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The overnight period was cold with temperatures in the high 20’s. Skies were partly cloudy until later in the morning when snow began to fall. Once again wind was an issue in the canyon, but it was not as relentless as it had been in recent days. Astrid arrived at the box super early – at 12:23 AM! She stayed on the long perch for the balance of the night. At 5:24 she darted into the dark canyon and Ares arrived within a minute of her departure. He immediately began calling to her. At 5:28 he uttered a few alarm calls and flew. He screeched back at 5:55 but was there for less than five minutes. His next stop was the lookout post on the roof of the State Building. At 6:23 he was on a ledge at the hotel. There he was busy processing some fresh-caught prey. It appeared to be a Common Grackle. Obviously anticipating the arrival of a gift, she came to the nestbox. After eating some of it himself, Ares brought the meal to his mate at 6:32. She accepted it and flew it over to the hotel.  At 7:14 Astrid had finished breakfast and was back to a window ledge east of the nestbox. At 7:18 the pair mated. He returned to the box at around 7:40. She landed on a west ledge a few minutes later which got him highly excited. Just before 8:00 AM the pair had a failed mating attempt. At 9:00 they tried again and were successful. Ten minutes later Ares went to the west face of the State Building, pulled a Woodcock out from one of his pantry ledges and then buzzed by Astrid with it. He then brought it to a ledge just to the west of the one she was perched on. There it stayed; she had no interest in taking it.

At 9:44 AM the pair were conversing again – him at the nest and her on a west window ledge. They mated ten minutes later and then Ares flew up to perch on his pillar. At 10:02 he moved to the west veranda. Periodically he gave long calls for the next hour or so. He also did some work inside the box. He made a scrape and then did some digging in the gravel in the corner of the box – Hey! Isn’t that usually Astrid’s job. At 11:07 the falcons mated once more. After that Ares was out of view for a while. He showed up with a food gift at 11:29. Astrid accepted it on the west ledge and flew over to the hotel with it. By this point it was snowing more heavily in the canyon and, as it happened, the snow would continue right through the day and into evening. At 11:45 Astrid was back at the box and the pair mated. He then flew back up to his pillar perch and Astrid moved to the east veranda. For the next 90 minutes the falcons stayed in place. Ares snoozed occasionally, but the pair continued to guard the nest area. Just before 2:00 PM Ares was in the box and giving squeaking calls. 20 minutes later he was snoozing again. At 3:20 Astrid and Ares were loudly conversing. There was an aborted mating attempt at 3:38. At around 4:10 Ares was back in the box. The snowfall was intermittently quite intense, and we were amazed that the falcons were going on with their breeding and courtship rituals as if it were a bright sunny day. At 4:20 the pair mated again. Twenty minutes later Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid accepted it on the crossperch and flew off. We couldn’t find where she took it, but it wasn’t the hotel. At 4:58 she came back to the crossperch at the box. Her crop was cartoonishly large. The pair mated a couple of minutes post her return. After that, Ares went to his pillar. A half hour later she was calling out and asking to mate. At 5:48 they did and then he yoyoed back to his pillar. At 6:00 Astrid retired. She darted around the east side of the State Building and disappeared. Ares stayed on his pillar for nearly another hour and well after nightfall. Goodnight falcons.

After the rain and snow cleared out, the overnight grew colder with temperatures falling down into the high 20’s. By dawn the sky was clearer, but the wind didn’t relent. Fortunately, falcons love the wind, and they know how to use it. Ares first came to the nestbox at 4:07 AM. Once inside he remained quiet for close to 90 minutes. At 5:38 he came to life and flew into the canyon. He came back only two minutes later with a freshly caught Woodcock. How he was able to catch one that fast and evidently so close to downtown is open to conjecture. He called to Astrid, who by that point had landed on the State Building. He pleaded with her to come over. Of course, she wasn’t going to come over for a Woodcock. She hadn’t suddenly changed her opinion on them since the day before. After a few minutes, Ares floated off with his gift and presumably stored in on one of his pantry ledges.  He then took a perch on a high ledge on the State Building’s north face. At 6:02 he had taken to the air again. When looking around with one of the PTZ cameras we noticed that there was a crow on the roof of the bank. It probably sounds like no big deal since they are not uncommon in the downtown area; but it’s unusual for them to perch on the falcon’s building. This individual certainly seemed ill at ease. Astrid must have seen it from her perch, but probably thought he was far enough away from the nest, and so wasn’t in need of harassment. Had he been a Raven she would’ve acted differently since traditionally Ravens can compete for nesting ledges with Peregrines. I recall being downtown a few years ago during the breeding season when a Raven flew low over the canyon and both Astrid and Ares went after it. They drove it hard until it was gone from of the territory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so7V7tbQ0F4

