No Third or Forth Hatch Yet – “Cracking Egg” Was not as it Appeared

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for May 11, 2018 –

The temperature got down into the high thirties overnight. This morning was cool and clear, with high temperatures in the 60’s. It was also fairly windy. Afternoon was also sunny and cool.

Astrid had come to the nest at 2:15 on Thursday afternoon and refused to leave even when Ares offered to switch. It seemed like she thought a hatch was imminent. We thought that too, but we were wrong. The “crack” we thought we saw in one of the two remained eggs, was never seen again. We believe that what we actually saw was some blood that splashed a streak across one of the eggs as Astrid tore at a carcass. We are still not sure about this explanation, but it’s plausible. So Astrid remained on the brood for the long haul. Occasionally she would jostle the eggs (and chicks) in an attempt to induce hatching. There was a rare late evening feeding at 10:42. Ares brought the food to the nest and Astrid conducted the feeding. It was very dark in the box, but it seemed there were still two whole eggs. The next feeding took place at 2:45 AM on Friday. Again, Ares brought the prey and Astrid fed it out. There were still no signs of a third chick. At 5:38, the falcons switched and Astrid finally took a break. Before Ares took over we could plainly see two chicks and two apparently pristine eggs. We couldn’t even see a pip! Astrid returned five minutes later and took over the clutch.

Just before 6 AM, Astrid got all worked up. She began calling and came off of the nest. She dove out of the box. There must have been an intruder in the canyon. A minute later, both adults were on the State Building. Ares was on his rooftop lookout spot. She was back to the box before two minutes were up. Ares was next seen having breakfast on Hotel Utica. When he had enough he must’ve stored it since he didn’t bring it back to the box. He ended up back on the State Building. At a little after 10, Astrid took another break and Ares was on duty at the box. True to form, Astrid was back and taking charge of the nest before five minutes was up.

At 11:46, Ares brought more food to the box and Astrid handled the feeding. At 1:00, Ares flew up to the box, but before he could land, Astrid warned him off. Again, she seemed intent on staying with the clutch. She continued to periodically jostle the eggs (and chicks). Just after 2:00, Ares brought food up to the nest; Astrid took it and started to feed the chicks. After feeding the two, she ate the scant leftovers herself and went back to brooding the clutch. At 3:26, Ares relieved Astrid at the box, but unsurprisingly she wouldn’t stay away for long. Two minutes later she was back on the nest and Ares was out.

Ares came to the box with more food at 5:24. Instead of having Astrid meet him out on the cross-perch, he now jumps into the box and lets her take his offering the easy way. He’s been doing this a lot lately and it may be new behavior. It certainly makes food handoffs far easier for Astrid. She proceeded to feed the nestlings pretty equally. After the feeding we believe we could hear a chick inside one of the eggs calling. One of the eggs may or may not be pipped. After settling down on the brood, Astrid jostled the clutch a few times – possibly to induce hatching. At 6:25, Ares stopped by the box and offered to take a shift. This time he stayed in the box for a minute or two and conversed with Astrid. She was in place over her brood and she still had no intention of leaving. In fact it was already obvious she was in place for the night. Ares was in and out of view for a while, but ended up very much in view on the State Building as late as 10 PM. Will we have another hatch on Saturday? Will the remaining two eggs ever hatch at all? We’re honestly not sure at this point.