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The overnight was cold with temperatures down to the freezing point. By daybreak it had become moderately windy. Mostly clear skies prevailed for much of the day and by early afternoon the temperature was 65 degrees. Astrid was on the clutch all night. Ares came to the nest with food at 3:26 AM. Astrid accepted it on the crossperch while doing her usual balancing act, and then she conducted a feeding. By 5:00 Ares was visible on the State Building. Astrid was doing a lot of clutch jostling which led us to think that perhaps we would have another hatch sometimes soon. At 5:22 Astrid got up off the nest, stretched and flew off into the canyon. She returned a minute later with a hunk of leftovers. She then began the second feeding of the day. At 5:34 she was out again with the leftovers. Once she was gone, we were able to view the eggs without obstruction and we could see no obvious pips. At 5:35 Ares screeched to the nest, but she came in seconds later and he was out again. While no parent was in the nest, we thought we were hearing the muffled call of a chick inside one of the remaining eggs. Still, we had no confirmed pip. The calls could have come from one of the nestlings. At five minutes before six PM, Ares was back on the State Building. At 7:02 he brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it and started a feeding. The feeding was over in ten minutes. During the meal we thought there may be a small pip on one egg, but we couldn’t be sure. At 7:49 Astrid was jostling her clutch again.

At 9:08 AM Ares was on the steeple giving long calls. He was up at 9:34. A couple of minutes later Ares brought food to the crossperch. Astrid took it and did a feeding. Again, we thought we could hear the muffled call of a chick inside an egg, but it wasn’t a sure thing. At 9:43 the chicks were toppled over and satiated, and Astrid helped herself to the leftovers. When she was done, she went back to brooding. Ares was on the west veranda at that point. At 10:22 Astrid was doing more egg jostling. She was also vocalizing. Was she talking to the unhatched eggs? At 10:42 Ares came to the box and asked for a turn on the clutch. He was denied and he hopped over to the west veranda. At 11:01 he flew off giving a cackle alarm call. At 11:14 she started cackling. He was on an east ledge at the time and neither of them scrambled in pursuit. It was likely only a passing vulture or raptor and no threat to home or hearth. At 11:47 Ares came into the box and tried to get a turn with the clutch. He wasn’t very pushy, but he walked around behind her, encouraging her to leave but not stepping on her. When that didn’t work, he came around in front of her and had a face-to-face moment. She made it clear that she wasn’t going anywhere, and he vacated to the west veranda. At 11:55 both falcons were cackling, but again, did not launch after whatever stray migrant was passing through.

At 12:27 Ares was giving long calls. He flew out, boomeranged back, and landed on the east veranda. Both were calling – we think in reaction to some very loud sirens from passing emergency vehicles. Five minutes later Ares screeched to his pillar perch. At 1:12 we heard him giving more long calls from somewhere. He screeched to the east veranda ten minutes later. At 1:29 he brought prey to the crossperch. Astrid took it and began a feeding session. At 1:35 the chicks had had enough, and Astrid had a portion. She then flew out with the leftovers – presumably to store them. Ares came in to babysit, but she was back only a minute later and took over on the nest. At 3:00 he was back to the box and asking for a turn. She had been shading the chicks from the increasingly intense sunshine flooding into the box. This time she seemed happy to cede the clutch to him. Once she was out, Ares just stood alongside the clutch. He may have thought he was throwing shade on them – he wasn’t. At 3:22 Astrid returned with a small hunk of leftovers – it looked to be a wing with something attached. Once she was done plucking it, she saw that there was nothing left to feed out. The chicks didn’t seem interested anyhow. Ares had left and she settled down to half shade and half brood. By 3:25 her job had become only shading.