At 6:18 AM Ares returned to the nest box. He was very excited and was acting like he saw Astrid, but by then she had flown from her perch and we weren’t sure where she went. Perhaps she was doing a flight display for him. She returned to the State Building at 6:23. A half hour later both Peregrines were on the hotel. She was on the upper ledge and he was on the lower. At one point she did a half floating, half swirling down maneuver to his ledge and he took it as a cue to fly. At 6:52 Astrid came to the nestbox. Ares met her there with prey. She reached out to grab it from him on the crossperch and then took the meal over to the hotel. He soon joined her there and stood by while she dined. At 7:21 Ares was at the nest and calling excitedly. He must have seen Astrid flying. He had moved to the State Building by 7:37 and Astrid had gone back over to the hotel. At 8:09 both falcons were at the nestbox engaging in a ledge display. The dance featured a lot of beaking. He dove from the box seven minutes later and she departed soon after him. At 8:40 he was back and calling at the nestbox. He made a nice scrape in the gravel and then floated off into the canyon.  At 9:25 were hearing what we thought were distant chirp-type alarm calls. It sounded like Ares but we could tell. The wind was causing so much distortion on the stream’s audio, we couldn’t always tell just what we were hearing. Interestingly, we confirmed no matings today. This was probably because we were trying to do it mostly by sound and specifically by the chatter call that Ares gives when a mating is in progress. At 9:36 we heard Ares’s long calls a few times; they seemed to be coming from some distance away. At 10:12 Ares was at the box again and she was still on the State Building. In fact he was up and back to the box a few more times in rapid succession. Perhaps there was a mating or mating attempt, during this time, we couldn’t confirm anything. At 11:14 Ares was giving long calls in the box. Five minutes later Astrid came over and the two shared a ledge display. There dance consisted of beaking and no fancy dance moves. The pair pretty much held their positions throughout. He was out six minutes later, and she lingered to do some work around the box. She made a scrape and then bit at some stones. She also raked stones with her bill at one point. We don’t see her do that very often.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gadXBaT0zb8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nft9sA-_1pM

At 12:17 PM A&A reconvened at the nest and performed another ledge display. This one was near identical to the last. It consisted of some beaking and no moving around. It seemed like we were seeing a repeat. Just like the last time Ares dove out of the box after six minutes. At 12:24 Astrid started calling in the box like she saw Ares fly through. Sure enough he had flown in and had landed on a west ledge. He had prey in his talons. After a minute he flew off without first handing it to Astrid. Astrid left the box at 12:33 and Ares came in right after. It was almost like a switch over of incubation duties, but obviously there are no eggs yet to incubate. At 12:38 Ares was making a real fuss in the box. Maybe she was performing a flight display for him, and we were hearing his reaction to it. He left the box at close to 1:00 PM. Once again, he was back and forth to the box often during the course of the afternoon. He was either getting over-the-top excited and/or calling for his mate to come over. At 3:23 he came to the box with prey. Astrid met him and accepted the gift. She flew off to the southeast with it. By 3:46 he was back in the box giving long calls again. At 4:15 both Peregrines were giving chirp-type alarm calls which usually indicates a Peregrine intruder, but neither Astrid nor Ares left their respected perches. From that we glean it probably wasn’t a Peregrine, but some other raptor species. At 5:37 Ares took off like he was going to mate with Astrid on the State Building but instead he flew past her perch and landed on the northeast lookout post. We are not sure how long he stayed up there. Astrid left her perch at close to 6:00 PM. We watched her fly from her north face perch and dash around the east face. By that point both seemed to be getting settled in for the night. Goodnight all.

