1 Apr 23 — Wait!
“Eh! Wait! You were meant to beg for a bit longer!” 😉
It’s all going well. The chicks are getting plenty of food. And I know some of you are concerned about the smallest chick. Don’t worry! It’s getting plenty of food, just as much as its siblings. If you’ve watched the second Live on Facebook you’ll have seen all three of them full to bursting after what was their eighth feed of the day!

But I think this chick is going to be trouble. It wandered away during one of the feeds and Azina had to grab it to bring it back with the others.

They managed to surprise me with another first: Tom feeding the chicks while they were under Azina. Very interesting interactions this year.
As mentioned above, the chicks had eight feeds today. Again it was a mix of starling and pigeon.

Shots for today:
Tom and Azina managed a quick mating on the ledge at lunchtime during one of today’s exchanges. 😉
What a day!
I wasn’t really expecting the first chick to hatch today. I was expecting it to happen more like tomorrow or Thursday.
The day started a lot like yesterday with Tom doing a shift between 6.03 and 6.43. Then Azina took over. Tom brought her some food at 9.48 and she declined. She left for an unknown reason at 12.18 and an egg was pipped!

Tom took over incubation for 10 minutes. Azina returned and didn’t leave for the rest of the day. And it wasn’t for lack of trying on Tom’s part but she refused to budge every time he visited (usually with food).
When I looked back through the recordings, it’s possible that the egg was already pipped at 6.43 am but as it was on the side it’s hard to tell for sure. Likewise, when Azina took over from Tom, the pip was barely visible. It goes to show that luck has a big part in whether we get to see if an egg is pipped or not.
I was on a work call at 2.27 pm while keeping an eye on the camera and to my surprise Azina got up and revealed a wet chick!!! It must have just hatched around then.

An hour later another glimpse showed us a slightly fluffier chick and its head for the first time.

At 5.02 pm, Tom desperately wanted to incubate and see his first chick but Azina didn’t agree to let him…
At 6.47 this evening when Tom brought yet more food that Azina refused but that gave us our first glimpse of the fluffy chick.

Azina has been so tight on the eggs and chick that it’s impossible to say if there are any more pips.
Shots for today:
Something worked up the pair around 1pm today but I couldn’t see what it was… (first five shots)
And a few more shots from today.
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:
Tom’s getting bolder! He nipped at Azina’s wing to make her move today…