At around 4:40 PM the pair switched – Astrid left, and Ares came into the box. He started shading right away this time. Ten minutes later Astrid was back. When she saw that he wanted to stay, she left again but was back in less than a minute with food. We expected that Ares would leave once Astrid came in and started doing a feeding. That was not the case; he stayed where he was and continued shading. As it happened, he shaded during the entire meal. Interestingly, and oddly, at the start of the meal it looked like Astrid was trying to feed Ares too! Regardless, as far as we know, one falcon shading while the other fed the chicks was new behavior for our pair. When the meal was done at 5:00, She flew out with the leftovers, and he stayed on being a falcon parasol. Five minutes later, when he was just switching over from shading to brooding, Astrid came in and started brooding. This time Ares took the hint and left the nest. Astrid soon switched to shading. With her wings partly open, her bill agape, and panting, she was looking pretty stressed, buts that’s just how Peregrines deal with the heat. We’re sure it looks worse than it is. At 5:52 Ares moved from the State Building to the west veranda – screeching in for a landing. He hopped over to the long perch at 6:27, this time long-calling as he arrived. Two minutes later he came into the box and took over from Astrid. Moments after that he was shading. At 6:45 they did a quick switch and then it was her turn to brood the clutch. At 7:12 Ares screeched to the east veranda. The action for the day seemed to be over at this point, but there are never any certainties in falcontown. Speaking of which, will there be any more eggs hatching? We don’t know, but we decided that neither of the remaining eggs are pipped – only stained. Goodnight falcons.

Little Falls Falcon Update:

Feedings continue for the growing nestlings at the Little Falls nest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRjOyshdnnM

The overnight was cold with temperatures only in the high thirties. The wind kicked up by morning and the temperature slowly rose to near 60 degrees by noon. As it happened that would be the day’s high. Astrid was on the clutch (eggs and chick) util Ares came to the nest with a small prey item at 2:21 AM. She took it and conducted the first feeding of the new chick. It was difficult to see in the video stream due to the hour, but we could just make out the little nestling accepting tiny bits of food torn off and gently offered by Astrid. At 2:28 the feeding was over, and Astrid got back onto the clutch. Ares was barely visible on a high ledge on the State Building. During the feeding we could hear the begging calls of a second chick – from inside a pipped egg. At 5:18 Ares came to the nest and relieved Astrid. As Astrid got up to leave it was clear that the second chick had hatched. It was white and dry already, so the hatch must have happened about an hour earlier. Ares really only had time to look at the two chicks; Astrid was back a only a minute after leaving and she immediately got back on top of the clutch. At 5:18 Astrid was eating some of the eggshell that surrounded the nest scrape. Ares brought another small food item at 5:48. This time Astrid wouldn’t come out to accept it and Ares soon left with it.  At 6:10 Astrid was jostling her clutch and vocalizing. We wondered if the calls were an appeal for Ares to return with the food her brought earlier. At 6:40 we saw that Ares was on the State Building. He was up a half-hour later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6flTfmGPiQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3fsE1_f2ew&t=15s

At 8:38 AM The pair switched, and Ares had a turn with the chicks and eggs. Ares chomped on some eggshell pieces as the chicks begged at him for food. He had just started getting around to brooding when Astrid returned. She got right onto the eggs and Ares quickly vacated the premises. At 8:50 Ares was back with another meal in tow.  Astrid accepted the food and fed both chicks for almost eight minutes. Both appeared to be vying well and it was difficult if not impossible to tell which one hatched in the morning and which the night before. At 10:54 Ares was on the west veranda perch. At 11:30 he flew to the nestbox, and she left. Instead of getting right onto the clutch he started doing some housework around the place – digging in the corner and puttering. He then approached the clutch and pulled one egg towards him. It seemed like he was going to start incubating the one egg but then Astrid came back into the box, and he was out again. At 11:56 Ares brought more food to the nest. Astrid took it and began a feeding. She fed them until a couple of minutes after 12:00 PM and then she took out the leftovers – presumably to store them. The eggs and chicks were alone for only two minutes and then she was back in the nest and brooding again. At 1:12 we noticed that Ares was on his pillar perch. It’s possible he gave a cackle warning call – we weren’t sure. She called out in response. Maybe a non-falcon raptor was flying over the canyon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuMK115Insg

