Here are some lovely video sequences of our young peregrine chicks' first days. We were all surprised by how many of you were glued to your computer screens last weekend, and are grateful to everyone who captured screenshots and took the trouble to post them to our Flickr photo pool for others to see. But nothing compares to seeing these otherwise hidden moments on video, and here are a few selected highlights.
Our chicks hatched out at roughly these times, and comparing these videos to our live webcams it's already quite apparent how rapidly our chicks are growing each day.
1) 1st May 1pm
2) 1st May 6pm
3) 2nd May 11am
4) 2nd May 1pm
(Please note: We're rushing to get four videos posted in total. It takes a while for them to be "resolved" within YouTube, so they may appear black for some time yet. It's likely we may have the sequences and times in the wrong order - we'll check and correct any errors, retitle the videos as soon as we're able, and notify you when this is done.)
Three chicks get their first meal. May 2nd 19:26pm
Four chicks being fed May 4th 12:41pm
First Hatch May 1st 12:19am
We've included this rather long sequence because we were surprised to see the female falcon actively assisting the chick to escape from the egg by helping to break off fragments of shell.
Ten minute later we saw the chick still in the egg, but with the top half completely free. Watch for the zoom-in and the little wing sticking out.
127 comments:
@project team, loved the videos,as you say so nice to see it in real time, the work you out into them is greatly appreciated.
Project memeber, thank you for your latest post I really enjoyed the video. You are right - the chicks are growing very fast.
Slightly off topic, I have also been watching the Pensylvannia birds, their first chick hatched a good 24 hours before ours, but two of the eggs there remain unhatched (clutch of 5 eggs). Is this very unusual and is it likely the two remaining eggs there may have failed?
I am now checking on a total of 4 peregrin web cam sites and I have to say Derby is the best by far. Will be making a donation when I've been paid!
Many thanks indeed for the videos, all excellent choices, you just don't see that detail on the live cam. I love the first feed one in which Mum just so gently steps over the kids, so delicate for such a powerful bird. Nature never ceases to amaze.
Kerry: sometimes eggs are infertile and fail to hatch - it does happen. Indeed it happened here in Derby two years ago.
In Bath this year all four eggs look like they won't hatch, possibly for genetic reasons - the pair are rather too closely related - mother and son to be exact - an ususual occurence! Incest isn't good news of course.
Re. donations, we look forward to receiving one from you to add to the £500+ we have received already from generous donors. This includes a single donation of £200 from one blog commentator who we won't name here - but they know who they are. Many thanks!
We are now about one third of the way to our target income figure, so please keep the donations coming in, however small or large.
Nick B (DWT)
These videos are absolutely fantastic. Thank you for all the hard work you put in.
What amazes me is how gentle the adult bird is although some of the chicks seem to have to wait for ages for some food. I'm sure Mrs. P knows what she's doing - she's done it enough times.
Morning every1! well we might not have a PM (prime minster) but we still have a PF!(perregrin falken)
lol
those videos r great! where do they come from?
@craig - thanz for teh link to the history. i hope the ddt doesnt come back! what a great idea - i think every church should do it! i wonder if they nested there before the church was built tho and thats why they still wanted to nest there now?? i dunno!
@terry herts - actually the falkens nested on the church first and then they put the cameras on second. i am a falken expert now! lol. i guess they dont mind the infra red light or the bells. must be out of there range of hearing like bats or something.
i do wonder why they nest so high tho? u would think they wud be cosier from the wind lower down the church or somewhere more sheltered. i dunno! llo
Great videos. Thank you team. I never cease to be amazed at the gentleness with which mum and dad tend the chicks.
Fantastic video's team. Will these video's and photo's be put on DVD for purchase? Thank You again the journey has been priceless. xxx
1.25p.m. just watching a feed, its fantastic. They are all waiting in turn although the furthest away looks to get more. He/she also looks brighter - perhaps its the eldest.
I hope some of the school children are also watching.
This mum is incredible.
Thanks again to all concerned. A donation will be winging your way when I've looked up where to send it.
1.35 Mum keeps flying back and forth. The chicks look as though they are full as they are falling asleep.
Mum now back covering them up but obviously watching something around her.
Tea-time - and once again she's blocking the view!
feeding time, they are growing fast,now we have a clear view of the chicks as Mom stashes the food.
