5 Mar 23
Shots from the last few days, including of the first egg today.
Shots from the last few days, including of the first egg today.
Happy one week birthday to the youngest chick! And I am pleased to say that it is thriving. And is a bit of a character, definitely holding its own against its bigger siblings.
It has just started to show pin feathers on its wings. And you can clearly see the difference 3 or 4 days make when you look at the older two.

Tom had taken a bit of a step back yesterday. He took two steps forward today 😉 He ended up feeding the chicks twice and doing a fair bit of brooding. Azina still did the majority of it but the chicks were left on their own a bit more again today.

Pigeon and starling was on the menu today. There were six feeds.
Some people are saying that they would usually bring Parakeets. But they wouldn’t, that’s always a bit later in the season (and the Peregrines are nesting earlier than they used to). The Peregrines mostly catch the Parakeets at dawn and dusk when they go from and to their roosts. As the Parakeets are nesting at the moment they’re staying put and the opportunities are fewer for the Peregrines.

To finish, this made me laugh when I saw it first. A game of ‘pass the morsel’ 😉
Shots for today:
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.
A few shots from yesterday and today.
Tom and Azina managed a quick mating on the ledge at lunchtime during one of today’s exchanges. 😉
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!
It’s been a typical day in the life of a young Peregrine. Long periods of inactivity with pancaking or sitting watching the world go by and preening. Bursts of mad activity with running around, jumping and flapping. P6T’s flapping is getting stronger and longer.

He was fed twice, pigeon both times.

Today’s shots:
Azina was eager for the food Tom brought her this evening. She really rushed towards Tom!A few intruders again today (one seemed to be a juvenile but it was from quite a distance) but that didn’t disturb Tom and Azina’s incubation routine much.
One clip where Tom has to do a lot of begging.
And a few shots from today.