At 1:56 PM Ares landed on a window ledge to the east of the nestbox. At 2:40 Astrid was vocalizing loudly. Perhaps Ares did a flyby or visited the box briefly and that’s what brought on her excitement. At a few minutes before 3:00 Astrid was shuffling the eggs (and the chicks). She’s obviously trying to induce the remaining two eggs to begin the hatching process. At 4:37 Ares came into the box and Astrid left. Once inside, Ares seemed at a loss for what to do. The chicks were giving high pitched squealing calls and he was just looking at them from a half-foot away, not sure whether to try and brood them or not. At 4:41 Astrid blasted back into the nest and Ares was out again without ever having to deal with the kids. Traditionally, Ares seems to prefer sitting on eggs over brooding chicks. At 4:50 we heard him screeching from somewhere. He probably had prey and was processing it somewhere nearby. A minute later he came to the box with prey. Astrid grabbed it from him and conducted a feeding. Both chicks ate during the nine-minute feeding. When it was done Astrid flew out with the leftovers and probably stored them. He came into the box after she left, and he started trying to brood. Astrid then barged back in and sent Ares packing. He went up to his pillar perch. At 6:29 Ares came to the crossperch, and she immediately sent him out again. He ended up on the east veranda. At 7:04 Ares came to the nest and tried to oust Astrid. At first, she resisted going but then he went around behind her and pried her up. Surprisingly, she let him do it and she flew out. He then lingered about a foot away from the clutch. One of the chicks began giving begging calls while Ares produced some light squeak calls. Finally, he approached them and started trying to brood the egg and chick combo. He seemed to be doing well but then he became distracted by a hunk of eggshell behind him. He got off the brood and munched on the shell for a little bit. He then came back to brood, but just then Astrid returned, and he was out. We saw no pips on the last two eggs during any of the times they were visible. By 8:00 PM Astrid seemed to be settled for the night. She was on the clutch and Ares was out of view. As for the last two eggs, they may hatch at any time during the next few days. Certainly, we will keep observing the situation and will relay anything that occurs. Goodnight all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFAbFKXNYSQ

The overnight was cool with temperatures in the forties. After dawn the skies were cloudy and stayed that way for much of the day. A high temperature of 62 degrees was attained by early afternoon. Astrid was tight on the eggs all night long. We watched and listened for a hatch and saw nothing. Of course, the box is very dark at night. Ares came to the crossperch with prey at 4:12 AM. Astrid didn’t hesitate to come and take it. We are not sure if she took the food and stored in somewhere or if she made an early breakfast out of it. Since we lost our PTZ one cam we don’t have the ability to check the hotel ledges. The first thing Ares did when taking over on the eggs was to jostle them, showing that it’s not just Astrid that performs that function (jostling is done to induce/assist hatching). At 4:38 Astrid returned to the nest and unceremoniously kicked Ares out. Once again it was too dark to peruse the eggs for pips during the switch. At 5:37 Ares was on the State Building. At 6:34 Astrid was jostling the eggs. At 7:01 Ares was back to take a turn on the eggs. To our surprise Astrid quickly ceded the nest to him. She then flew over to the State Building and took a relatively low perch. During the changeover we saw no pips. At 7:30 she was back to the box and the pair did another quick switch. Once again, no pipped eggs were seen. At 10:09 Astrid began vocalizing on the nest. She left the box and Ares came in. This time there was a pipped egg clearly in view! Ten minutes later Astrid returned to the nest. Ares didn’t want to leave, and she granted him a little more time. As it happened, not much more. She was back only two minutes later. This time she unceremoniously took over on the nest. Before she settled on them, we could clearly hear a chick inside the pipped egg making a rhythmic begging call. At 10:42 Ares came to the box with prey. His gift was a little premature. As far as we knew Astrid hadn’t mastered the technique of feeding a chick that hasn’t quite hatched yet. Unsurprisingly, she sent him away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZtiJhOjSEU

At 10:44 PM she was calling again. Ares came back to the nest with the food again. She sent him away once more. At 10:51 she was shuffling the eggs in a big way. She seemed determined to have a hatch. At 11:14 Astrid was calling again and we weren’t sure why. Thirty minutes later we noticed that Ares was on his lookout post. Was there an intruder in the canyon? He came to the nestbox at 12:14 PM. He wanted his turn on the nest. Of course, we wanted to see if there was a hatch yet, but Astrid wasn’t cooperating with any of us. He stayed for a few minutes – puttering in the corner, but then hopped out onto the long perch. He gave a few long calls and then went over to the west veranda. At 12:55 Astrid was still over the eggs but stretching out to pick at the stones in front of her. While she was stretching, we could see that all four eggs were still intact. At 1:12 Ares came to the long perch and gave some more long calls. Astrid called back and let him know that she wasn’t switching. He left without even coming into the box. He was back five minutes later; this time he really wanted to take over on the nest but he wasn’t being too pushy about it. He stood alongside her, and they did some beaking. He then picked at stones in the corner for a minute before giving up and vacating the nest. At around 2:10 they did switch. We got a look at the pipped egg and the hole did look a little bigger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E8xd0ZzWFQ

At 3:00 PM Astrid returned to the nest. She then spent about six minutes trying to convince Ares to let her take over on the eggs. She was mostly being nice about it – gingerly tapping on his tail/wings with her foot and making soft “tutututut” calls. Finally, when he still wouldn’t vacate, she plowed into him from behind and pushed him off the eggs. For the next couple of hours Astrid was seen periodically jostling the eggs. We could also occasionally hear the chick inside the pipped egg calling. At 4:30 Ares came to the nest and checked on the situation. He didn’t ask to take over. Instead, he walked over to an east window ledge. A few minutes later he hopped over to the east veranda. A 5:15 he came into the nest and asked to take over. When she wouldn’t go, he went into a corner. From there he walked to another corner of the box and from there, back out to the crossperch. After that he dove out of the box. At 5:50 we heard Ares giving long calls from the steeple. Astrid called back to him. At 6:33 he came into the box, got behind her and pushed her off the eggs. She then got right back on them. At that point the pair had a conversation. At 6:35 he went to the east veranda, and she gave the eggs another good jostling. At 7:57 PM it was clear that the eggshell of the pipped egg was beginning to crack. There was a possibility that another egg was pipped but Astrid was moving the eggs around so much we couldn’t track one for long. It was like a shell game. At 8:16 we saw that we had a hatch. Astrid moved back and revealing a small, wet, pinkish chick beneath her and a broken eggshell. She soon tucked it fully beneath her again. At 8:36 she had half the eggshell in front of her and was biting at it. darkness was falling in the canyon by this point and so we will need to wait until tomorrow morning before we can get any decent pictures of the new chick. Until then, Goodnight all.

https://youtu.be/tc-iy8S9hFA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCGd_A9oo58

The overnight was chilly with temperatures in the high thirties. After daybreak sunny skies prevailed and the temperature reached the high fifties by the end of the morning. It was well into the sixties by the end of the afternoon. Astrid was on the nest all night. Ares brought food to the box at 4:43 AM. Astrid took it on the crossperch and flew off into the dark canyon while Ares took over on the eggs. At 5:12 we noticed that Astrid was on the State Building. At 6:34 Ares was calling from the box. She was still in place on her high ledge; did he want to be relieved? They did a quick switch five minutes later and then Astrid was back on the nest. Before she climbed onto the eggs, we tried to inspect them for pips. Although one of the four had some obvious white spots on it, we didn’t believe them to be pips – more likely just stains or a lack of pigment on part of the eggshell. At 6:47 Ares was on the State Building. Astrid started calling shortly after that. Perhaps she was reacting to Ares chasing after something. At 9:40 Astrid was jostling the eggs. This is something she does at this point during incubation to induce hatching. At 11:12 Ares was calling from somewhere in the canyon.. He gave long calls and a brief chirping type alarm call. Astrid reacted by getting off the nest and darting into the canyon. Was she pursuing something? Another falcon? That was highly likely. Ares was to the nest and back on the eggs in just a few seconds. A look at the eggs before he settled on them was inconclusive. Nothing stood out but we thought we heard the call of a chick inside and egg. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be confirmed. At 11:43 some squeaking calls from Ares alerted us to the fact that Astrid had returned and was on the State Building. She left about an hour later, but then was back again just before 1:00 PM. Ares gave his squeaking calls with each move she made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW7SYL8IY30