More beaking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAKv8K-wXOw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YDI6R4xTgA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DATfCdQjiKE

The overnight brought a cool down from the unseasonable warmth of Sunday. Temperatures were in the mid-30’s by sunrise. Rain arrived by mid-morning and fell intermittently throughout the day. Ares came to the box at 3:42 AM. He had a freshly caught Woodcock in his talons. It was the first one of the season. It dangled from his talons as perched on the crossperch calling for his mate to come and get it. Of course, she wasn’t coming. Somehow he forgets every year that his mate has no interest in Woodcocks – even those that are so thoughtfully procured in the pre-dawn hours. At 3:55 he flew off with it – maybe to bring it to her or, more likely, to store it on one of his pantry ledges. Two minutes later he screeched back to the box without the Woodcock. He called out into the dark canyon trying to engage with Astrid who was probably still on her night perch and maybe sleeping. Ares left only to come back at 4:20 with the Woodcock again. He flew off with it briefly, perhaps to do a flyby of Astrid’s perch to tempt her with the prospect of an awesome feast. He was back to the box at 5:00 and, at the same time, she showed up on the north face of the State Building. She still showed no inclination to come over to the box, despite his desperate calls, and the flaunting of her gift. He half-heartily plucked the Woodcock, but that made no difference. She still didn’t want it plucked or un-plucked. He finally gave up and flew off to store it.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpKwp36H06Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYs6nQUhUPY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVV7X2oGQ0o

Ares was bouncing in and out of the box so much, it was hard for us to keep track. At 6:30 he switched from squeak calls to long calls and his angst was tangible. She was on the County Building by this time, and he was directing his calls towards her. At 6:36 the pair had an aborted mating attempt on the County Building. Ares was back in the box at 6:50 and doing chores – biting at stones, moving stones around, important stuff like that. At one point he made a nice scrape in the gravel. At 7:20 there was another aborted mating attempt on the County Building. At 8:21 AM Astrid arrived on a west ledge near the box. Ares became highly excited and began calling to her. The pair mated five minutes later. It was raining by this point but that didn’t seem to affect the falcons’ spirit or mood. At 8:36 he brought a gift to her. It wasn’t the Woodcock, but something smaller. She took it over to the hotel and made it her breakfast. Ten minutes later she had finished her meal and was on the east veranda. They mated at 8:51 – and then again at 9:57. Following that Ares flew up to perch on top of his favorite pillar. They mated at 10:38 and then he again flew directly back to the pillar. The same thing happened at 11:13. He had become a yoyo between the pillar and his mate on the east veranda. At 11:28 Ares was on the corner of the west veranda and Astrid was on the east veranda’s opposite corner. They were Peregrine bookends guarding the box. He left at 11:38 and came back with a small meal which he handed to Astrid inside the nestbox. She took it over to a west ledge to eat. It didn’t take her long and then she was back to the crossperch. At 11:54 he brought her another tidbit. She took it to the same west ledge and quickly devoured it. She returned to the long perch this time and he dashed up to his pillar perch. At 12:16 PM the pair mated on the west veranda and then Ares yoyoed back to the pillar. After that he was on the east veranda and her on the west. They were in guard positions again. At 1:06 he hopped back into the box and made a scrape in the stone. By then she had tucked in on the west veranda – probably due to the rain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFir890mnx4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyXAdIdrz0U

At 1:40 PM both falcons were again perched on opposite sides the verandas. They looked like a pair of gargoyles. At 2:05 Astrid hopped onto the crossperch and asked to mate. Ares dove from his perch as if he was going to comply but then failed to come back. At 2:18 Ares was back in the box and Astrid was on the crossperch. She moved to the east veranda and a couple of minutes later the pair successfully mated. At 3:00 Ares flew from the pillar to the box. Twenty minutes later they mated again on the east veranda, after which he yoyoed back to his pillar perch. He was back and forth between the pillar and the box twice more in short order, and then at 4:35 he went out of view for a while. At 5:33 Astrid was also away from the box area, but not for long. She returned to an east ledge at 5:44 and they mated there only moments later. He was back at the box at 5:56 and she left at about the same time. He gave a few angst-filled long calls and then held vigil until well after dark. He finally flew off at 6:30 PM. A strong storm passed through the downtown area not long after he retired. Wind and rain battered the box and the cameras. Goodnight all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwNNj9nTNuM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RnJCkeBlns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5rc8klLVBk