Saw the end of the feed, and they all seemed satisfied. Mum stashed the remains of the meal in the far corner.
It's amazing how much better it looks when you see these videos compared to the webcams. At first I thought the webcams only took a picture every few seconds, but now I can see that they can capture full video. Would it be possible to have full video like this in the live webcam feed? Even just one or two frames per second would be a great improvement.
I must need to install something as I can't see the videos, just a blank box with a small square in the corner. Any ideas please?
19:26 approx.
Feeding time - I don't what the chicks are being fed but it looked like it may have had a ring on it's leg when it was in the land of the living. Hope it wasn't someones prize racing pigeon!
Another meal, and you can see all the chicks now.
Mo Cole,
Here's a link to a DVD:
http://derbyperegrines.blogspot.com/2010/04/donations-and-dvd.html
Also, Anon, there was a live video streaming to the web setup for awhile, but those cost quite a bit of money, and the project depends on donations.
Brunch! They're all eager for food, and the parent is being very careful to see that each gets some. They're very feisty little chicks!
Those chicks seem to be getting a bit too big to snuggle comfortably under the parent, yet they're only a week old!
Thanks, team for the amazing videos. I was stunned to see the
falcon chipping away at bits of eggshell with her beak. Did I also see a couple of tiny fluffy white chick feathers pulled out too, or were these the falcon's?
Here are some pictures I grabbed during a feeding today (8 May)
http://img401.imageshack.us/i/feeding1.jpg/
http://img196.imageshack.us/i/feeding2.jpg/
http://img188.imageshack.us/i/feeding3.jpg/
http://img266.imageshack.us/i/feeding4.jpg/
http://img404.imageshack.us/i/feeding5.jpg/
@anon: You will need the Adobe Flash Player add-on for your browser.
But, if you're using a business or school PC, you may find their security policy or firewall is blocking the videos because they are hosted on YouTube.
Ooops...Adobe isn't the answer. Ignore that bit.
Here are some pictures of the mother (I think!) spending time with the chicks.
http://img532.imageshack.us/img532/4014/evening1.jpg
http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/5827/evening2.jpg
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/6414/evening3.jpg
http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/1817/evening4.jpg
http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/3629/evening5.jpg
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/8561/evening6.jpg
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/7688/evening7.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/8933/evening8.jpg
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/958/evening9.jpg
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/2598/evening10.jpg
http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/2102/evening11.jpg
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7641/evening12.jpg
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/7439/evening13.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/9978/evening14.jpg
20:12
Supper!
Fabulous videos! I find myself completely enthralled with them. The first one with the tiercel on the scrape before the falcon came with food, seemed as if he was reassuring them that food was on it's way, he certainly plays his part as a father and looks like he really enjoys it. A silly human interpretation but may well be true. The assisted hatch is something of a surprise and not what I expected them to do - survival of the fittest and all that, but I recently watched a live stream of a hawks nest and they exactly the same!
Great to see how caring and gentle the parents are when feeding, she even seems to watch the chick swallow the food to make sure it is okay. Brilliant!
Thank you Team!
They've just had a late breakfast. The parent then flew off very briefly with the remains, but I couldn't see where the carcass was stashed. All settled down now.
Lunch!
I don't know where Mum stashed the remains, but she was only gone very briefly.
Or was it Dad who took over, while Mum went off to finish the meal? Confused again!
Tiercel just brought some food in, & falcon hopped across to take it. Supper is proceeding!
Tiercel has stayed, perched on the nestbox rhs and occasionally glancing across at the domestic scene.
Supper ended at 19.20hrs., when Mum stashed the remains in the far corner of the nestbox. Tiercel is on the tower, grooming his feathers. All the chicks had several beakfuls of meat, and looked sated!
She's feeding them again with the remains from 45 mins. ago, and Dad's again looking on from the other side.
Anon,
If you put your photos in the Derby Peregrine Flickr group, they will be easier for people to see:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/derbyperegrines
Agree with Karen Ann re photos being put in Flickr
Elevenses! A bit early but they're all up for it.
Just seen mum (I think) giving the youngsters their mid-morning snack (started at 10:34 and lasted around 10 mins). All seemed to get a good share and look to be doing well.
