Peregrine Video - 28th April 2010

Short video clip of the female peregrine re-arranging her eggs on the 29th April 2010.

24th April

The peregrines are about half way through their month's incubation now.
If all goes well, the eggs should hatch sometime during early May.
It's not unusual for only some of the eggs to hatch. We shall watch with interest what happens.
Alan captured this picture earlier today of the female slipping off the eggs through her favourite exit at the end of the nest tray . She was only gone for a few minutes.

10th April.

One difference between the tiercel and the falcon that I have noticed is that their tail patterns are different. The size difference is very obvious in Alan's photos. She is considerably bulkier than he is.
The pair nested in the centre compartment of the tray last year but this year they have opted for the far end. This is because the tray has been moved a few feet further north up the walkway thus enabling the birds to have a view through a hole in the wall out over Grantham! Quite often the female leaves the tray via this hole.

10th April

As Bob says, there will be little to report for a month whilst the four eggs are being incubated, and very little to see other than the female sat continuously on the eggs. Although the male will bring food for the female, he will also occasionally take a turn at keeping the eggs warm to allow the female to take a break. The composite image below, shows the difference in size between the smaller tiercel and his mate.

7th April - 4 eggs!

Alan got this snapshot at 0750 this morning.
The clutch is now complete and things will be fairly quiet for a month whilst the eggs are incubated.

6th April - 4th egg?

I was hoping to have posted news of the fourth egg by now.
Last night at 2049 she was acting as though she was laying an egg, but unfortunately she wouldn't stand up for long enough afterwards to reveal the whole clutch. The way she is sitting tight I assume she has begun incubating a clutch of four eggs.
Let's hope for some chicks in about a month's time!

3rd April - 3 eggs

Just as the Cambridge crew crossed the finish line to win the boat race, the female left the eggs for a few seconds to allow us to confirm the third egg.

3rd April - 3rd egg?

From her behaviour, I suspect that the 3rd egg was laid just prior to 12:30 today. It was not possible to confirm this when she briefly raised herself up, and we will need to wait until she moves again. If we do have the 3rd egg, we can expect her to lay her 4th and final egg (assuming she has four) just after 9pm on Easter Monday.

1st April

Well done to Jason who spotted the second egg (bang on time!) and managed to grab a shot.
Jason supplied the cameras so perhaps he had inside information as to the best time to "get up in the night!"
Hopefully, egg number 3 will be laid around lunchtime on Easter Saturday.

1st April 2010 - 2nd Egg

Images taken at 03.53am show the 2nd egg.

1st April 2010

Ist April.
Well it's half past seven and she's sat tight all night with a keen west wind blowing over her!
I checked at 2am, 4am, 5am and 6am, but she was giving nothing away. But from the way she's sat I think we might have an addition! Fingers crossed!