation. Winds started out light but strengthened by the end of the day. Our first falcon sighting took place at 5:20 AM when one landed on the north face of the State Building. At 6:30, Astrid and Ares both converged on the box, but she peeled off quickly and landed on a steeple perch instead. A couple of minutes later Ares attempted to mate with her, but his angle of descent was off and he had to abort the mission. He’s out of practice mating on the steeple! Soon after, she was at the box and he was up on the lookout post on the State Building roof. Things were happening fast with the fastest birds in the world! Who could’ve guessed? Suddenly she was on the State Building again and they were mating – this time successfully. Moments later Astrid was back to the box and onto the west veranda. She was vocalizing and obviously excited about what Ares was up to. We have no idea what he was doing, but surely it was fascinating stuff. We assumed he was hunting the periphery of the canyon and she was cheering him on. At 7:20, we heard his distant screech calls getting closer. He caught something and was, no doubt, plucking it and sampling it. Apparently, Astrid needs her food tested – something Ares is only too happy to do. At 7:30, he brought a gift to the box and she grabbed it. She flew over to the hotel to feed. It was a small meal and afterwards she went to perch on the steeple. The pair mated there shortly after. Another mating took place on the steeple at 8:39. He came to the nestbox right after that other try
At 9:30, Ares was out of the box and screeching around the canyon. There was an aborted mating attempt somewhere, but we weren’t sure where. I heard only a short mating chatter call from Ares and that’s how we often distinguish a full mating from an aborted one. During a full mating, his chatter lasts for at least 5 seconds. Astrid too makes distinctive vocalizations when mating and when its an aborted attempt, her calls are more clipped. Ten minutes later, Ares had prey and was plucking it on a window ledge west of the box. He was at the nest with it only minutes later. He was too impatient to wait for her to come, so he darted past her with the food in his talons – screeching the whole time. That did the trick and she came to collect it at the box perch. He met her there and they did a handoff. We were sure she took it, but this time we didn’t know where she went with it. Ares dove out of the box shrieking and then came right back. He loped onto his massive divot and gave it another raking with his talons. Astrid went to the steeple, but only for a minute. She then flew to the box. Much to Ares disappointment, she didn’t stay, but instead dashed back into the canyon. Never fear, Ares, she came right back! That made him brim over with excitement. Still, he stayed put on his mega-scrape as if to show her where he thought the eggs should be laid. A few minutes later she was on the west veranda perch and he was diving into the canyon again. He boomeranged back and they mated again. Only fifteen minutes later, at 10:30, the pair attempted another mating, but something was logistically wrong and they didn’t succeed. Following that, Astrid hopped into the box and did some housework – a lot of housework! She bit the lip of the box for a while and then made some scrapes including one on top of Ares’ super scrape.
At 11 AM, suddenly it was Ares at the box, and we weren’t sure when they switched. Before we could figure out what had happened, they had switched again, and it was Ares in the box and she was on the State Building. At Noon the pair mating at the box again. A half-hour later, Ares returned to the box, but then Astrid took it as her que to leave. He followed tight behind her, diving into the canyon. He came back moments later, only to leave again. While she had taken a perch on the State Building, he was out of camera view for about an hour. He then made a dramatic screeching entrance back into the canyon and straight to the box. After a failed mating attempt at 2 PM, Ares retrieved some food from storage and brought it to the box. When she failed to come for it, he chirped and screeched. He flew past her with it and then returned to the box. She left her perch at that point but didn’t come to the box. Maybe she did get a hunk of whatever it was he had. It couldn’t have been much since she was back on the State Building only ten minutes later. At 2:30, both were out of view again.
Ares came back onto the radar at 2:50. He was vocalizing as if he had her in view. He was at the box for only a moment and then out again, but we could still hear him. He was in and out of the box several times in the latter part of the afternoon. She showed up back on the State Building at 3:30 and pretty much stayed put. As for him, he was acting like a Jack-in-the-Box; one moment, in and the next, out. He was mostly giving his long calls, but at one point he gave this really short cackle-like call, which sounded like highly abridged version of the Peregrine’s cackle alarm call. Perhaps he saw some distant migrating raptor and then decide it was no real threat. At 5:30, after giving some long calls he left the box, retrieved another odd hunk of prey and tried to lure Astrid over with it. When he saw she wasn’t coming over, he flew to her – putting down on a ledge just next to hers. I guess they had some conversation with each other and then Ares flew back to the box. Astrid pulled in behind him and accepted his gift. This time she did take it over to the hotel. He followed to watch her feed. Just before 6 PM, Ares was back at the box and vocalizing again. He gave a long call and was out. Just then Astrid came to the nestbox and it was her turn to make some noise. He was manning the lookout post on top of the State Building. He dove down and tried to mate with her, but she was on the main perch, pointing out and so he didn’t have any room to maneuver; he veered off. She left the box at just before 7:00. He came to the box only a moment later but didn’t stay. Both were off to their night perches following that.