It is about this stage last year when I first started watching these peregrines - I missed all the hatching and the vital first few days. I find it fascinating to watch and absorb, hence my lack of posts and screen shots. It seems the bigger they get the more frequently they are fed, I expected the amount feeds to stay the same but be bigger. There is such dedication by the parents and I am pleased to see the tiercel doing his share. I got the impression from last year’s posts that he was lazy… far from it, he is doing a brilliant job - what a good pair these are, if only us humans could be the same.
Added a couple of pics to Flickr which I thought were highly amusing. Enjoy.
Luncheon is served.
They all had plenty - the parent (falcon, I think) was very patient, checking each beak and filling it several times. At 13.28 the carcass was stashed just under the dividing bit. Tiercel's on the tower. All seems quiet now.
15:47 Dad was on the ledge and has produced some food for the Falcon and chicks.
Simple pass over, there was a nice screenshot of it to be had but I missed it because Paint wasn't loading very fast and I had already hit printscreen.
1600 Food's been stashed in the corner, either for the cleaner to take it or for tea later.
Didn't dish a lot out to the chicks, maybe their not hungry.
17:36
Every one home for tea on the nest platform!
Tea-time - Mum's doing the honours while Dad watches from the other side of the nestbox.
Could someone tell me how long it is from hatching to fledging?
19:33
Mum has just brought dinner home.
2.58am and its a gorgeous pic of the adult looking, seemingly, straight at the cam but is the cam stuck the time on it is 2.44.58 and it doesnt seem to be changing.
Forget the last post :) All's well at 3.02am when I went back to check. Must add my thanx to the team for the great vids etc :)
Been watching for about 15 mins now... and one of the chicks doesn't look at all well. :worried!
Panic - is that chick lower laft OK? It looks horribly still ..
09:42 Been watching the chicks for a while, 3 of them visable. The one closest to the camera hasn't moved at all. Head's in the sun, could be sleeping.
09:47 Taken a screenprint, added to flickr but won't post it or make it visable to you until I'm very very very sure. (the 3 'very' is deliberate)
09:50 Movement in the scrape, no movement from chick.
Where's Dad with food, that's enough to wake anything.
09:52 Lots of movement, from Mum and other chicks... still nothing from him... dare I say Rest in Peace? Shush Craig you pessimist.
09:57 4 chicks born; 3 chicks still survive. So disappointing, but still not posting picture, I'm only very very, not very very very sure. I'll await breakfast to be that extra very sure, watching them heads pop up and wave around is amusing.
09:58 Other chicks are moving over him... you know the rest.
10:03 Can't remember seeing the 4th chick, must be hiding at the back around Mum somewhere.
10:10 :(
I think we're definitely down a chick. :-(
I wonder what the falcon will do with it?
10:27 At least the other 3 have an increased chance of survival.
Unfortunate as it is... what will they do with the dead chick?
There is a chick lying in front of dad on the scrape it has not moved for a long time, I am not sure if it is sleeping or not, Dad keeps looking at it - the down on its head does not look fluffed up, I am concerned for it! I fear the worst!
pic going on flicker
Is that one chick OK doesn't look right to me????
Is it me or does something look @not quite right@ with the little one at the front ? It doesn't look good
Unfortunately it looks as if one of the chicks is dead, such a shame. What beautiful birds
Oh dear me, it looks to me like that little one has passed away, I'm sure they were all ok earlier, has anyone any idea what could have happened, Bless it's little heart and poor mum, she must know, will they remove it from the ledge?
One of the chicks doesn't look to healthy. Does anybody know if it is alive?
One of the chicks looks lifeless
I wonder if the dead chick is the one we saw mum chipping at the shell to help it hatch?
Feeding time for the remaining chicks.
11:12 Mum's got up to get food. Other 3 chicks are looking well.
11:15 Mum's back with food, a black thing; not very big. Hope it's enough to keep 3 chicks well fed till next meal.
Chick at the front of the nest (camera side of nest) not moved for about 10 mins.
Kerry, Froona's website says about the 45th day.
http://www.falcoperegrinus.org/index-en.html
This is very sad - saw the chick earlier on not moving and feared the worst.
Feeding time and unfortunatel only 3 beaks there. It does look as if the fourth hasn't survived for whatever reason. (15:43)
So please that I was wrong. I previously thought I could see two chicks not moving when the cam was zoomed in. It's good to see the other three are feeding.
15:40 More food, seemed like plenty to go around.
15:53 Dinner's oover, back under Mum you all go.
