Last night was cold with the temperature just below the freezing mark. Clear skies after sunup led to a modest warmup in the morning and temps hit 50 degrees by midday. Once again, it was windy all day long. Astrid was on her nest through the night. Ares arrived at the box at around 5:25 AM and the pair did a quick changeover. As Ares got onto the eggs, Astrid did some laps around the State Building, ultimately landing on the building’s west face. When she flew again several minutes later Ares gave squeaking calls to mark the event. By 5:42 she had moved to the north face of the building. At 8:11 the pair did their second changeover of the day and then Astrid was back on the eggs. At 8:27 Ares was on the State Building. He made a few forays out between 8:30 and 1:02 PM. At that point he came to the nest. The falcons did a quick switch and got another turn on the eggs. At 2:20 Ares was making squeaking vocalizations again. Astrid was out of view, so we weren’t sure if he was reacting to something she was doing or not. At 2:54 Ares began giving excited chirping calls. He got off the eggs and darted off toward the south. It was likely that he was reacting to an intruder, but we couldn’t confirm that. Astrid suddenly appeared out of nowhere and landed on the north face of the State Building. After a minute she dove to the nest and got onto the eggs. Ares then flew back through the canyon and set down on the State Building. If he had been drawn away by an intruder, he dealt with it in short order. The next changing of the guard occurred at 4:36 and then Ares was on the eggs. Astrid was on the State Building at 5:20, but then moved to the hotel at 5:45. She appeared to be hunting. At 6:06 PM Astrid was plucking a Pigeon on the ledge of the hotel. Evidently her hunt was successful. A half hour later, when she was done with her meal, she flew back to the State Building. At 6:53 she flew to the crossperch. Ares was already standing up to turn the eggs when she arrived. When she hopped in, he hopped out. By that time she was likely on the nest for the night. Goodnight falcons.
Little Falls Falcon Update: As of early Friday afternoon. The Little Falls falcons still have one egg that has yet to hatch. We believe there is still a chance that it will in the next day or two.