As of tomorrow (April 21st), 16 days of incubation will have been completed, which is approximately the half-way point to hatch day. For the most part the falcons’ changeovers have been quick and seamless. The pair relieved each other about 7 times during the course of the day today. As for the first switch of the morning, Astrid had been calling Ares to come take over for about 20 minutes before he consented to come at 6:15 AM. We weren’t sure what the hold up was and he came with no food tribute. Interestingly, after Astrid left she flew in fairly tight circles just west of the State Building. She may have been looking to see if Ares had stored any food on the ledges on that side of the building. He does tend to treat that particular building like a pantry especially when there are young in the nest. As far as we could tell, Astrid didn’t find take any food and instead only took a perch. At 8:20, during another switch out, Ares did bring a hunk of food (prey wasn’t recognizable). Astrid took it and fed on it over on the State Building. At 1:10 PM Ares tried to take over incubating from Astrid, but she wouldn’t leave the eggs. He gave up and few off to another perch instead. After the final switch for the day, at around 4:00 PM , Ares ended up on the west face of the State Building and Astrid was, of course, tight on the eggs.
Thanks Matt!
Interesting pair dynamics some days!