We still have two chicks and two eggs. It is probably too late now for the egg that was hatching yesterday. But it could still happen for the other egg. The problem is that the chicks are all over the eggs making it very difficult to spot signs of hatching. There was a pip on one of the eggs on the feed video below but we can’t say if it was new or not.
In the meantime we have two healthy chicks. And I’m going to stick my neck out, I am pretty sure we have one boy and one girl (with the boy being the first one to hatch). But time with tell.
Where’s our food?
They were fed six times today, pigeon every time.
Azina feeding the chicks
Tom got to spend a fair bit of time with them. But Azina is still doing the vast majority of the brooding. I wish they removed that carcasse…
He’s had a great day full of running around and flapping, with plenty of resting and preening in between. He can sprint along the runway at a fair speed! And does it sometimes while flapping (clip below for example).
He also pancaked on the wall for the first time, which means he now feels very confident on it.
First pancake on the wall
He again spent the night out on the wall, in the same spot at the night before. He hasn’t been in the box since Monday unless going after a parent. Which has given Tom the opportunity to go and do a bit of housekeeping in there. It’s needed!
Name. A few people have asked if I’m going to name him. To be honest I am quite happy calling him P6T (it’s easy to say, which is usually my criterion for giving a name) and I haven’t been inspired so far. Maybe something will come during fledging but for now I will stick to it.
Another good day. Azina did a fair bit of brooding again in the morning but left them on their own a bit more in the afternoon.
Azina brooding the chicks
All three chicks can now be quite active at times. The oldest chick has been trying to stand a few times. Interestingly they seem to take turns at feeds. Rather than compete, one will feed while the others either rest or flap or wander.
There were seven feeds today, one by Tom. Pigeon was on the menu for almost all of them. For a change, Collared Dove was also on the menu, only the second time I see the pair bring one.
It’s been a typical day in the life of a young Peregrine. Long periods of inactivity with pancaking or sitting watching the world go by and preening. Bursts of mad activity with running around, jumping and flapping. P6T’s flapping is getting stronger and longer.
P6T stretching his wings – a lot less down than a few days ago
He was fed twice, pigeon both times.
P6T pancaking – he seems to have adopted that corner for it
Dramatic scene at the hospital this morning! If you look very closely the pigeon gets away from Tom and will have learned not to play with fire hopefully!
Quiet days. Tom did a lot less incubating yesterday (a mixture of him not turning up and Azina saying no) and Azina ended up doing nearly 16hrs on the trot overnight. He did an average day today (3hr40) over three shifts. He also brought some pigeon but Azina wasn’t interested then. The last shot is of Tom on the lookout on a crane this evening. We could hear Azina calling to him but I don’t think he could. He eventually turned up to relieve her a while later. Before this we saw him very nearly catch a hospital pigeon (there was contact) he’d flushed.
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.
I’m sure you’ll agree with me that P6T is turning into a stunning dark young Peregrine!