Some rain fell overnight, and the temperature stayed in the low forties. After daybreak there were a few intense rain squalls and the wind became strong and steady. By mid-morning the rain had cleared, the sun had come out, and the temperature surged into the 50’s. It would ultimately hit 70 degrees by mid-afternoon! The falcons were eager to get the day underway. Ares came to the box at 5:00 AM on the dot. Astrid came to a west ledge at the same time. Almost immediately she was asking to mate. He dove into the canyon like he was game but didn’t double back. In fact, he didn’t come back for another 15 minutes. I reckon he took the scenic route. At 5:30 she was on the State Building, and he was giving long calls at the nestbox. Ten minutes later he was up. We heard some distant calling, but we don’t think there was a mating attempt. At 6:20 both falcons converged on the nestbox. She then immediately flew out again. Some crows were calling in the canyon and the falcons weren’t pleased about it. The seem OK with the crows coming through outside of breeding season, but now things are different. He came in and out of the box a couple times in rapid succession. Was he chasing off crows between visits? Astrid then returned to her west ledge perch. He was in the box again and vocalizing. He started doing some housework; he made a big scrape in the gravel. At 6:25 Astrid was up again and flew over to the hotel. She wasn’t there for very long. Meanwhile Ares had gone to his lookout post on the roof of the State Building. At 6:43 he came back to the box calling. Ten minutes later she was on the west veranda asking to mate. He tried to comply, but his flight approach was off and the attempt was aborted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwJqTPLeaGo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWrJ2lDCuHA

At 7:20 AM Astrid was napping on the west veranda perch when Ares flew through the canyon screeching. He landed on a west ledge with prey, and she eagerly scrambled over to take it from him. She got it in her talons and started feeding on it right there on the ledge. At 7:30 Ares was back to the box and the pair was having a conversation. She moved to an east ledge and they mated there. It was their first successful mating of the day. After being at the box for a little while Ares moved to the west ledge to finish the leftovers from Astrid’s meal. He brought a scrap back to the box to finish. Following that, both falcons were guarding the box on either veranda – him on the west and her on the east. By 8:20 the wind had increased although the falcons didn’t seem to notice, and they certainly weren’t put out by it. High wind is never a problem for them; to the contrary, it represents limitless free rides. He was back in the box at 8:37 and then was up ten minutes later. She was on the east veranda until close to 8:30 and then she went over to perch on the Grace Church steeple. The pair had an aborted mating attempt there at 9:40. Twenty minutes later he was back to the box. At 8:30 he got up, stretched, fanned out his tail feathers, and hopped out onto the crossperch. He then gave a long call into the canyon. Ten minutes later he was giving chirp-type alarm calls. There was a flacon intruder in the canyon. Astrid didn’t seem very upset about it which was a pretty good indication that it was a male. Ares launched from the box, came right back, and then launched again. he was giving piercing alarm chirps the whole time. Astrid came to the nest at 11:12 AM. She kept looking up so perhaps Ares was sparring with another falcon in the airspace above the canyon. She flew only a minute later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAA7Mhh-26A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6706YPjfn0

Ares returned to the nest box at 11:28 AM. Astrid was on the State Building at the time. They were both gone two minutes later. At 11:38 one of them was soaring in a circle high above the State Building – perhaps guarding the airspace. Ares came to the box calling at 12:05 PM. He acted like he saw his mate, but we couldn’t find her with our cameras. Almost a half hour later we picked her out on one of the lower steeple perches. How long had she been there? She was doing a lot of preening as if she had recently bathed. At 1:00 were heard Ares’ characteristic screech call from a long way off. A minute later he was back to the box and giving squeaking calls. Ares gets extremely vocal during the breeding season. Minutes later he moved from the box to the State Building. At 1:20 he was to the box again and then up. She left the State Building at 1:21 and then Ares arrived at the box once more. He called to her after she landed on the State Building. At around 2:20 PM the pair came together at the nest for a ledge display. Following his departure, Astrid puttered around in the box for a while. She made a scrape at one point. At 2:36 Ares became very excited and was giving loud chirping-type alarm calls. Astrid was still in the box at the time and didn’t seem too worried about anything. He was on the State Building and wasn’t involved in chasing after anyone, so the intruder probably wasn’t a Peregrine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHxn4T8YaME

At 3:20 PM Ares brought prey to the nest and tried to call Astrid over to get it. She didn’t want to leave her ledge on the State Building and so he brought the food to her. She accepted it and ate it right there on the ledge. Ares then flew back to the box and she joined him there at 3:28. The pair then partook of their second ledge display of the afternoon. At the end of the dance, he flew out into an increasingly windy canyon and she stayed inside doing housekeeping chores – mostly digging in the corner and biting at stones. For the next two hours Ares was in and out of the box a half-dozen times. She was mostly on the State Building on a few different perches. At 5:08 she was on a windowsill. It is conceivable that we missed a mating or two during this period. It was very windy and difficult to hear their vocalizations over our live stream. We last saw Astrid at 5:35 and Ares at 5:55. Most probably, they were off to their night perches. Goodnight falcons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U8-ACpmI8g

