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.
Thankyou for sharing your wonderful falcon pair with us! Bless their hearts!❤️