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| Saturday morning and we have two chicks! |
Thanks to everyone for your comments and screen grabs this morning. The second chick was certainly out by 6.30 am this morning (thanks Christine) but exactly when it broke free only a check of the video recorder will reveal.
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| Chick - and chips |
It was 1am local time, and our second peregrine egg looked like it could hatch at any moment. This night-time picture was captured just as our female peregrine (the falcon) left her nest duties for a couple of minutes. Our first chick was clearly visible, as is a 'pipped' egg - meaning that a small hole can be seen where the chick inside has managed to start breaking open the egg. It can sometime remain in this state for quite a while, though it seemed likely that later today (Saturday 11th) we would see a second new face on Derby Cathedral's 480 year old stone tower.
And that's precisely what we found this morning - webcam watchers were sending in screen shots of two small, fluffy, white chicks. Both are now being very well cared for and fed as you would expect from our excellent and experienced parents.
The video below is actually two clips in one. The first half is from Saturday morning around at 6am, some three hours or so after the chick hatched. (we have not been able to determine exactly when it appeared). It shows a tender moment when both new chicks are being fed. The full sequence lasted for almost eight minutes. The second half is from just after the first chick arrived on Friday 10th May and the falcon is nibbling away at the discarded egg-shell.
Don't forget to check out our Flickr Group Pool. There you'll find a host of new screen shots that webcam watchers from around the world have posted. Shown below is one of my favourites from yesterday evening, showing a delicate feeding moment with the male (tiercel) watching from nearby. It was caught by Flickr user, Liz1155, but we are grateful to everyone for saving, sending or posting us your favourite moments so far.
We have loved seeing the schoolchildren's comments on our blog. Do keep them coming, as it's great to see young children sharing what they have seen with everyone else.
We have loved seeing the schoolchildren's comments on our blog. Do keep them coming, as it's great to see young children sharing what they have seen with everyone else.
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| Single chick being fed on Friday evening.
Big thanks to everyone who sent in screen grabs and comments about seeing the second chick today - they include (with apologies for anyone we missed) - Deborah in Canada, Kate in Devon, Liz, Christine, Chris M, Sofia D, Joyce S, AnnieF, Gem S, Hilary M, Sue peregrino, Julie Layton, Caroline and Mary T.
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16 comments:
We Have our second chick! From Christine x
two very health chicks seen at change over. Chris M
both chicks had a good feed. Chris m
saturday morning 11 may at around 07:20 the adult peregrines swap over a few minutes later the other peregrine returns and both chicks look to enjoy their breakfast, lovely to watch
damon
Just seen the two chicks, mother on the side father came with a pigeon or something and then took it off. Great news
More good news! Love the pictures :) The chicks are like rag dolls at this stage, aren't they? Or little bean bags. Really enjoyed hearing the comments from children in schools. And hello to Christine & others in Derby. Caroline
Both chicks just had another good feed! From christine
Some pictures of lunchtime feed now on Flickr
Feeding time teatime 17.35pm 11/5/13 pictures on Flickr
2 eggs still seen this morning. Only a quick look so not sure if there was any sign of it piping.
Nice big crack across an egg.
A good view of one of the eggs a minute ago. Looks like the third chick will be hatching very soon.
Looks like chick number three has hatched. Egg shell taken out from underneath the falcon. Hooray!!
How do you no which pergrine falcon chicks are female or male?
Hello Nathan: what a good question you ask!
As you know the adult females are quite a bit bigger than the adult males - 15% or so bigger in fact.
So, the same is true with the chicks. The female chicks are bigger than the males. This is usually obvious when we get the chicks in our hands when we ring them - but not so easy to tell just looking at them on the web cams.
The only problem comes if we have a late chick - a 'runt'. If this is a female, she will be as small or smaller than any males...so that is a difficulty. There is no other way to tell the two sexes apart until they become adults.
Hope that helps.
Keep those good questions coming!!
Nick
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