The overnight was cold, but temperatures rose fairly quickly into the 20s during the morning. Our first sighting of a falcon took place at just after 6:00 AM. It was Ares and he was on a high ledge on the State Building. At 6:15 he was gone from his perch, and we heard a distant cackle alarm call from somewhere in the canyon. Right after that we found Astrid perched on the hotel. She appeared to be moving her bill and vocalizing, but we weren’t sure if it was her that had cackled earlier. She appeared to be in hunting mode – watching the Pigeons move about in the canyon. At 6:23 Ares buzzed directly over her and then flew to the box. Once there he began calling to her to come over. Ten minutes later she dashed after prey. She apparently missed her target and so she cruised through the canyon. She flew by Ares at the box and landed on a west ledge. Ares gave excited calls. He is always her best audience. Minutes later he gone, but at 6:52 he came back with prey. He landed on a ledge west of the box and began hastily plucking his quarry. Astrid was anticipating a gift meal and she became excited.  She called to him to bring it over, but he just kept working on it himself and seemed in no hurry to get it to her. Finally, at 7:08 he brought her what was left. She accepted it inside the box and took it to hotel. She proceeded to feed on it for about ten minutes so there must have been something there. At the box, Ares gave pterodactyl calls while she fed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbdLVZImw_I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKZ8qiRFzdQ

At 7:21 AM Astrid flew back to a ledge east of the nestbox. He hopped into the box once she came into view. He seemed to be hoping for a ledge display (dance). By 7:55 he had left the nest and had flown up to his favorite pillar perch. From their perches they did some spirited chattering back and forth. The pair mated at 9:52 and Ares returned to the box directly afterwards. A moment later he was up, only to screech right back again. Did he not get his dramatic entrance right the first time? By 10:10 both falcons were out of view. Ares then showed up on the northwest lookout post. He flew back to the nest at 10:33 AM. She arrived on a west ledge a few minutes later and the pair shared a spritely conversation.  After their talk he did a few housekeeping chores inside the box. Another mating occurred on the east ledge at 11:32. At 11:50 he was giving squeaking calls inside the box again. Astrid had moved to the steeple. Both then flew and she came over to the crossperch. At 12:34 PM Ares flew over to the nest and hopped into the box. He called for her to join him in a ledge display. She moved to the east veranda and, for a moment, seemed to be asking to mate. She then changed her mind and realigned herself on her perch so mating wouldn’t be possible. At 12:43 she was on the steeple. Fifteen minutes later he began cackle calling at the box. Evidently some raptor or vulture was flying over. We couldn’t see anything with our cams. Astrid flew back to the east veranda at 1:27. Ares hopped back into the box and started excitedly calling again. A minute later she was asking to mate and he quickly obliged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5gE8dtbo18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4cIpZy6f6o

At 1:44 PM Astrid left her perch and flew around the west and south sides of the State Building. Perhaps she was checking Ares’ pantry ledges. She then followed him to the nest area. He went into the box and she landed on the west veranda. They were vocalizing to each other in a big way. At 2:12 he moved from the east veranda to his pillar perch. Interestingly, the falcons were dedicated to guarding the box today and, for the most part, either one or both of them were keeping close by. Ares was back in the box and calling at 2:25. They mated again ten minutes later. He went to his pillar at 3:40 and then came back to the box calling. He was out again after only a minute. As for Astrid, she remained on a west ledge. At 3:45 Ares was heard screeching through the canyon. We thought that maybe he had prey, but that wasn’t confirmed. She called back to him, but there was no food transfer. At 4:00 the pair shared a ledge display in the box. When it started Astrid was standing on the lip of the box which was unusual. She did eventually come inside. He left the dance after only three minutes and Astrid stayed on to do some work around the box. She did a half scrape in the stone using only one foot. She then did a proper whole scrape using the traditional two footed method. At 4:43 Astrid began calling like she saw Ares flying in. He soon landed on his pillar perch. A few minutes later the pair mated on the east ledge. At 5:41 she left her ledge perch and he arrived at the box at the same time. She then returned to the east ledge and called excitedly. Five minutes later, both were gone and out of our view. Presumably they were off to their night perches. Goodnight to all.