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The overnight was very cold with temperatures down in the single digits. Fortunately, the winds did die down and there was no precipitation. Skies were partly cloudy through the day and temperatures rose steadily to just short of the freezing point. Not quite a summer day but we’ll take it. At 5:23 AM Ares screeched to the box. He hopped inside, facing out, and proceeded to be very quiet. At 6:32 he began producing light chirps. Sure enough, he saw Astrid in flight. He became highly animated when she landed on a ledge to the east of the nest and the pair shared some spritely conversation. At 6:41 Astrid invited him over to mate, but when he flew in close, she turned and tucked into the ledge. He aborted his approach and returned to the box. At 7:20 he gave a few long calls at the nest. She responded with loud “chirrup” calls. A few minutes later he took off and didn’t make another attempt at mating. She called a few times during the course of the next hour, but we couldn’t find him with our cameras. It was likely that he was out hunting. At 9:10 he arrived on the crossperch with prey. She came right over and accepted it inside the box. She took it over to the hotel and made it breakfast. He went over to perch on a high ledge on the State Building.

At 10:34 both falcons converged at the nest for a ledge display. Afterwards, she stayed on to do some housekeeping chores. She also made two scrapes in the gravel. At noon, she was out on the crossperch and he was out of view again. We thought that maybe he was out hunting for another gift for her. He came back to the box at 12:22 PM and she left simultaneously. He then began calling wildly as if he saw a falcon intruder in the canyon. We saw nothing on our cams. He launched from the box and quickly disappeared from view. Astrid was on the steeple at that time and didn’t seem the least bit anxious. At 12:54 Ares flew up to mate with her, but his approach angle was bad, and he had to veer off. At 1:24 Ares came to the box with prey. Astrid immediately arrived on the west veranda – accepting the gift on the veranda platform. As expected, she then brought it to the hotel. Ares stayed at the box for about five minutes and then flew off into the canyon. She finished her lunch before 1:30 and was up again. Ares was back at the nest and calling at 1:40 PM. He made a scrape in the gravel at one point. He did some communicating with Astrid who had taken a perch on the State Building. They remained in place until Ares left at 4:20.

At 5:13 PM we heard Ares give a double screech call from somewhere in the canyon. As it happened, he was flying in with prey. Astrid darted over to the box, and he landed on a ledge to the west of the nest. While he plucked his quarry, she called and waited for him to bring it over to her. After several minutes went by, it became clear that Ares was doing more than plucking – he was eating it too. Astrid buzzed by him and then returned to the box as a reminder that the food was supposed to be a gift, but he went right on feeding. She then flew over to the hotel to wait in a different place. At 5:27 he took off and it wasn’t clear if he had leftovers in tow or not. Astrid got excited and flew over to the box. She was calling very eagerly, but nothing was brought to her. If there was anything left from the meal, he must have stored it. Her expectations dashed, she went over and perched on the roof of the County Building; he went there too, perching only a few feet away from her. Apparently, there was no lingering resentment over dinner.  The two stayed there until close to 5:00 PM, and then they went off to their night perches. Goodnight falcons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irHuYEBK6YA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJcnfJg2p4Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkGG0yltkv0

Several inches of snow fell overnight, and the snow continued intermittently through the morning. It also became progressively windier as the day went on. Astrid arrived on the north face of the State Building at 4:45 AM. Ares screeched to the box fifteen minutes later. The snow was blowing sideways in the canyon when he arrived. By 6:00 he was giving long calls in the box. He then flew across the canyon and the pair mated on the State Building. He screeched back to the box at 6:28. He flew out again fifteen minutes later. We thought he was going to land on the lookout but instead he sailed above the roof of the State Building and then zoomed out of view. At 7:00 he was back to the box and calling again. By that time, snow and ice was covering one side of our PTZ camera and so we were blind to some of what was taking place around the nestbox. Astrid left the State Building at 7:41. At 8:30 he was vocalizing at the box as if he had her in view, but we couldn’t locate her with our cams. Ten minutes later he was calling again and becoming highly excited. It turned out that Astrid was buzzing by him – performing a flight display of sorts. It’s pretty incredible that he can still get so excited about the mate that he’s been with for a decade. At 9:08 Ares left the box screeching. Both falcons were out of sight for quite a while after that. Ares stopped by the box for a few minutes at 10:24. Once again, he behaved like he could see his mate, but we couldn’t locate her. He made another very brief visit at around `11:35.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej0XNZTovCY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAXKJrRHA-Y

