21 Mar 23 — Tom stands his ground
Tom stood his ground for once but was so surprised he had to check why Azina’d left 🤣 He came back to incubate very soon after.
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6 May 23 — Day 25
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).
Shots for today:
2 May 23 — Day 21
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.
Short clip of the chicks playing.
Playing chicks Shots for today:
13 Apr 23 — Day I-35
A second chick hatched last night, around 10.20 p.m., and was revealed at 5.47 this morning when Tom brought food (Starling) which Azina fed to the two chicks.
Azina removes half an eggshell from under her at 10.20pm last night A pip and crack were also visible on one of the two remaining eggs but as I am typing this the chick hasn’t hatched yet. (Yesterday’s egg was also pipped by 6 a.m and the chick didn’t hatch until late, the process can take a long time). There was a time I thought it had hatched because Azina took some eggshell from under her and nibbled it. She’d done a magic trick on me as I didn’t see that bit get under her 😉
Two chicks and a pip early this morning 
Two chicks and two eggs Azina has mostly been incubating/brooding but she’s also left the chicks for 30 minutes at a time twice. On the first occasion Tom spent some time with them, even tried to feed them, but on the second one they were left entirely on their own. Good thing they had each other to keep themselves warm.
The chicks were fed four times and again a mixture of pigeon and starling.
During one of her absences Azina went hunting and came back with a pigeon that she cached by the nest box. Tom picked it up a bit later and started plucking it. When Azina arrived he legged (or winged it) with the prey and she went in hot pursuit 😉 (the first four shots)Shots for today:
And a very short clip to finish:
19 Apr 23 — Day 8
Day 8
Happy 1 week birthday to the middle chick!The oldest chick is showing pin feathers on its wings 🙂
Pin feathers on the oldest chick
Another good day for the chicks with plenty of food, plenty of sleep and brooding from Mum and Dad.
Family portrait Tom paid a brief visit at 2 am! And then a longer one at 5.08 where he had another one of those long chats with Azina. These two are just so sweet!
There have been seven feeds today, at 5.27am, 7.20am (Tom), 10.51am, 1.09pm, 4.30pm, 6.12pm and 7.32pm (short, chicks were still full).Tom got to feed the chicks this morning.
Huddle Shots for today:
15 Mar 23 — Day I-6
Pretty much the same as yesterday. A few more intruders. I happened to be walking through the cemetery this morning when I spotted Tom sparring with a female Peregrine (who may have been a juvenile – it all happened so fast). But it didn’t look overly aggressive, a bit playful. Then Azina came off the eggs, Tom went to incubate and the intruder took off East.
A clip for you: ‘If I ignore her maybe she’ll let me incubate a bit longer’… Tom ignored Azina for two minutes before she went into the nest box and then she had to beg him 😉
And a few shots from today.
