The two oldest chicks are getting to the age where they can thermoregulate and so the chicks may be left on their own for longer periods from now on. Tom hasn’t tried brooding them at all today. And they were left alone for half an hour early afternoon.
Tom came in early and waited for eight minutes before Azina moved on but it doesn’t look like they did much chatting this time.
Tom standing waiting for Azina to move (she did after eight minutes)
The chicks had six feeds today, some lasting quite long. On the menu only pigeon today.
The youngest chick missed out on the second feed. I guess it wasn’t hungry. It caught up at the next one and got a private feed for a while by again separating itself from its siblings. It joined them back by itself this time.
Azina feeding the chicks
Tom spent a fair bit of time perched by the ledge today.
Today is Chick #1’s 3 weeks birthday and to celebrate it went on a little trip. That’s one day earlier than Indy last year and three days earlier than Walnut in 2021.
Chick #1 on its first excursion
Tom and Azina spent a lot of time perched by the side of the ledge today, either separately or together. In the morning Azina spent a lot of time disturbing the chicks’ sleep by pottering in the nest box for nothing in particular.
Tom and Azina side by side
Again the chicks were fed to the brim an endless supply of pigeons. The last meal lasted 40 minutes with the first 10 minutes done by Tom. They fell in a food coma immediately.
Tom feeds the chicks
As you can see on its excursion clip Chick #1 is now very steady on its feet and will now stand during feeds. Chick #2 is still quite reluctant.
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.
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.
Main thing today was that the fourth egg broke over night. Even though I couldn’t see what happened as it did under Azina and she had her back to the camera I can say that this egg was not viable. The chicks were covered in some residue that made them look like they’d been dipped in oil. Not their fluffy selves Not that it seemed to bother them.
Huddle
The rest of the day was the usual mix of sleep and feeds. There were 6 feeds today, at 7.23am, 9.12am, 11.19am, 2.35pm, 4.46pm, 6.33pm. Actually close to every two hours except for three hours once in the middle. Pigeon and Starling on the menu again.
Tom and the chicks
Starling heads are starting to accumulate on the gravel again…
Lastly, something happened I’d seen or heard of at other sites but had never seen here: Tom feeding Azina
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.
Azina feeds the chick its first meal
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
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.
The chick and the eggs
There is a mark on a third egg that may be a pip but somehow I think it may just be a mark.
Not that it seemed to bother them.