The weather turned colder in the afternoon, dropping down to the mid 20’s. The wind was constant. We didn’t get another view of the falcons until 1:34 PM when both piled into the box near simultaneously. Ares had a gift for his mate, and she grabbed it from him at lightning speed. She took the meal over to the hotel to eat. She finished feeding at 1:41 and then went to the State Building. He came back to the nestbox and was calling at 2:26. By 3:00 he was gone again. At 3:22 it was her turn to come to the box and vocalize. He was back for his turn at 4:00. It almost seemed like they were guarding the box in shifts. They were finally at the box together at 4:13 and the pair conducted a ledge display. It lasted only a couple of minutes, but it was fairly intense. At 4:43 Ares came to the box with prey. Astrid came in and accepted it. As usual, she took it to the hotel. After a minute, Ares joined her over there – guarding her while she fed. At 4:52 she had finished her meal and she was gone. Ares stopped at the box 20 minutes later. He gave some excited calls, flew off, came back and did it again. We didn’t either of them again after that. It’s likely they were off to their night perches. Goodnight all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWw79mz8DgQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_sgjf69608

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

The overnight was cold again, but not excessively so. Temperatures were in the mid 20’s by morning and rose to the freezing point by noon. Light flurries began in the morning and continued into the afternoon. Ares arrived at the nest at 5:12 AM. We didn’t hear him screech when he came in which was a little unusual. We did hear a few light chirps. By 5 54 he was giving some long calls. We didn’t see Astrid anywhere, but he seemed to be calling for her. He left the box shortly after six o’clock and settled on a perch on the State Building. At 6:24 we noticed that both Falcons were on the State Building – one was on a windowsill and hard to make out. just before 7:00 one of them was up on the lookout post. We think that was Ares again. He made a few forays out from that position, apparently hunting. Astrid came to the box and stayed for about 10 minutes. Ares was feeding on something on the hotel at 7:15. It appeared to be a fresh catch, but it was small. At 7:22 he came to the nestbox. He called a few times, did some preening in the box, and then cleaned his bill on the perch. He left at 7:29. Nearly an hour later Astrid was on the northeast corner of the upper ledge on the hotel. There she remained for quite some time. Ares was on the State Building for a while before joining his mate on the hotel. She took a perch on an opposite corner of the same ledge. At 10:22 Ares had moved halfway down the ledge towards her position. Twenty minutes later when we checked again he had gotten even closer to her. At 11:00 he flew to the box. We think he was hoping that she would come over too, but she didn’t. Periodically, he called, but still, she held to her perch. Finally, at 11:37 she darted off her ledge – we thought after prey. Seconds later he vacated the box. She arrived only a moment after he had left and she started calling. We think she was asking Ares to bring her lunch. Ten minutes later that’s just what he did. He brought the tribute to the east veranda. She hopped over and grabbed it with her bill.  She then brought her meal over to the hotel. After wiping off his bill, Ares went to the State Building. Both were up at noon – Ares to the box, and we weren’t sure where Astrid went. He came into the box giving squeaking vocalizations. It was clear he was hoping she would come to the box too. She didn’t.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-sR09VPJT4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho26JDpEi2Q

