Author: D Saltis

We can see that two of the eggs have pips in them now…

 

We have our first pip for 2019!

It is the upper left egg.

Astrid and Ares sure like to keep to a pretty steady timeline. Today was their first mating of the 2019 season. Last year the first mating took place on February 19th and in 2017 the first mating took place on February 18th.

Astrid did some housekeeping after the mating. She picked at some stones and bit the edge of the box – all pretty typical actions for her. She then flew over to land just two window ledges away from Ares on the state office building. Ares flew out and back a couple of times but didn’t do any flight displays in the morning.

We did receive a report that Astrid and Ares were seen flying around the state office building in the early afternoon. They seemed to be sharing some playful interactions.

As I left the canyon area late this afternoon, Astrid was tucked into a windowsill on the east side of the state office building and Ares was on the corner of the county building where he could watch over his mate and their territory.

The chicks have been named! In hatch order the winning names are:

Chick #1 – Milo

Chick#2 – Angel

Chick#3 – Petra

Thank you to all who participated in our naming contest!

Please consider helping out the young falcons by participating in our upcoming fledge watch. We will be posting more information about watch and how to join in the fun within the next few days.

The tiny new hatchling held his own during this first feeding after his arrival.

He made sure Astrid knew he was hungry too!

Mom makes sure all her young are fed – even the little new eyas!