At 1:17 PM the falcons did a quick switch and Astrid was back on the nest. No pips were visible, and no chick calling was audible. At 1:36 Astrid started calling and abruptly vacated the nest. Apparently, there was an intruder in the canyon. Ares had been on the lookout post but dove down immediately to take over on the eggs. At 1:50 she came barreling back into the box, but then left again just as dramatically. She must’ve still been dealing with the intruder but wanted to check that the nest was being covered. After she left Ares started giving alarm calls and then he was out. It was his turn to defend the realm. She was to the nest and back on the eggs in less than two minutes. Once again, the eggs showed no obvious pips. At 3:20 we noticed that Astrid was jostling the eggs – trying to induce hatching. Perhaps she could hear a chick inside an egg or maybe she felt movement. Ares was back a couple minutes later and asking to take over. She refused and he didn’t challenge her. At a few minutes before 4:00 she was again jostling the eggs and was vocalizing – we think she was talking to the chick(s). At 4:21 she was calling out again. Hopefully, not because of an intruder. Ares returned to the box at 5:06 PM and Astrid sent him out once more. He did his famous cowabunga dive when he left, and she went back to jostling the eggs. At 5:30 we noticed that Ares was on a window ledge to the east of the box. A few minutes later, he hopped over to the nest and tried to get her to come off the eggs. She didn’t and he was shown the door once again. At 5:47 he went to the State Building, and she punctuated his landing with a call note. At a few minutes before 6:00 and at 6:30 she jostled the eggs and did some vocalizing. A half hour later, the falcons switched, and Ares got a late turn on the nest. Ares called out when he saw his mate land on the State Building and he called again when she took off. At 8:18 she landed on the crossperch, vocalized, and then quickly dove back into the canyon. Finally, at 8:30 PM, the falcons did their last changeover for the day. Will we have a pipped egg or a full hatch on Friday? Perhaps. Certainly the chances are better with each passing day. Goodnight falcons.

Little Falls Falcon Update: There were at least five feedings carried out by the Little Falls Falcons today. Other than that, all seems to be well with that Peregrine family.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRIDEh57YUA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY29Z9WCp4M

The overnight was seasonably cool and rainy. Things changed little during the course of the day. Rain was intermittent and the temperature never got out of the low fifties. Astrid was on the eggs all night. Ares came to the box at 4:19 AM and they did a switch. At 6:14 we saw that Astrid was on a window ledge to the east of the nestbox. She came to the box, and they switched five minutes later. Given that Pip-watch has begun, we try to examine the eggs closely at every changeover. So far, we’ve seen no   sign of a pip or hatch. At about 8:05 Ares came to the nest and tried to get Astrid to let him have a turn, but she declined his appeal. It wasn’t until about 10:25 that she consented to switch.  As it was, his turn was a short one. She was back at 11:01 and she quickly took over from him. He went up to his pillar perch as she settled on the eggs. At 12:37 PM Ares was back to the box and asking for a turn on the eggs. He went behind her, and then alongside her, but she wasn’t moving. He went and bit at some stones in the corner and then moved in behind her again. This time she did shift and allowed him to take over. We saw no pips on any of the eggs during the changeover.

At 1:51 PM we noticed that Astrid was on the west office perch. It was raining; she was very wet and did some preening. At 2:20 she darted after something – probably a Pigeon. At 2:54 the falcons did another changeover. Once again, no pipped eggs were confirmed during the switch. At a few minutes before 5:00, Ares was up on his lookout perch on the top of the State Building. Probably a real pleasant place to be in the rain. The falcons switched again at 5:42 and Ares took over on the eggs. Astrid initially went to the State Building but then she flew to the steeple. At 6:30 she saw someone close to an office window (near the box) and started seriously hazing the fifteenth floor. Ares called out as she repeatedly flew by, but he kept his place on the eggs. At 6:36 she laned on the long perch but was still staring at the office windows ready for someone to make a false move. She did a few more passes, even hovering at one point to really drive home her displeasure. As hatching time approaches, she gets increasingly sensitive to any movement around the nest area. At 7:07 PM she had calmed down and took a perch on a ledge over on the State Building for a little while. She was back to the box for the last switchover at 7:27. We expect no more excitement tonight. We will continue to check the eggs for pips in the coming days. We should have our first hatch by Friday. Goodnight all.