At 1:43 PM Ares was again calling at the nest box and trying to coax Astrid over for a dance. She decided to remain on the State Building. He then flew to the lookout post and gave chirping-type alarm calls. She flew over towards the box and took a perch somewhere nearby. She was up again seconds later and dashing to the hotel. She didn’t stay there long either. Even though we didn’t see it, by A&A’s behavior, we were sure they were dealing with a falcon intruder. Ares left his lookout post at 1:57. He was calling in the box twenty minutes later. At 2:43 the pair mated on the State Building. He was back at the box a half hour later and then left again at 4:06. From there he went back to his lookout post. Astrid flew to the box at around 4:12 and the pair mated – this time on the crossperch. At 4:30 we heard Ares’ long screech echoing in the canyon. He was flying back with prey. He stopped somewhere to pluck it and then brought it to Astrid at the box. They did the handoff on the east veranda and then Astrid took it over to the hotel. She was up only a minute after, with the food. We believe she stored the it somewhere. At 5:05 Ares started issuing alarm calls from the nest box. Ares was calling again and very animated. He then started issuing alarm chips. This meant that, once again, there was a falcon intruder. Still calling, he flew out of the box but returned only seconds later. And then he was out again. Of course we don’t know what Astrid was up to but assumed she was engaging the intruder or at least escorting it out of the territory. At 5:22 PM Astrid arrived on the hotel. She was looking around a lot and seemed anxious. Two minutes later Ares landed on the lookout. Both dramatically came to the nest box at 5:28. He hopped inside, and she stayed out on the crossperch. When she requested a mating, he dove out of the box. However, when he flew in close to her, something happened (perhaps his speed wasn’t right or there was a gust of wind at an inopportune moment) to make him veer off before landing. This time she hadn’t moved (or tried to pull the football away). He left the box at 5:32 and he flew back to his lookout. We had thought we’d seen the last of A&A until the next morning, but we were wrong. At 5:53 both falcons were located on the county building roof. They remained there until about 6:10 and then they flew off to their night perches. Goodnight Falcon!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUyqnk1kFfU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGid3JI46qk

The overnight was cold but not as cold as it had been in recent evenings. The temperature was close to 20 degrees in the early morning but rose to the low 30s by noon. Strong wind marked the morning but died down my midday. At 5:16 AM Ares arrived at the nest. He made squeaking calls after arriving, but we don’t believe Astrid was in view. At 6:26 he began calling more seriously which meant he did see her. Minutes later Astrid showed up on a window ledge to the east of the box. Almost immediately, she started calling and asking to mate. He dove from the box, boomeranged back, and came close to landing on her. But at the last minute, she tucked in on the ledge, causing him to abort his mission and to veer off. It was another “Lucy and the football” moment. In other words, it was an aborted mating attempt. Ares came right back to the box and began calling again and she was quick to call back. At 7:37 we noticed that Ares was having a snooze in the box. He was awake a little later and the pair had a back-and-forth conversation that continued on and off for ninety minutes. During that time, she moved over to the east veranda. At 8:40 the pair successfully mated. Afterwards, Ares flew up to his favorite pillar top perch on the Bank Building. Within 20 minutes he was snoozing again. She tucked in on the east veranda but as far as we could tell, she stayed awake. At 10:00 she moved out onto the veranda perch. From there she flew into the canyon, but then came directly back to the box. By that time Ares had left his pillar. As he called from some unknown location, she hopped into the box. She stayed there for about twenty minutes and then left. He arrived on the west veranda shortly after she left. They seemed to be taking turns guarding the box.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYgK1K7BgMs

At 12:15 PM both falcons piled into the box for a lively ledge display. The first half of their dance was characterized by lots of beaking. The second half was more of a standoff. Ares left after about 6 minutes and Astrid stayed on to do some housework. Her chores included digging in the back corner of the nest and biting the wooden lip of the box. In between she made a scrape in the gravel. At 12:27 she moved onto the box’s crossperch. From a high ledge on the State Building, Ares made repeated forays into the canyon. It was clear that he was hunting. At 1:44 he brought prey to Astrid at the box. She accepted it and took it over to the hotel to eat. Ares spend a minute wiping his bill on the long perch and then he hopped over to the west veranda. At 1:53 Astrid had finished her meal and flew back to an east ledge. Ares called as she took her place and he moved back into the nestbox. Within minutes of her return, she was calling to Ares and signaling her desire to mate. He dove out of the box, circled, and flew over to her. Their mating was a little on the short side, but it seemed otherwise to be successful. Following the mating, Ares flew up to his pillar perch and became involved preening his feathers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqAjgByhA2w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5GLkxheNsY

