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.
I am posting only one video today. It’s a long one but has a bit of everything: chicks on their own, Tom feeding Azina, Tom feeding the chicks under Azina, Azina feeding the chicks, Azina brooding the chicks… And the little one went on a small adventure and Azina had to bring it back into the fold…
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.
Pancakes
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
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.
Tom feeds the chicks
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…)
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.
Today was a light day for Tom incubation wise but it was not for lack of trying! This was his last try for the day, around 7pm, but Azina didn’t want to budge 😉
She got up at 6.47 p.m. At 6.49, you can clearly see three eggs. At 6.50 she turns round and starts pushing at 6.52, laying the egg at 6.53. At 6.55 she turns and settles, showing all four eggs in the process as she gathers them together. Easy peasy!
The chicks have been in and out of the box a lot today but did all their sleeping inside. Chick #1 has slept most of the day sitting up while the others were pancaked.
Chick #1 sleeping sitting up while the others are pancaked
There were 5 feeds and all of them were pigeon. Tom did one of them and Azina the others. He would have done an other but the chicks were still full from their previous one.
