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.
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.
Two chicks and two eggs
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…
The third chick has just hatched
An hour later Azina gives us another glimpse. The chick has dried up a little.
Glimpse of the third chick a bit fluffier
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.
First views of fluffy third chick during the second feed of the day
It didn’t have to wait too long in the end as it got its first bits of food at the next feed.
The third chick gets its first food
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.
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.
Azina brooding the chicks
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.
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
No big outing today. Chick #2 went out for five minutes on its own and Chick #3 was back in as soon as it was out.
Chick #2 flapping
The chicks got to taste Parakeet for the first time this evening and they’d also had Starling on top of the usual Pigeon so a bit more variety on the menu today. Azina must have caught that Parakeet as it looked quite fresh and Tom had been sitting on or by the ledge for over an hour when she arrived with it.
First Parakeet
There were only five feeds today but the chicks were very full at the end of each of them. Chick #2 is getting a bit even more steady on its feet and Chick #3 is making more effort. Chick #1 has reached the pincushion back stage, making it quite easy to recognise it from its siblings today.
Chick #1 has reached the pincushion back stage
When it was sitting next to Chick #3 on the porch at one point the difference 4 days make was quite striking when looking at the cheek patch and around the eye.
You can see the difference 4 days make on the cheek patch comparing #1 on the left and #3 on the right
Chick #3 cast a pellet on the back of Chick #2 this morning.
Two quiet days but very different. Yesterday Tom did little incubation (just under two hours). Today he did the most he’s done in a day so far this year with over five hours in two shifts. Today Azina did her longest day shift with seven hours on the trot. About two thirds of the way through now…
Not that it seemed to bother them.
What a stunning pair Great capture Nathalie!
Thank you Maggie!
They truly are 🙂