Update for Sunday, March 10, 2024
The weather gave us a reality check today – reminding us that it’s early March and not early May. Ares guarded the box through the night once again, and much of their behavior during midday led us to believe they were dealing with an intruder. At around noon, Astrid was so distracted by something going on in the canyon that she wouldn’t commit to coming all the way inside the nest for a ledge display. Ares came to the nest with prey a couple of times – neither time did Astrid accept his gift. Of course, the first time involved a Woodcock, and Astrid doesn’t care for those. In the mid-aftenoon the pair shared a rather conventional ledge display at the box. For the balance of the day, Astrid remained on the north face of the State Building. Ares bounced back and forth between there and the nestbox. At the end of the day, both appeared to retire to perches on the east face of the State Building. It was the first time we had seen that behavior in several days.
