Soon it will be time for hatching!

It is now more than three weeks since the female settled down to the long month of incubation of her four eggs....so we can expect hatching soon!
Today Wendy Bartter, who keeps a close eye on the wbe cams said in a comment;
The female is quite restless, keeps picking at bits of old feathers and gravel, turning & shuffling the eggs often ... all good signs that hatching could be imminent plus not wanting to let the male take over! 

So, when will they hatch?
The last (fourth) egg was spotted on 26th March so, as Wendy Bartter has pointed out in her recent comment, hatching should begin about 27th of April or thereabouts.
The female will become fidgety, repeatedly getting up off the eggs and then settling down on them again. She can hear the chicks inside cheeping....
Then a small hole or crack will appear in the first egg that will hatch and this can be spotted when the eggs are uncovered.

Once hatched, the chicks grow very quickly and within five or six weeks are the size of their parents!
This painting by crowartist (www.crowartist.co.uk) shows what the chicks look like as they lose their white fluff and develop their feathers.
We will hope to ring them at about the twenty day stage, ie when big enough for the rings not to fall off their legs but young enough that they don't try to make a run for it when the abseiler appears at the nest but simply cower in the corner of the platform!

The Project Team

The Project Team
This project is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust with support from The Cathedral, the City Council and Cathedral Quarter.