6 Apr 23 — Day I-28
Just two video clips today.
Exchange on the porch then Azina feels the need to preen a little before incubating.
A bit of time with Tom as he incubates and makes himself comfortable on the eggs.
Today is P6T’s five weeks birthday!

He’s had a great day full of running around and flapping, with plenty of resting and preening in between. He can sprint along the runway at a fair speed! And does it sometimes while flapping (clip below for example).
He also pancaked on the wall for the first time, which means he now feels very confident on it.

He again spent the night out on the wall, in the same spot at the night before. He hasn’t been in the box since Monday unless going after a parent. Which has given Tom the opportunity to go and do a bit of housekeeping in there. It’s needed!
Name. A few people have asked if I’m going to name him. To be honest I am quite happy calling him P6T (it’s easy to say, which is usually my criterion for giving a name) and I haven’t been inspired so far. Maybe something will come during fledging but for now I will stick to it.
Funny clip to finish with before today’s album:
Today’s shots:
Chick #3 is making attempts at standing up. Chick #1 is almost a pro at it. Chick #2 doesn’t seem in too much of a hurry.

Again they’ve spent most of the day sleeping. On their own. Azina paid them a few visits but was more a disturbance than anything, unless she brought food 😉

Food was again just pigeon and there were 6 feeds, by both Azina and Tom.

Feathers are starting to break and this is now the best way to distinguish between the three chicks.

Shots for today:
I was out for most of the day but took my tablet to do some spot checks (which turned out easier said than done, but it worked which was the main thing). Azina waited until one minute before I was due to leave to finally get up and reveal that there were still two eggs and two chicks.

A check early afternoon gave me a hint that there may be a third chick but I lost signal and it’s not until later in the afternoon that I was finally able to confirm it and put the word out.
If you look closely at the shot above, taken at 11am, it looks like pipping on the egg on the left.
At 11:46, Azina turns and walks on the chick that’s just hatched. It’s still curled up from being in the egg! That is quite a rough start…

An hour later Azina gives us another glimpse. The chick has dried up a little.

Then, two and a half hours after it’s hatched, we get to see a fully fluffy chick at the second feed of the day. It’s the one at the back. It doesn’t get fed then but that is not a problem, freshly hatched Peregrine chicks usually don’t eat for many hours.

It didn’t have to wait too long in the end as it got its first bits of food at the next feed.

By then I don’t know if this chick was the one that had been trying to hatch since Thursday…
The chicks got 4 feeds, a mix of Pigeon and Starling.
Shots for today:
With such a wet and cold day (and night) Tom and Azina have covered the eggs pretty much non stop. Tom came in at 4am for a first shift of nearly 3 1/2 hours! (I guess he wanted to shelter from the rain/snow 😉 )
Check the first two shots of Tom and Azina side by side at the entrance of the nest box. I don’t often to get to have them so close and cooperating to give such good comparative shots. Tom’s legs, cere and eye rings are orange whereas Azina’s are yellow. His chest is white and lightly speckled, hers looks darker with her big dark spots. His back is slate grey, hers is blacker.
A few shots from today.
I was a bit off in my estimation for the egg laying time. Azina got up and settled in egg laying position a few times in the night but it’s when Tom came in with food that she finally laid it, 61hr11m after the second one.
I think they’ve started incubating in earnest now and Azina hasn’t let Tom do much of it.
I expect the fourth, and presumably last, egg to come Sunday afternoon/early evening.
I’ll start with a very short funny clip 😉
Another good day. Azina did a fair bit of brooding again in the morning but left them on their own a bit more in the afternoon.

All three chicks can now be quite active at times. The oldest chick has been trying to stand a few times.
Interestingly they seem to take turns at feeds. Rather than compete, one will feed while the others either rest or flap or wander.
There were seven feeds today, one by Tom. Pigeon was on the menu for almost all of them. For a change, Collared Dove was also on the menu, only the second time I see the pair bring one.
Shots for today: