Will the hawks keep sitting? Blakeman answers

I asked in my previous post:

I'm assuming they [Pale Male & Lola, once the eggs are retrieved] won't continue to sit without eggs in the nest, but I'll check with John Blakeman to see if that's correct.

John Blakeman replied:

Marie,

Correct. Without the light-colored objects in the nest the birds will not incubate. There won't be anything to incubate.

If a bird settles down and appears to incubate, this should last for just a few minutes, merely a continuation of habit.

But in all likelihood there will be no more sitting for the year.

And it won't hurt the pair at all. They won't have any pondered lamentations about the "loss" of the eggs. Life will go on very well for the birds. No one should take concern about any emotional implications of the eggs' retrieval.

I'm glad that the eggs will be examined again this year, perhaps with more definitive results.

--John Blakeman