26 Mar 23 — Nipping
Tom’s getting bolder! He nipped at Azina’s wing to make her move today…
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18 Apr 23 — Day 7
Happy 7 day birthday to the oldest chick!
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
Tom feeds Azina Shots for today:
27 Mar 23 — Day I-18
Another quiet day apart from the moment Azina spotted something high up (first two shots) and went after it. It was so high up I never managed to spot it and lost Azina as she was just a teeny dot on her way after it. This was just before lunchtime and it’s only then that Tom came for his first shift11 Apr 23 — Day I-33 — First chick!
What a day!
I wasn’t really expecting the first chick to hatch today. I was expecting it to happen more like tomorrow or Thursday.
The day started a lot like yesterday with Tom doing a shift between 6.03 and 6.43. Then Azina took over. Tom brought her some food at 9.48 and she declined. She left for an unknown reason at 12.18 and an egg was pipped!
Pip visible on one of the eggs Tom took over incubation for 10 minutes. Azina returned and didn’t leave for the rest of the day. And it wasn’t for lack of trying on Tom’s part but she refused to budge every time he visited (usually with food).
When I looked back through the recordings, it’s possible that the egg was already pipped at 6.43 am but as it was on the side it’s hard to tell for sure. Likewise, when Azina took over from Tom, the pip was barely visible. It goes to show that luck has a big part in whether we get to see if an egg is pipped or not.
I was on a work call at 2.27 pm while keeping an eye on the camera and to my surprise Azina got up and revealed a wet chick!!! It must have just hatched around then.
First glimpse of a wet chick at 2.27 pm An hour later another glimpse showed us a slightly fluffier chick and its head for the first time.
First glimpse of the chick’s head at 3.25 pm At 5.02 pm, Tom desperately wanted to incubate and see his first chick but Azina didn’t agree to let him…
At 6.47 this evening when Tom brought yet more food that Azina refused but that gave us our first glimpse of the fluffy chick.
Fluffy chick under Mum Azina has been so tight on the eggs and chick that it’s impossible to say if there are any more pips.
Shots for today:
5 May 23 — Day 24
The chicks ended spending a fair bit of time on the ledge this afternoon and had two meals back to back out of the box. Tom had fed them for about 20 minutes. Less than 10 minutes later Azina arrived with more food. At first the chicks didn’t seem interested but one by one got more food and that feed lasted 40 minutes!
If you’re on facebook that double feed was during a long Live session.
Tom feeding the chicks There was variety on the menu again today with pigeon, starling and blackbird. Tom fed the chicks three times and Azina three times too. Very well fed kids!
Azina and the chicks
Chick #1’s back is looking even more like a pincushion and Chick #2’s back has started. It’s somehow clearer in the night mode shots.
Top right is Chick #3, no pincushion; bottom is Chick #2, light pincushion; top left is Chick #1, pincushion more pronounced Chick #3 is still making real efforts to stand up and Chick #2 is getting better at it.
Chick #3 flapping Shots for today:
10 Apr 23 — Days I-29 to I-32
Tom was doing long shifts at the beginning of the long weekend but this got seriously reduced today. From 5hr19 on Friday to only 1hr21 today. The reduction today could be due to the weather and today’s downpours and Azina preferring doing the most of the incubation in these conditions. But this also corresponds to Tom starting bringing prey after not doing so for three weeks. This is the exact same pattern as last year two days before hatching…
Here are a few shots from the last four days.And a couple of videos:
