2023 | breeding

29 Apr 23 — Day 18

Byadmin April 29, 2023

Chick #3 is two weeks old today!

Chick #2 didn’t follow in chick #1’s footsteps and hasn’t stood up today. Chick #1 is a bit more steady on its feet.

Azina feeds the chicks – chick #1 is standing up!

There were five feeds today, most of them quite long. Pigeon was on the menu for all of them.

Azina spent the night in the box with the chicks but she wasn’t brooding them. She brooded them a couple of times in the morning but on the whole the chicks were left on their own for most of the day. Except for feeds (which amounted to 2 1/2 hours in total)

Azina and the chicks all asleep in the box

To finish, it can happen to the best of them! Azina has an off moment this morning…

Shots for today:

5 May 23 — Day 24

May 5, 2023May 5, 2023 2023, breeding

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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.

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!

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.

Shots for today:

18 Apr 23 — Day 7

April 18, 2023April 19, 2023 2023, breeding, hatching

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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.

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.

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

Shots for today:

13 Apr 23 — Day I-35

April 13, 2023March 12, 2024 2023, breeding, hatching

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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 😉

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:

12 May 23 — Day 31

May 12, 2023March 12, 2024 2023, breeding

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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!