It was a pretty normal day of incubation for the falcons. The pair switched with each other pretty seamlessly throughout the day. Twice before a switch, Ares seemed like he didn’t want to leave the eggs and required some gentle coaxing from Astrid. In previous years it seemed that she ousted him more forcefully, even to the point of going behind him and stepping on his tail. Today she compelled him to leave with beaking only, which is something the pair do a lot of during bonding displays. Perhaps the tail stomping will happen further down the incubation road. No food was seen being exchanged today, although both birds made attempts at securing prey. There was no mating reported either. That doesn’t come as much of a surprise seeing as though Astrid has most likely completed her clutch. Astrid incubated and otherwise minded the eggs during the warmest part of the afternoon today. She was also seen going over to the hotel ledge for a drink from a puddle. Ares was in the box till pretty late. As a matter of fact, he’s still in there at 7:00 PM as I’m writing this.
Thank you Matt!
Your updates and photos are much appreciated!
How do falcons stay cool? I feel for Astrid stuck in the nest box having to sit there and not able to escape to fly and cool off . Poor thing, the box faces west too!