Looking at Craigs pictures on Flickr the dead chick does look quite a bit smaller than the others - so maybe it hadn't been feeding, or being fed for a while? Whatever, seems it just wasn't meant to be - very sad, but nature's way.
What will they do with the body? I know what I am thinking......
Fingers crossed for the remaining 3 to flourish.
So sorry Mr n Mrs P, RIP little chick x
I wonder why it died? They all seemed so healthy yesterday. I suppose it will be part of a meal eventually.
I have watched that chick for several days and it always seemed to be at the back and I never saw it get any food. There was one who managed to get at least 50% of the food. Maybe it had a weak cry and didn't attact so much attention. Bit like human life really ...
I've been watching for days.. Poor little thing..... :-(
So sorry to see that one of the chicks has died - been watching it all day and feared the worst. Hopefully the other three will still be ok.
Karen Anne, thank you for the info on fledging.
Along with every one else, I was sad to see the peregrins have lost a chick. The only positive about it is that there will be more food for the others and hopefully that will increase their chances.
Poor little babe...just hope the other three are ok and survive
my 12 year old has just stopped crying really hard telling her because we sat up late the night they hatched and both cried when they were born...yeah I know we are sad but they are gorgeous...
hugs to anyone who is upset
Shell & Katie x
I was sorry to hear we lost one of our chicks, lets hope the other three thrive and grow, do you think it was the last to hatch that died?
So sorry for the little one who died.. :((
We noticed he looked way too still.
Oh, dear.
I know we worried a lot last year about not all the chicks being fed, but someone said if not at this feeding than the next, and those did okay.
Could be anything, i guess - a birth defect, an infection,...
i am a little surprised a parent hasn't removed the chick from the nest by now, I think that's what they usually do, at least red tailed hawks seem to.
I've ben watching, just as last year and i was filled with hope for this little foursome, it's so desperately sad that the little one hasn't made it :( Nature is a wondrous yet sometimes cruel reality.
All hopes now pinned on the three muskateers!!
@project team: It may be a bit depressing for your local school kids who follow the progress of the peregriines.
I just noticed the apparently lifeless chick, and checked the diary to see that others had too during the day - I am watching at 11.30 pm, on Infra Red. I too wonder how the body will be disposed of. Over the edge? That's life, and only a small percent survive anyway, evidently.
0.01 12th May Falcon has been sleeping with head tucked under wing for the good part of an hour. I have seen juveniles sleep like this but not adults. She seems not to be taking any notice of the chicks, ie none of the checking and adjusting that she normally does. Head tucking can be a sign of illness in birds is this so with Peregrines? Given the demise of one chick, I hope someone can tell me this is normal behaviour and not a sign of a poorly peregrine.
@chrisx, I'm sure that many schoolchildren following the webcam will, like most of us, be saddened by the loss of one of the four chicks, but they will gain understanding that life can be tough for wild creatures so humankind should strive not to make things tougher still.
@ Anonymous: re adult sleeping with head tucked back - I saw it a lot during the incubation period, so I don't think it's necessarily anything to worry about. What I have noticed several times is the falcon's left eye being closed when the other is open, & I've wondered whether this is unusual, in fact I mentioned it on one post.
So sad for all the children watching the peregrine chicks, to lose one so unexpectedly. Just hope all the others continue to grow.
Some very sad photos taken on flickr. I am getting concerned too about the feeding, there doesn't appear to be the amount that there was last year.
Peregrin on chicks at present but not a lot of movement.
can someone advise me why at times I press to publish my comment and it say theres ' an error processing. Please try again'
A pleasing sight just watching adult feeding the chicks. It looks as though they may be standing on the dead one! 9.25a.m.
There's another one who looks a lot smaller
I have just watched the feed and athey all seemed to get plenty. I cannot see the dead chick so maybe they have removed it over night. The tiercal was sat on the tower cam tail flashing over it. I think he would be able to see the feeding below.
Peregrin adult seems to be spending a lot of time looking under her wing as tho there may be a problem. I do hope not having seen her feed the little ones earlier.
I think that perhaps now we are all looking for problems and are aware of things more.
My last comment doesn't seem to have been posted where I mentioned watching the feed and one seems bigger than the others.
Is the passed away chick still in the nest? I've looked at the flickr photos, and I can't tell.
It is very sad when one doesn't make it, but the longer I have been watching the webcams, the more I realize that this is a normal event, and kind of expect it.
