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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.

The overnight was cold with temperatures in the low thirties. After dawn the skies were mostly clear but conditions remained chilly with temps struggling to get to 40 degrees. The afternoon was warmer – in the mid-forties, but the wind was biting and something perhaps only a falcon could appreciate. Astrid was on the eggs all night. Ares screeched in at 5:30 AM and the pair did their first quick switch of the day. A few minutes after leaving the nest Astrid was seen flying around the State Building – probably checking out Ares’ pantry ledges for any non-bat or non-woodcock prey. She managed to find something to her liking and breakfasted on the upper east ledge on the hotel. She finished eating before 6:00 and flew to a high perch on the State Building. At 7:29 she came to the nest and changed places with Ares. It seemed like he was ready to go. At 8:25 Astrid was vocalizing and probably reacting to something Ares was doing, but we couldn’t locate him with the PTZ cams. An hour later he showed up on the State Building. He darted off after something at 10:12. At 10:20 Astrid began calling again. He came to the box with food two minutes later. She scrambled onto the crossperch to take it. She flew to the hotel as he took over incubation. By 10:35 she was done with her meal, and was back on the State Building.

At 11:27 Astrid came to the box and asked to switch, but Ares didn’t want to leave. They had a long conversation and did some beaking but still Ares wouldn’t budge. Finally, at 11:33 Astrid got pushier, and he finally gave up and vacated the nest. She took over on the eggs. At 12:46 PM Astrid began giving “chirrup” type warning calls from the nest. She was highly agitated. She got off the eggs and dashed out into the canyon – presumably chasing after a female falcon. Ares came to the nest three minutes later and resumed incubation. She was back on the State Building not long after. At 1:55 Astrid flew to the box and the pair did a relatively quick changeover. This time Ares didn’t need much convincing to leave. At 4:12 Ares was in the box lobbying for a turn on the eggs. He stood behind her and tried to oust her, but she was an immovable object. He relented and flew over to the State Building instead. He came back and tried again at 5:32 and, after a few minutes of negotiations, the answer was the same. Astrid was remaining on the eggs. They didn’t switch again that evening. Goodnight falcons.

Little Falls Falcons Update: The third and remaining egg has yet to hatch. There were two feeding seen today. One at 11:25 AM and one at 3:52 PM.

The overnight was cold and rainy. There may have been some snowflakes mixed in with the rain. The rain stopped during the morning but it remained cold, windy, and overcast. Astrid was on the nest all night. Ares screeched to the box at 5:12 AM and the pair did a rapid changeover. Astrid was seen on the State Building at 5:53. The next switch happened shortly before 7:30. Astrid took over incubation and Ares went to the State Building. She was vocalizing from the box at 8:18. He made a few forays out from the State Building between 8:20 AM and 12:16 PM. Most likely he was hunting. She called out a few times in reaction to his activities.  At 12:28 Ares relieved Astrid – it was another quick switch. She was out of view for a while, but at 1:29 she was back on the State Building. At 2:27 Astrid came to the crossperch. She had a conversation with Ares. The upshot was, he didn’t want to go. She let him stay and sailed back out into the canyon. The next switch occurred at 3:38 – Astrid came onto the eggs and Ares flew to the State Building. At 5:18 Astrid gave a very boisterous cackle call. She must have been reacting to a non-falcon raptor or Turkey Vulture flying through. We didn’t see it with our cameras. Ares was out of view at the time and so we don’t know if he hazed it or gave chase. Astrid stayed on the eggs until 6:10 when Ares showed at the box. He had been out of view for a while. After the changeover, she went to the State Building and made at least one foray out – probably to chase a Pigeon. She came back for a final switch at 7:51 PM. The temperature was only in the mid-thirties. It was going to be another cold night. Goodnight all.

The Little Falls Peregrines had two hatches today! The first one happened at 10:46 AM and the second, sometime between 7:30 and 7:45 PM. Congratulations to Anna and Erie! They have one more egg which is likely to hatch sometime in the next day or two.

The overnight was cool with some rain showers. Mostly light rain continued through the day and the temperature dropped into the 30’s by evening. Astrid spent the night on the eggs. At 4:54 AM Ares came to the box and the pair did their first switch of the day. At 6:45 we noticed that Astrid was on the State Building. She came back to take over on the eggs at 7:07 and Ares didn’t argue with her. At 10:21 Astrid was on the south side of the steeple and Ares was on the eggs which meant we missed a switch. However, we did manage to catch the one that took place at 11:46. That time Astrid reclaimed her position on the nest. Ares was on the State building after that. He came to the nest at 2:10 and they changed again – this time it was Ares getting onto the eggs. At 3:42 Astrid came to the crossperch and asked for a turn incubating. Ares didn’t budge and she consented to let him stay a while longer.  She went to the steeple and was there for at least 45 minutes. By 5:00 PM Astrid was back on the nest and Ares was out of view. We weren’t sure of the timing of the changeover. Despite how early it was Astrid seemed to be in place for the night. Goodnight all.

Ares on the west veranda

The overnight was mild with temperatures in the fifties. It was in the 60’s by noon and 75 degrees by early afternoon. Astrid was on the nest all night long. Ares was heard calling at around 3:15 AM. We weren’t sure what that was about. They switched at 5:00 sharp. Astrid was out of view for a while and then she became visible on the west face of the State Building. They switched at 7:18 and then Astrid was back to incubating. At 9:14 Ares was on a west ledge and the pair were vocalizing with each other. At 10:06 he went to his pillar perch. By 10:54 he had moved to the west veranda. He was up less than and hour later but then back to his pillar by 11:49 AM. The pair again did some vocalizing but, just like the previous day, Astrid seemed intent on remaining on the eggs. At 12:32 PM Ares came into the box and tried to get Astrid to leave. She didn’t budge and he gave up after a few minutes. He hopped over to the west veranda instead. At 12:50 PM Astrid came out onto the crossperch and stretched her wings. She got right back onto the eggs afterwards. Ares was out of view by that point. At 2:30 they did a quick changing of the guard. Astrid allowed Ares to take over – certainly it was earlier than she allowed him to take over on the previous day. Ares gave a few alarm chirps before settling down on the eggs. We didn’t know what brought that on. A few seconds later he got up again and moved to the edge of the box. He then thought better of it and went right back to incubating. We kept expecting to see Ares shading the eggs during the relatively hot afternoon but, if he did it at all, he didn’t do it for long. At 5:29 Astrid came to the crossperch. Ares signaled that he didn’t want to leave and so she flew over to the State Building. She was back and asking to take over at 6:53 but he still wasn’t ready to go, and she granted him a second reprieve.  She went back to the State Building. At 7:25 PM she was back to the box. This time Ares was ready to switch. He was out and she took over on the eggs. Most probably Astrid was settled for the night. Goodnight falcons.

Little Falls Peregrine Update:

As of this afternoon there still have been no hatches in the Little Falls nest. It’s possible that what we believed were pips on one (or two) of the eggs were just some debris stuck to the eggshells. In low quality video, it is sometimes difficult to discern details. It is estimated that the Little Falls birds have been incubating for 33 or 34 days which puts them squarely in the hatch window. However, sometimes in nature things take a little longer than advertised.