The morning started out mild with temperatures in the mid 30’s. There was a high cloud cover with breaks of sun. Ares showed up at the nest box at 6:18 AM. He came in with his usual screech and followed that up with a chorus of squeaking calls meant for his unseen mate. We noticed that he had a full crop which meant he must have eaten recently – a nocturnal meal. At 6:21 Astrid showed up on a ledge west of the nest box and the pair shared some conversation. Five minutes later she made a dramatic dive after something – probably prey. At 6:53 she was on the east veranda and Ares was in the nest box. Moments after we heard Ares’ mating chatter; they had mated on the veranda. They mated again at 7:15. Fifteen minutes later Ares was at the box again and she had moved to the west veranda. An additional mating occurred at 7:58. The pair were obviously on a roll! At 8:55 AM Ares was back at the box and giving long calls. He wanted her to come into the box for a ledge display, but she was tucked in on the west veranda and wasn’t in a dancing mood.
At 9:52 AM Ares was giving long calls from the box again and Astrid was having quiet time on the west veranda. Twenty minutes later she had moved over to the east veranda. She was inviting him to mate and he was still trying to entice her into the box. Her way prevailed and another mating took place at 10:19. Ten minutes later, Ares brought Astrid a food tribute. She accepted it and flew over to the hotel to eat it. It appeared to be a Starling. At 10:44 she flew back to the bank building and perched on a ledge to the east of the nest. Ares was in the box. They mated on the ledge at 10:49. Afterwards, Ares west to his favorite pillar perch. We thought Astrid snuck away at some point, but she had only tucked in on the ledge and wasn’t visible to our PTZ camera. At 11:08 she started calling and Ares responded with his own excited vocalizations. A minute later she took to the air and sailed over to the hotel. Ares followed her and buzzed by her perch. She then flew right back to the nest box and landed on the long perch. There, she began to give very animated calls. We thought there may have been an intruder active in the canyon, but she was probably reacting to Ares flying and perhaps performing a flight display.
At 11:29 AM Ares came to the nest box. She was on the west veranda and the pair had a loud conversation. He did some work inside the box including making a scrape. The pair mated on the west veranda at 11:36. They appeared to be going for the record today. Indeed, they had mated 6 times to our certain knowledge, and it wasn’t even noon yet. Just before noon, Ares returned and landed on his pillar-top perch. At 12:12 PM, first Ares and then Astrid darted off – both heading west with purpose. At 12:18 he returned to the box and was immediately giving squeaking calls to his unseen mate. He then began calling louder like she was very close, but we couldn’t locate her. It’s likely she was performing a flight display for him. She landed on the west veranda at 12:20. They mated again ten minutes later. By 12:42 Ares was back to the top of his pillar. At 1:15 he became agitated and began giving high-pitched chirping calls. We couldn’t see it with our cams, but he was most likely reacting to a Peregrine Falcon intruder. Since Astrid was not reacting, it was likely a male falcon. Ares blasted off his perch, presumably to intercept the stranger. Astrid remained in place.
At 1:44 PM Ares returned to the nest box and looked none the worse for his adventure. Astrid was on the west veranda, signaling her willingness to mate. He appeared to take her up on the invitation. He dove out of the box, boomeranged back to the veranda, but then aborted his landing and veering back into the canyon. It was the first aborted mating attempt of the day. It had started raining by then and perhaps that effected the logistics. A minute later he was back up on his pillar. At 1:55 it was Astrid’s turn to blast off. She abruptly darted off to the east with great speed – probably after prey. She floated back to the box less than a minute later. Obviously, her foray had been unsuccessful. By 2:32 she had moved over to the west veranda. At 3:03 Ares was gone from his perch. We heard him screech from somewhere, but we couldn’t find him on the cams. Ten minutes later he had returned to his pillar perch. At 3:31 they mated on the west veranda. Directly following that, both falcons sat at the opposite corners of the verandas – in perfect symmetry. They were in guard position but also preening in the rain. The pair mated at 4:35 PM – as it happened it would be the last one for the day (number 9). Meanwhile, the rain was picking up. At 5:21 PM Astrid was on a window ledge east of the nest and Ares was at the box. By 5:37 both had gone – probably off to their night perches. Good night falcons.