The NYC Riverside Park hawks lost all three chicks to a bad windstorm which blew down their nest; none of Pale Male's and Lola's eggs hatched, probably due to the structure under their nest the terrible building owners put up interfering with keeping the eggs warm or something; Mama and Papa hawks on the NYC Audubon webcam lost one chick to predation and one to an unknown cause; and Phoebe the hummingbird lost two chicks to a lizard.
It's kind of a miracle when life survives.
Has anyone seen a feed since 9:30 this morning? I posted some pics on flickr it was a good feed but I would expect them to have another feed before now.
13.51 12 May - The dead chick still appears to be in the nest. Perhaps mum has not experienced this before and doesn't know what to do. She still attempt to pull the chick under her at times.
Is it me or does another chick look sick - I can see mum feeding very eager chicks and the third just lying down and not interested in food?
Hope I'm wrong.
I saw a feed earlier and one of the chicks did not seem to join in at all. I hope we don't have another sick chick?
Sue
It's tea-time, and it looks like recycled ... sorry, but that's nature in the raw.
chicks on their own now, I think Mom has gone for food for them, I only see three now huddled together.Dad was on the rhs for a moment.17.43 Mom feeding them now
17.52 - parent appears to take dead chick from nscrape and fly off.
The falcon has just removed the dead chick.
The falcon has been to the tower twice, looking in the guttering presumably for food, but came back with nothing.
I am new at watching the falcons. It just doesn't seem that she is able to get food. Does the male bring food? It doesn't seem they are getting enough..
I think the dead chick was fed to the three remaining one this afternoon, by the male.Time was around 17.45 Derby time.
Just watching webcam and thought I noticed a mark on Mum's head !
Any up date on dead chick and mum would be great...apols for asking, I'm sure you are very busy at DWT.
@ Dutch Eagle, I put some photos on Flickr on the dead chiack being removed, I didn't see a feed after that but don't think it was fed to the others.
I don't know what the tiercel is up to, he was on the tower then came close to the cam, now he has gone and the falcon keeps looking up and out, I hope is is out hunting for supper.
AnnieF and DutchEagleFan, I think you were right, I thought the dead chick was being fed to the others too.
I hope it didn't die of something that could harm the other chicks. I suppose this cold spell is making other food sources harder to come by.
@ Tracy: Yes, there's definitely a white mark on the sitting adult's head (falcon? - I'm not sure!)
Re the dead chick, if you read my comment earlier, and Dutch Eagle Fan's and Phoebe's too, you'll know what's happened to it.
There seems a definite shortage of food, and the sitting parent is very restless, looking up & around quite a lot. The other adult went to the tower not long ago & I hoped it was to pluck some prey, but alas, no.
@Demelza Dad brings food and sometimes leaves it nearby for mum to get,but the mum will leave too and get food, as the chicks get bigger she will leave them alone more.
20.16 mum is feeding the chicks again, they all seem to getting their share
Are we sure that Mr P is the same Mr P of last year. Have they both been positively identified? He does not seem to be taking great care of the food supply. Mrs P has hardly been away from the nest and is constantly looking around and restless. She must be very hungry herself. Has Mr P been seen keeping the chicks warm in the last 48 hours?
Apologies from the team for the lack of blog moderation recently. We’ve all had other commitments to attend to this week and then, globally, Blogger suffered comment moderation problems earlier today, with other blog owners reporting difficulties.
We have seen the news of the death of one of our chicks and appreciate everyone’s comments and photos and will try and post something further on this soon. It would be very unusual for all chicks of any species to survive to reach adulthood. Indeed last year we had 50% losses over a four month period, and in other years have seen eggs not hatching at all. Through our cameras we are lucky enough to be able to glimpse into and learn more about the lives of these wild birds, and would urge everyone to appreciate the opportunity it gives us to learn more about this insight into nature in the raw. It’s understandable that young children become engaged with these birds and then may be upset when one dies. As one commenter said, we hope this will help them understand that life can indeed be tough.
