Who's The Daddy?

Our first chick of 2017 hatched very early around 04:37am today. Once again, it was one of our keen webcam watchers (BeeThistle) who spotted and reported this on the comments section of this blog.
Here are some initial screen shots taken this morning - first showing a broken egg fragment, then just a very brief glimpse of a tiny chick. (scroll down for the full video of this morning's events)

Don't forget to check our other cameras - the view from our new Cam4 on Page 2 gives a great, low-down view, letting you see the chicks more easily. As its audio isn't compatible with our streaming service, here's a live audio feed from another camera which you may want to run in the background. It stays on for longer than the cameras, and is a great way of monitoring next activity.
Listen Now (20 minute timeout):

Once again, our webcam watcher, Wendy Bartter, has come up trumps with a great video compilation of this mornings action, together with a first glimpse of the newly hatched chick and its caring parents.






2017 has seen the latest ever date for egg-laying and hatching, as you can see by the chart on our Frequently Asked Questions page. Previously, the latest date was 10th May though, of course, this season has seen a significant change in the nest dynamics at Derby. As some blog readers may be aware, we now have a new male this year. This bird (with a ring on its leg) either ousted or replaced the previous (unringed) adult male (read more here). We still don't know precisely when he moved in, or indeed whether the eggs we see hatching today were fertilised by him, or the previous male, as the first evidence we had of his arrival was in early March - quite some time after we normally start to see the adult birds mating.