At 2:00 PM Astrid moved over to the east veranda and the pair mated there 20 minutes later. Afterwards Ares returned to his pillar perch. At 2:32 they mated again. Interestingly, the pair were staying very close to the box today – essentially, guarding it. At 3:00 he had come to the box and was calling. The next mating happened at around 3:15. Following that she moved to a ledge just west of the veranda and Ares went back to his pillar. The weather had deteriorated by this time. It had started snowing and then the snow turned to rain. The temperature had reached the low 40s and now was dropping back down. At 4:30 A&A mated once more, although this one was very short, and we probably shouldn’t count it. At 5:15 PM we thought Astrid had left her ledge since we couldn’t see her with the PTZ camera. As it happened, she was still there, just tucked in. Her location was confirmed when we heard her voice coming from somewhere very close to the box. She was calling to Ares who was still on his pillar perch. At 5:30 Astrid left her ledge, possibly chasing after something. Ares got very excited. He came to the box and started calling. In less than a minute she flew back and landed on a ledge to the east of the box. She stayed there only for a few seconds and then darted out again. Ares stayed at the box until about 6:00 PM and then he retired to his night perch. Goodnight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUOkd_wBc7w

The overnight period was very cold with temperatures in the single digits. The sun prevailed in the morning and temperatures creeped into the high teens by noon. Ares screeched to the nestbox at 5:53 AM – a nice early start. Astrid landed on the State Building at 6:17 and her arrival prompted a volley of squeak calls from her mate. By 6:33 he was making long calls and asking her to come to the box. She declined his invitation and five minutes later he was perched on the State Building near her. At 7:51 Astrid made a very brief visit to the box. After she left, we saw neither falcon for almost two hours. At 9:42 Ares came to the nest and Astrid was back to the State Building. He did some vocalizing and was gone ten minutes later. At 10:00 we heard some distant cackle calls. Most probably there was a non-falcon intruder in the territory and the pair was dealing with it. Astrid was back on the State Building at 10:22, but up again a few minutes later. At 10:30 Ares was located on the east face of the ADK Bank Building. There he was in the sun and out of the wind. We were guessing that Astrid was there as well. At 11:00 AM one of the falcons was on the State Building again. Nearly an hour later, Astrid landed on the box’s crossperch and began calling. She was tail-in, so we assumed she wasn’t calling Ares over to mate. Seconds after, she vacated the box and Ares came in. He immediately began making squeaking calls. He made a two scrapes in the gravel and then just sat in the box, peering out into the canyon. It was then that we noticed he was sporting a bit of a crop. That meant he had eaten recently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8aiFONVsk0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MdlJlP3tNk

At 12:16 PM Astrid dashed through the canyon and took a quick glide around the State Building. He narrated her flight with high squeak notes. Five minutes later she took a perch on the State Building. He made another scrape in the box at 12:37. Following that, he sat on the crossperch, preened his feathers, and watched his mate from across the canyon. At 1:15 Ares began giving excited alarm calls from the box. Astrid launched from her perch and Ares followed her issuing more chirping calls. We think that Astrid was dealing with a falcon intruder, but we had no visual confirmation. Ares returned to the nestbox at 1:25, but then left immediately. He assumed his lookout post on the roof of the State Building and was probably watching for Astrid’s return. Ten minutes later he came dashing over to the box and was calling again. Astrid had returned from her adventure and had landed on a window ledge to the east of the nestbox. The pair mated at 1:53, after which, Ares returned to the box and started calling again. He was asking Astrid to come in for a ledge display. However, she wasn’t complying. She had tucked in on her window ledge so much that we couldn’t see her with the PTZ camera. At 2:22 PM Ares was giving long calls. Ten minutes later another mating occurred on the east ledge. He arrived back at the box at 3:12 and began repeating his entreaties to his mate. He still wanted his dance! At one point he took a break and made a couple of scrapes in the gravel on the floor of the box. Both falcons were at the box at 3:31 and that’s when they finally did their ledge display. After Ares left the box, Astrid did some housekeeping and some preening. She bit at the lip of the box for a while. Just before 4:00 PM, she called from the long perch and then flew. At 4:17 one of the pair was on the State Building. Perhaps the other was on the lookout but the glare from the sun was too intense to tell for sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id6nddE5nFQ

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

At 4:58 Ares came to the box with prey. Astrid flew right over and accepted it from him. She flew off with it while he wiped his bill off on the crossperch. We couldn’t find where she went with her prize. She didn’t take it to the hotel. At 5:17 one of the falcons was on the lookout but was up ten minutes later. At 5:30 PM both falcons were seen perched on the County Building. Behind the building, in the distance, we could see a procession of crows streaming in from the north. They were on route to their night roost in the city. Fifteen minutes later A&A had retired – probably to their night perches. Goodnight falcons.