8 Mar 23 — lunchtime quickie
Tom and Azina managed a quick mating on the ledge at lunchtime during one of today’s exchanges. 😉
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9 May 23 — Day 28
Happy 4 weeks birthday to Chick #1!
I forgot to mention yesterday that it was starting to mantle prey after grabbing it from a parent. It’s done it again twice today. 😉
Chick #1 mantling prey
It’s also been ‘weird’ and sleeping sitting up on its own on the ledge while its siblings were pancaked in the nest box. I don’t remember a chick doing that before.
Chick #3 sleeping sitting up on the ledge
It rained all night but the day was dry so they went out to exercise a few times but they spent most of their time inside.
Pancakes
They were fed five times, four times by Azina and once by Tom. All feeds lasted around 25 minutes and all feeds consisted of pigeon.
Chick #3 has now caught up with its siblings in size; no more tiny one in the middle. And it looks like it’s growing bigger, bigger than Chick #1 for sure. It could be all the down giving a false impression but probably not…
Chicks #2, #1 and #3 from left to right
The chicks will be ringed on Friday morning.Shots for today:
12 Apr 23 — Day I-34
The chick got four feeds today though the last feed was only a couple of minutes long, it was a bit close to the third and the chick was still full. Pigeon and Starling were on the menu.
Azina feeds the chick its first meal Only a few minutes at a time but Tom got to spend a bit of time with the chick and the eggs. Very gentle as usual.
Tom ‘kisses’ the chick A second egg has been pipping all day. It started with a tiny hole and a crack and didn’t seem to develop so I was starting to wonder if it wasn’t a bit of down stuck to the egg but at 6.30 the hole was bigger and the chick visible. It still had a bit to go and may be hatching under Azina now as I am typing this.
The chick and the eggs There is a mark on a third egg that may be a pip but somehow I think it may just be a mark.
Shots for today:
17 Apr 23 — Day 6
I think it is fair to say that the last egg is not going to hatch now. Looking back at shots from egg-laying time I think this was egg #2 that didn’t hatch. The colour contrast between the brightly coloured freshly laid eggs and now is quite big. All this rolling on gravel does wear them out.
But we have three healthy chicks. And the little one is no push-over!
The Peregrines day started early with Tom bringing food at 4:37 a.m. Azina fed it to the chicks but I am not sure how much they could see each other at first as it looked a bit tentative.
Then at 5:47 Tom came in and had a long discussion with Azina. He really went into her face at times!
Tom fed the chicks this morning and did a very good job of it. Azina has let him be a hands-on Dad a fair bit this time. She left him in charge for nearly an hour in the morning and in the afternoon.
Tom brooding The oldest chick has started to do a little bit of preening.
The chicks got 6 feeds today, at 4:37, 7:04 (by Tom), 11:20, 2:41pm, 4:56pm and 7:17pm. A mix of Starling and Pigeon again.
Azina brings food Shots for today:
5 Mar 23
Shots from the last few days, including of the first egg today.
Day 4 of New Girl
She roosted on the ledge and spent pretty much the whole day there too, she is definitely seeing it as home now I think.
Tom has tried again without success to entice her for a courtship display inside the box. The only time he managed was by taking prey inside with him. Very cunning! But all she did was come in and grab…
He’s managed to mate with her more than once today today as they did it 4 times on the ledge…
One thing I have noticed is that New Girl appears to be a bit messy, Charlie would never have left remains of prey all over the ledge wall…
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