The overnight was chilly with some rain showers. The rain stopped and the temperature rose through the morning and peaked in the mid-fifties. Rain returned in the afternoon and continued into the evening. Astrid was on her eggs all night. Ares came to the box earlier than usual – at 4:09 AM, and the pair did a quick switch. At 5:43 we noticed that Astrid was on the west face of the State Building. She was up again ten minutes later, and Ares’ squeak calls let us know that she had flown. At 6:41 Astrid came back to the nest, and they switched. At 7:38 Ares was on his favorite pillar perch and he and Astrid were calling to each other. At 8:56 Ares came by the box just to check on Astrid and the eggs. He didn’t ask to take over incubation; he was just was in and out. At just before 9:00 we noticed that our PTZ 1 camera had stopped working and we were unable to bring it back online. It may need to be replaced which we hope to do before fledging time when we need it most. At 9:40 Ares was back to the nest and this time he did ask to have a turn on the eggs. She declined his request, and he dove out without complaint. At 10:09 we noticed that he was on the east veranda, and he was trying to bring up a pellet. At 10:57 he gave a few long calls and she answered him from the nest. He hopped back into the box a few minutes later and this time he didn’t ask to take over, he went behind Astrid and stepped on her tail, but she didn’t budge. He soon gave up and went to the west veranda. At 11:55 he was back to his pillar perch. He returned to the box at 12:21 PM and this time when he stomped on her tail she got up and left. She flew over to the State Building. Astrid was up again at 1:39 and Ares reacted to her flight with squeaking calls. Rain began falling in the mid afternoon and it cooled things down. The Peregrines certainly became less active. Astrid came to the box at 3:00 to relieve Ares. It was a fast changeover. At 4:30 we noticed that Ares was up on his pillar perch. At 5:52 he flew to the box and the pair did another quick switch on the eggs. Astrid flew through the rain and took a relatively low perch on the State Building. The final switch of the day took place at around 7:45. Astrid took over on the eggs and seemed to be settling down for the night. Goodnight falcons.
Little Falls Falcon Update: At 7:30 AM we noticed that the third egg had not gotten any closer to hatching. Something was obviously wrong. By late morning the pipped egg was gone from the nest. It had either been tucked into a corner where we couldn’t see it, or it had been removed from the ledge. Regardless, there will be no third hatch in the Little Falls nest. The two nestlings appear to be doing well. Although one of the pair is showing some feather loss which is something we are mildly concerned about. We will be monitoring.