I didn’t do an update yesterday as it had been a very quiet day. So was today thankfully 🙂 The pair has really settled into the routine. Tom has ended up doing a bit over four hours each day which is a bit over his average last year.
A clip from today: Tom had barely settled on the eggs when Azina came back and demanded to incubate again. Poor Tom! It’s not like she’d been incubating for over 12 hours. 😉 But his following shift two hours later ended up being nearly three hours long. Happy Tom! 😂
Today was Chick #3’s four weeks birthday. It tried jumping on the wall five times, without success. I’d say the situation is otherwise the same as yesterday. It is still quite lively, has been going up and down the ledge a few times, has a big appetite but doesn’t pancake or preen much. And when it pancakes it doesn’t look restful. It needs to preen to break the pins and remove the down.
Chick #3
Talking of removing down, there isn’t that much left now on Chick #2’s back. That chick is still looking 100% fine. It pancakes a preens a lot. And it’s very lively. Much livelier than Chick #3 but, first, it’s three days older and, second, I think it’s a male and Chick #3 a female and males tend to be a bit more tightly strung.
Chick #2
Big achievement for Chick #2 today with a successful jump on the wall at its first attempt. It tried where it’s marginally easier (from experience of watching the chicks through the years) but, still, it’s a great achievement.
Chick #3 also attempted to jump on the wall but failed each time. Here are four of her five attempts.
The chicks were only fed three times today, once by Tom and twice by Azina. Again it was Pigeon on the menu all the way.
Today was Chick #3’s three weeks birthday and it’s doing very well. It was steadier on its feet than yesterday.
Chick #3
The chicks went out early in the morning, at the end of a feed by Tom.
They all settled to sleep in the ‘hidden corner’ and stayed there for two hours until the rain started getting heavier, at which point they all went back to the nest box. Chick #1 was the first one to get back in, it usually is. And they stayed there pretty much all day, apart for a short outing around 4pm.
Pancakes
Chick #2 was well improved since yesterday in standing and walking.
Chick #2
They got six feeds today, two by Tom and four by Azina. Pigeon and Starling was on the menu.
It rained for many hours and Azina got rather wet perched by the ledge. Tom landed on the perch a couple of minutes after she left and was totally dry. As we know he doesn’t like the rain and getting wet so I suspect he’d been hiding in one of his rain corners (on the railing on the 12th floor at the junction of North and West Wings usually).
Chick #2 is still full of energy and has been exploring the ledge multiple times today. It is turning into a beautiful dark Peregrine as revealed in the last couple of days with a lot of down falling off. Soon it’ll be just those fluffy pantaloons left!
Chick #3 on the other hand is still causing me some concern. I go back and forth on it as on one hand it is spending a fair bit of time sleeping sitting up like Chick #1 used to do. But on the other one it is still showing big bursts of energy, bouncing and flapping. And a big appetite. I am crossing everything.
Azina finally brought some Parakeet at the end of today. A break from that endless Pigeon diet. She fed it to them in two feeds. The two previous feeds were more Pigeon.
Tom moved the body of Chick #1 by the entrance of the nest box. He was trying to haul it inside, presumably to feed it to the chicks, but it was proving too heavy for him. Later, he started plucking it but gave up very quickly. So it’s now in an awkward spot for the chicks going in and out of the box.
Not many shots again today. I love that first shot of Chick #2 and its reflection in the water!
P6T spent the whole night on the wall. And, apart from 3 1/2 hours where he pancaked on the ledge and 15 minutes for a feed, he spent the whole day on the wall too. Minus a few minutes here and there where he went on the floor.
He’s sat, preened, flapped, walked, run, eaten… The only thing he hasn’t done is pancaking, maybe it doesn’t feel safe enough yet.
Nothing more to report. He’s still looking very bright. And to be honest the more he is on the wall the happiest I am as it’s away from possible contamination on the ledge.