It may surprise some people to know that peregrines and other birds of prey are not popular with everyone. Indeed they are still persecuted in a number of parts of the UK, including Derbyshire, despite having the highest protection under the law. We all know they take a very wide range of prey species, including pigeons in all their forms. For anyone breeding pigeons for race or display it’s inevitable they see peregrines and sparrowhawks as one factor affecting their sport, and I’m sure we can all appreciate their frustration. We recently received a comment from a local pigeon man, much of which is reproduced below, which clearly demonstrates the strength of feeling that others have, even though they may not accord with our own. The Project Team do not have plans to remove the peregrine nest platform, and would point out that these birds came to Derby Cathedral and made it their home on their own volition, just as we know others have done in centuries past. But maybe we should ask for everyone to take care with their choice of words, perhaps expressing a little less glee whenever a prey item – whether it’s a golden plover or a pigeon – is brought back for food. This is nature at work – but sometimes it is seen as coming into conflict with what humans do.
"I am a pigeon fancier who after 30 years of flying birmingham roller performing pigeons have been forced to give the hobby up due to consistent attacks from these peregrines.I have recorded them takeing 27 of my birds since christmas with all other members getting the same with people also packing the hobby in due to the problems caused by the peregrines. i would like to say i am a bird lover and do admire birds of prey especially the peregrine but its the do gooders who have put this box up on derby cathedral that have spoilt our hobby by encorouging them to breed there.If they were wild peregrines comeing from somewhere like a quarry i could except that.we have complained but it has got us nowhere.."
We don’t think our blog is an appropriate forum in which to debate the issue of birds of prey and pigeons – and clearly we recognise they are taken from time to time - but this has been well researched and covered elsewhere by the UK Raptor Working Group. E.g.: http://ow.ly/1Ki64 and http://ow.ly/1Ki4B
For this reason the moderators won’t be encouraging further debate here on this blog, especially as in the past this has tended to become somewhat overheated with language unsuitable for our wide and often young audiences. We will make this clearer when we update our prey list later in the year – now totalling around fifty different species.
The Project Team
OK, I understand that you do not want contentious comments, but since you have the footage, why not answer the questions about what happened to the dead chick's corpse? Is that so much of a problem?
Here's your answer Tom. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4601266275_90060bb255.jpg
I don't think the Team have access to any more than we do until they go up into the cathedral tower and check the video recorders. And that takes time.
I'm not sure what that photo is actually showing, if it's the chick being removed or something else.
But as horrifying as the idea of using the chick for food is, there is another viewpoint. When you get as old as I am, you think about death, and what a good death is. Some time ago it crossed my mind that being eaten by a wild animal (hopefully after being killed instantaneously :-) would be a way to go that is beneficial to the planet. Presuming the animal got away.
7.30am, feeding time
The adult seems to be very anxious about the chicks after feeding this morning, constantly checking them all. I'm sure these cold frosty mornings in Derby don't help, as they take so much energy from the chicks just to keep warm.
I wonder why that chick at the front is not being 'tucked in' ? or am I being paranoid
Am I being paranoid but the chicks don't seem to move as much as previous chicks. I think we are all looking for the worst senario now. I do hope not.
Keep it up Mrs P
I know its work for the team but could we have a more up to date picture as we come on the blogs please.
@ Tom - the photo link posted by Anon shows the falcon removing the chick from the scrape I followed it with the next capture where the falcon had left the nest, there was a capture in between the two of the falcon on the ledge ready to push off, I was watching and got the snapshots in sequence I did not see the falcon land on the tower after removal and she came back quickly - the chicks did not have a feed until quite a while later, the feed was a much bigger item - I doubt there would be much to eat from a small chick. It could well be that the parents ate it but doubt it was captured on video.
@Karen - take a look at the photos posted by Marski101 (that's me).
The chicks are really shifting about this morning, I think the falcon is shielding them from the sun.
A second chick looks pretty lifeless to me this morning (09.43). And thanks for the comment about info - I am sure the team are as ham-strung as us.
Oh - panic over - it just stood up! Must have been having a nap. Phew...
Feeding time.
By now, the chicks should be able to regulate their own body heat and start to become more active. That's probably why the chicks and the adults are more fidgety. In any case, they grow so fast that it becomes more and more difficult for the adults to tuck them all underneath, especially for the smaller tiercel.
Won't be long before they start wobbling about on their new legs and exploring the scrape.
For those worried about the feeding, I think it's normal for the frequency to decrease as they grow. These are experienced parents and there should be no shortage of available food in the area. If there were, it's highly unlikely the falcon would have laid 4 eggs.
The chicks are a bit of a handful today!
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