We now have three eggs, as shown by this screen grab, captured this morning (Saturday 2nd) at 9:30am.
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| The smaller male or 'tiercel' (left) takes over incubating the eggs - the larger female (the 'falcon') then flew off. |
Comments left on our blog at an earlier changeover suggest there were only two eggs this morning at 08:00
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Our records show that the Derby pair have, without fail, laid four eggs each year. However not all of these survive to either hatch or reach their first year. See the FAQ tab on our blog's main page for a chart showing past events in the lives of Derby's peregrines.
Finally, thanks to Wendy Bartter who has been capturing the feed from our cameras and checked back this morning to see if she had caught the moment of egg-laying. Not quite, it seems, but very close.
(Wendy has now explained her method of capturing this footage in a comment to this blog post. Scroll to the bottom of the post and click on the word 'comments'. )
And a big welcome to all newcomers to this project blog and web cams. Do post a comment to the blog and let us know where on the planet you are watching from!
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| Peregrine eggs look white under infra-red light at night-time! |
41 comments:
Brilliant news! Perhaps she was keeping the third egg well covered when she moved round earlier.
Fabulous news & great capture NB ... checking recorded footage now with fingers crossed (but one corrupted file from 09.27! Grrrr)
Great news, well done Mrs P - having a well earned rest now. Saw tiercel land on scrape and falcon stood up briefly earlier around 8am I think but only two eggs visible. He waited on edge of scrape then flew off quickly and later saw him back on scrape consuming prey. Not sure if he offered her any as I logged off for a bit. He then flew off with prey and she settled down once more. Let's hope we have four viable eggs this year.
The good news is that I have footage up to 09.27 but no dramatic reveal of three eggs!!
The bad news is that the subsequent recording is corrupted & will not open so the vital three minutes up to NB's reveal pic are down a dark hole!!
Two vids of the action which I have had enhanced by YT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nhy3kwRTxQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iLGUX60IWc
Bad luck Wendy these things happen to the best of us. She's just stood up at 11.58 a.m picking at pebbles and three eggs clearly visible, lovely to see them even though I missed them first time round. Thanks for video links.
Delighted to learn of a third egg, and thanks Nick M. for the pic.
The falcon is off the eggs and doing a lot of quite frantic calling from the ledge.
Ah, I thought she was calling her mate. She left the scrape and the tiercel has now taken over the sitting duty.
Changeover at 18.23. Tiercel now egg-sitting.
Falcon arrived on far ledge approx. 19.22, tiercel immediately left eggs & scrape. After a few minutes of deliberating, falcon hopped over to the eggs & is now sitting.
Yay 3 eggs. Just one more to go. Then we sit and wait for the little ones to be born. Very quiet on the scrape right now.
All is quiet at 12:39.
1:57 and she is sleeping like a baby. No sign of the tercel.
2:58 she is looking around but not getting up. I was just checking and the chicks were born on the 5th, 6th & 7th of May last year.
8:21 and all is well.
9.35 there has just been a switch over. Is this the male now? X
Mrs P got up and went to edge of scrape and eventually flew off at 12.04 p.m. Still only three eggs at the moment. Had heard Mr P screeching in distance and Mrs P chup, chupping to him but he may well have taken over egg sitting duties as I write this.
Both Mr and Mrs p on scrape. Mr p on edge. Mrs on eggs 16:45
Julia
17:21 mom flew off a minute or 2 ago and dad immediately covered the eggs. Still 3. It takes him a lot longer to cover the eggs than mom.
Changeover at 17.20 by the clock, but the bells were ringing so 17.15 really I suppose. Tiercel had spent about an hour on the far ledge waiting for the falcon to make up her mind. I wondered whether she might be laying again as she was so hunkered down, but only 3 eggs were on view when she left.
23:02 very quiet. Mom alone with eggs.
Nick M posted '''Perhaps Wendy would like to share her method of capturing this footage in case others would like to follow suit.'''
Sorry for delay in replying, had a couple of days with young Great-Nephew!
I use Debut Pro video capture software which I purchased from here ....
http://www.nchsoftware.com/capture/
I see that today's price equates to £28.09 but they have frequent deals running & can sometimes be cheaper!
The software is easily downloadable & one then purchases a 'Key' to upgrade ... there is a free version to download but is limited to a certain number of files & then you have to purchase but is highly suitable for recording own nestbox cams!
Once Debut is purchased & installed then any streaming video cam can be recorded, the only downside is that they mostly have to be constantly refreshed which is why I choose Derby streams 1 & 2 because they remain on screen without freezing for very long periods (if one doesn't count the three vital minutes I lost on third egg laying!!! Lol)
Talking of eggs .... maybe number four overnight or tomorrow??? Will attempt to record, wish me luck!
Good luck Wendy! Hope you get a fourth egg to capture. Thank you for letting us know how you do it.
The falcon is off the eggs and sitting on the ledge. It's been raining and you can see the dry pebbles with the eggs. We are in for some really wet weather tomorrow so I expect she will be hunkered down most of the day.
If there was a change over I didn't see it. One of them is back on the eggs.
All is quiet and has been for awhile.
I think it is the tiercel on the eggs now. He's awake but not moving much.
7.15 a.m. changeover but still only three eggs, no prey brought to scrape for Mrs P so perhaps she's still catching her own.
Just heard Nick on Radio Derby explaining about incubation of eggs which was very helpful as I too had been wondering if falcon & tiercel were actually brooding eggs as they have been keeping them warm almost from start of first egg being laid. Nick predicts we might get final egg later in afternoon/evening, so fingers crossed!
Tiercel on the edge of the scrape and she is covering the eggs. Now I am off to bed. Maybe I'll see the 4th one when I get up.
Have a great day all.
A big 'thank you' to all our commentators and especially to Vicky for her night-watch and Wendy for her information about capturing video clips.
Keep up the good work!
Nick B
ps If we are to get a fourth egg then we might expect it sometime later today, ie two and a bit days after the third was laid (lunchtime on Saturday).
Falcon arrived on far ledge approx. 12.38, gave the sitting tiercel a look & he got up pretty sharpish, bowed his head & flew off. Falcon now sitting - maybe a fourth egg this p.m.?
Changeover at 15.05pm. after a bit of chat.
I believe egg #4 arrived at 15.22 pm Derby time. :-)
Thanks for the timeline Dutch EF, checking back on vid footage now!
Just seen 4 eggs!
She got up and yes 4 eggs. Now the wait begins for the babies.
Yep, definitely four eggs! Fantastic news.
Hi pics of four eggs posted on flicker now for a long wait....
Hi folks, good news is that I did get some footage, from Stream 2, & have processed via Windows Movie Maker & YouTube! I have sent the link details to Nick B so that he can publish on the new blog post! Now long wait until hatch & bobbleheads & feeding but all soooo exciting!
Mom's covering and dad's sitting on the edge on the other side. 19:21
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