Wednesday March 20th began a little chilly, but temperatures rose into the forties before the morning was done. Skies stayed mostly clear. There was a falcon only just visible on the west face of the State Building as early as 5 AM. Forty minutes later Ares came to the box with a fresh Woodcock. Astrid joined him there at 6:10, but there was no move by either of them to transfer the food. Woodcocks are very bottom heavy, and they always look very difficult to hold and to handle. How exactly Ares flies so far with them is a mystery. After a few moments, he repositioned the load and flew out into the canyon. A minute later, I heard his screech calls coming from somewhere in the darkness. Hopefully he stored the food and didn’t drop it! Five minutes later he was perched high up on the north face of the State Building. At 6:40, both met at the box and performed a ledge display – one that featured a fair amount of beak swiping. Definitely more than we’ve seen in recent dances. At the end of the display he moved onto his super-scrape, but in a matter of a few minutes he was out. He came back at 7:15 when Astrid was out on the long perch. The mated fifteen minutes later. Following that, Astrid took a perch on the Steeple and he returned to the box. Shortly after, they mated on the steeple. It seemed like Ares finally relearned how to mate there proficiently. Immediately after the mating Ares was at the box with a food gift for Astrid. Unfortunately, Astrid was busy trying to bring up a pellet, so she probably didn’t notice his appeals. He flew out with the tribute and circled the canyon – screeching all the way. He was desperately trying to lure her back to the nest. He came back to the box, left and then came back again, all in short order. She did finally take the food and when she was done with it, she returned to a steeple perch. The sun was hitting her with full force, and it looked like she was in a spotlight. Ares was in and out of the box a couple of times before 10 AM. They adeptly mated on the steeple again at 10:25. Ares came back to the box after that and put in some work on his mega-scrape. It’s really coming along! Actually, it doesn’t look any different than it did a week ago, but don’t tell him.
Both falcons converged at the box at 10:30. A mating took place right there a few moments later. A half hour later there was another mating at the box. by 11:30, Astrid had moved onto the west veranda. Ares flew over to try to mate with here there but couldn’t maneuver in that tight space. It didn’t help that Astrid’s tail was pointing in towards the building and not out. At 12:10 PM, she was calling and bowing – all in the effort to convince him to try again, but then she turned her tail in again. He had already flown out but didn’t boomerang back. She flew shortly after that, and then the pair were largely out of view for the next hour. At 1:15, Ares was back at the box and chirping like mad. He probably could see Astrid but we couldn’t. His chirps and squeaks got even louder and that was an indication that she was flying in. He was hoping she’d come to the box, but she landed on the steeple instead. While she preened, he consoled himself by going back to work on his scrape project. At 1:30, Ares flew over and tried to mate with her, but she was not receptive, and he had to veer off. His next try, approximately an hour later, was successful.
Ares was in and out of the box a few more times in the afternoon. At 4 PM, someone raising the flag on top of the ADK Bank Building did not upset the falcons too much, but Astrid did leave her steeple perch in favor of a more distant ledge on the State Building. Ares remained in the box. That is, until he attempted another mating at 4:20. Twenty-five minutes later, he retrieved some food from storage and tried luring Astrid to the box. He flew by her screeching and then brought it to the box. When that didn’t have the desired effect, he took the meal to the ledge right next to hers and stood there picking at it. Next, I heard some interactive calls and some screeching, which sounded like a food transfer. Astrid took the gift over to the hotel and he returned to the nest. At 6 PM, Astrid was on the State Building and Ares was manning the nest. He flew over to mate with Astrid but aborted at the last second before hovering down onto her. Twenty minutes later, some major sparring was happening over the State Building. One of our falcons was actively engaging with a foreign Peregrine. The sparring (that I saw) lasted for only a couple of minutes, but it seemed pretty intense. It did look like they were making contact. Right after that, Ares came to the box and Astrid flew up to the northwest lookout post. He then flew up the northeast lookout. They looked like tiny bookends on the roof. At one point Ares made a dramatic swoop around the building and then flew to the box. He seemed very excited (again). At 7:15, both came to the box – Astrid came down on the main perch and Ares jumped inside. They vocalized a lot, but did not share a ledge display, nor did they attempt another mating. They were probably just staking their claim on the nest box – raising their own flag, so to speak. Good Night falcons.