11 Apr 23 — Day I-33 — First chick!

Byadmin April 11, 2023April 11, 2023

What a day!

I wasn’t really expecting the first chick to hatch today. I was expecting it to happen more like tomorrow or Thursday.

The day started a lot like yesterday with Tom doing a shift between 6.03 and 6.43. Then Azina took over. Tom brought her some food at 9.48 and she declined. She left for an unknown reason at 12.18 and an egg was pipped!

Tom took over incubation for 10 minutes. Azina returned and didn’t leave for the rest of the day. And it wasn’t for lack of trying on Tom’s part but she refused to budge every time he visited (usually with food).

When I looked back through the recordings, it’s possible that the egg was already pipped at 6.43 am but as it was on the side it’s hard to tell for sure. Likewise, when Azina took over from Tom, the pip was barely visible. It goes to show that luck has a big part in whether we get to see if an egg is pipped or not.

I was on a work call at 2.27 pm while keeping an eye on the camera and to my surprise Azina got up and revealed a wet chick!!! It must have just hatched around then.

An hour later another glimpse showed us a slightly fluffier chick and its head for the first time.

First glimpse of the chick's head at 3.25 pm — First glimpse of the chick’s head at 3.25 pm

At 5.02 pm, Tom desperately wanted to incubate and see his first chick but Azina didn’t agree to let him…

At 6.47 this evening when Tom brought yet more food that Azina refused but that gave us our first glimpse of the fluffy chick.

Azina has been so tight on the eggs and chick that it’s impossible to say if there are any more pips.

Shots for today:

23 Apr 23 — Day 12

April 23, 2023April 25, 2023 2023, breeding, hatching

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A day of rain and sunshine. At the end of the day Azina had to act as an umbrella as a heavy shower battered the nest box.

Azina broods the chicks, acting as an umbrella

But the chicks were left on their own for even longer periods today. I was showing the Peregrines to people this lunchtime and Azina was perched on top of one of the blue cranes. From there she’d have a great view of the chicks in the box. And Tom was by the ledge. So the chicks were not really alone.

https://youtu.be/aD4zQXGS6gQ

They continue to develop nicely. The two oldest ones are now doing a bit more wing flapping (even if they often end up with their face in the gravel) and even did some while holding food. And they’re starting to move around a bit. You can see a shadow of the cheek feathers starting to come up too.

Azina feeds the chicks - One chick practices wing flapping — Azina feeds the chicks – One chick practices wing flapping

https://youtu.be/-UtjKl7hm3c

https://youtu.be/eKHsYe1h_EQ

There were six feeds today and some were over thirty minutes. It was only pigeon on the menu.

Watch the small chick steal a big piece of food from one of its siblings’ mouth! No push over that chick! I want that piece and I will have it! 🤣 (and it dropped it in the end…)

https://youtu.be/CwMMo1Mx03E

And a bit of a funny one 😉

https://youtu.be/_7guFwnB3BQ

Shots for today:

12 Apr 23 — Day I-34

April 12, 2023 2023, breeding, hatching

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The chick got four feeds today though the last feed was only a couple of minutes long, it was a bit close to the third and the chick was still full. Pigeon and Starling were on the menu.

Only a few minutes at a time but Tom got to spend a bit of time with the chick and the eggs. Very gentle as usual.

Tom 'kisses' the chick — Tom ‘kisses’ the chick

A second egg has been pipping all day. It started with a tiny hole and a crack and didn’t seem to develop so I was starting to wonder if it wasn’t a bit of down stuck to the egg but at 6.30 the hole was bigger and the chick visible. It still had a bit to go and may be hatching under Azina now as I am typing this.

There is a mark on a third egg that may be a pip but somehow I think it may just be a mark.

Shots for today:

5 May 23 — Day 24

May 5, 2023May 5, 2023 2023, breeding

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The chicks ended spending a fair bit of time on the ledge this afternoon and had two meals back to back out of the box. Tom had fed them for about 20 minutes. Less than 10 minutes later Azina arrived with more food. At first the chicks didn’t seem interested but one by one got more food and that feed lasted 40 minutes!

If you’re on facebook that double feed was during a long Live session.

There was variety on the menu again today with pigeon, starling and blackbird. Tom fed the chicks three times and Azina three times too. Very well fed kids!

Chick #1’s back is looking even more like a pincushion and Chick #2’s back has started. It’s somehow clearer in the night mode shots.

Top right is Chick #3, no pincushion; bottom is Chick #2, light pincushion; top left is Chick #1, pincushion more pronounced

Chick #3 is still making real efforts to stand up and Chick #2 is getting better at it.

Shots for today:

13 Apr 23 — Day I-35

April 13, 2023March 12, 2024 2023, breeding, hatching

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A second chick hatched last night, around 10.20 p.m., and was revealed at 5.47 this morning when Tom brought food (Starling) which Azina fed to the two chicks.

Azina removes half an eggshell from under her at 10.20pm last night

A pip and crack were also visible on one of the two remaining eggs but as I am typing this the chick hasn’t hatched yet. (Yesterday’s egg was also pipped by 6 a.m and the chick didn’t hatch until late, the process can take a long time). There was a time I thought it had hatched because Azina took some eggshell from under her and nibbled it. She’d done a magic trick on me as I didn’t see that bit get under her 😉

Azina has mostly been incubating/brooding but she’s also left the chicks for 30 minutes at a time twice. On the first occasion Tom spent some time with them, even tried to feed them, but on the second one they were left entirely on their own. Good thing they had each other to keep themselves warm.

The chicks were fed four times and again a mixture of pigeon and starling.

During one of her absences Azina went hunting and came back with a pigeon that she cached by the nest box. Tom picked it up a bit later and started plucking it. When Azina arrived he legged (or winged it) with the prey and she went in hot pursuit 😉 (the first four shots)

Shots for today:

And a very short clip to finish:

14 Mar 23 — Day I-5

March 14, 2023 2023, breeding

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Azina was eager for the food Tom brought her this evening. She really rushed towards Tom!A few intruders again today (one seemed to be a juvenile but it was from quite a distance) but that didn’t disturb Tom and Azina’s incubation routine much.

One clip where Tom has to do a lot of begging.

And a few shots from today.

15 May 23 — Day 34

May 15, 2023May 15, 2023 2023, breeding

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The chicks spent part of the night on the ledge, until it started raining and they took refuge in the box.
We went to ring the chicks this morning with the thought that we would assess Chick #3’s condition and act accordingly.
Chick #2 weighed in at 750g, which is a good weight for a young male. He was fitted with an orange ring with code P6T.
Chick #3 weighed in at 760g, which is very low for a young female. And she felt thin. There were plaques in her throat, which are signs of frounce, and explained why she had difficulty swallowing food. It was then decided to remove her from the ledge and to take her to Wildlife Aid (I had contacted them previously to check that we could).
I put her in my cat basket (the same I’ve used at FledgeWatch) covered with a blanket and drove her there. They quickly admitted her. I was quite relieved when they replied to my tweet and said they’d started her treatment. She is far from out of the woods yet but she’s been given a chance.

Back a the hospital P6T was in shock for a while but finally settled down around 12:30 and pancaked for a few hours. He woke up around 4:15pm, went out and found some food Azina had cached earlier to feed himself. He jumped on the wall at 4:48pm and has been there the whole time since apart from about a minute. It’s past 9pm as I’m typing this and he’s still there. He’s sat, flapped, preened on there. He’s walked it from one end to the other a couple of times. He even had dinner on it when at long last Azina brought him food and he had his first and only feed of the day. He seems very comfortable on it and has even sat on the outside edge.