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15 Apr 23 — Day I-37 / day 4

I was out for most of the day but took my tablet to do some spot checks (which turned out easier said than done, but it worked which was the main thing). Azina waited until one minute before I was due to leave to finally get up and reveal that there were still two eggs and two chicks.

Two chicks and two eggs
Two chicks and two eggs

A check early afternoon gave me a hint that there may be a third chick but I lost signal and it’s not until later in the afternoon that I was finally able to confirm it and put the word out.

If you look closely at the shot above, taken at 11am, it looks like pipping on the egg on the left.

At 11:46, Azina turns and walks on the chick that’s just hatched. It’s still curled up from being in the egg! That is quite a rough start…

The third chick has just hatched
The third chick has just hatched

An hour later Azina gives us another glimpse. The chick has dried up a little.

Glimpse of the third chick a bit fluffier
Glimpse of the third chick a bit fluffier

Then, two and a half hours after it’s hatched, we get to see a fully fluffy chick at the second feed of the day. It’s the one at the back. It doesn’t get fed then but that is not a problem, freshly hatched Peregrine chicks usually don’t eat for many hours.

First views of fluffy third chick during the second feed of the day
First views of fluffy third chick during the second feed of the day

It didn’t have to wait too long in the end as it got its first bits of food at the next feed.

The third chick gets its first food
The third chick gets its first food

By then I don’t know if this chick was the one that had been trying to hatch since Thursday…

The chicks got 4 feeds, a mix of Pigeon and Starling.

Shots for today:

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  • 29 Mar 23 — Days I-19 and I-20

    Two quiet days but very different. Yesterday Tom did little incubation (just under two hours). Today he did the most he’s done in a day so far this year with over five hours in two shifts. Today Azina did her longest day shift with seven hours on the trot.
    About two thirds of the way through now…

  • 14 Mar 23 — Day I-5

    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.

  • 10 May 23 — Day 29

    I was starting to think that it was all about Chicks #1 and #3 the last few days but today Chick #2 stole the show by being the first one to go explore the paddling pool. On its four weeks birthday too 🙂

    Chick #2
    Chick #2

    One of my favourite moments when the chicks discover the pool. It didn’t go as far as having a bath but it seemed to be enjoying itself. Check the clip if you haven’t already.


    The rest of the day is about the same as the last few. Sleep, eat, flap, preen, sleep, flap, sleep, eat… 😉

    Chick #2
    Chick #2

    There were four feeds, all given by Azina, all of pigeon.

    Azina feeding the chicks
    Azina feeding the chicks


    There was very heavy rain around 6pm. The shot below is of the three chicks huddled close together in the corner. It must have been scary with the noise on the roof of the box…

    Huddling together as hail starts falling on the nest box
    Huddling together as hail starts falling on the nest box

    About half an hour before that I heard Tom alarm calling. I checked at my window and saw him rushing to gain height over my street. I went out and by then he’d gone beyond the cemetery and was over Kensington dive bombing a Buzzard.

    A funny clip to finish:

    Shots for today:

  • 10 Mar 23 — Azina lays her third egg

    Azina laid her third egg at 5.52 this morning, with Tom in attendance. She’d just got up at 5.45 when Tom arrived in the box with food. They have a chat then she gets into position at 5.51, pushes at 5.52 and lifts up at 5.53. Effortless 🙂 Tom then leaves, leaving the food behind, and Azina settles down.

    She then sat tight on the eggs for hours, not revealing all three until 9:10 a.m. The new egg is the one at the back. The first one is on the right and the second one on the left.

    Azina and her three eggs
    Azina and her three eggs
  • 11 May 23 — Day 30

    It has been a tough day. It all started last night after I posted the daily update and I checked the cameras. I noticed that Chick #1 had either been crying since the last feed or had trouble breathing. When I checked this morning, it wasn’t any better. We made plans to pick it up tomorrow at ringing if it wasn’t improved and have it checked up at Wildlife Aid.
    Throughout the morning it seemed to perk up from time to time and ventured outside a couple of times. At one point it lost its balance and fell on the ledge floor but picked itself up again. It pancaked with Chick #3 in the box for a while. Then around 12:30 it got up, went out of the box, to the hidden corner for a while. At 12:55 it came back to the wall in front of the box, collapsed and drew its last breath.

    From the start last night I suspected it may be frounce/trichomoniasis. From a clip I sent Sean confirmed that it is the most likely cause. But, obviously, without checking the bird physically, we cannot be 100% sure. It is not avian flu. It will have come from one of the pigeons they ate. With hindsight, what I called being weird a few days ago, that it pretty much stopped pancaking and was spending its time sleeping standing up, was probably due to the illness. So it’s been going on for a few days. I didn’t say anything yesterday, in part because Chick #2 had stolen the show, but I had noticed that it seemed a bit lethargic. And thinking back on it, I don’t think it had done much flapping.

    Now the sad thing is that it has felt like Chick #3 has been a bit off today, and has been sleeping sitting up a bit. But at other times it seems to perk up, and to pancake. Hopefully it is me being paranoid. Chick #3 is also the one that seems to be missing Chick #1 the most. It’s sat by or pancaked on it a few times. The rest of the family have completely ignored it.

    The good news is that Chick #2 on the other hand has been very perky. It’s been up and down the ledge a few times, enjoyed a few paddles and did a lot of flapping.

    There were just three feeds today, two by Azina, one by Tom. Again only pigeon on the menu.

    Ringing tomorrow has been postponed until Monday.

    A reduced album tonight:

    The whole family
    The whole family

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