Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Terminal Tower
SW and Buckeye at the nest site. Only 8 days of incubating and waitin gleft. Estimates hatchday April 24
De Mortel
Only 3-4 days left and we will celibrate the birth of S2 her first eyas. We are all very happy and full of joy and expecting together with this very special Peregrine falcon. And special she is! Her behaviour and change of heart last year proves she is an intelligent being. As all falcons are. They are together with crows and ravens the most intelligent birds there are.This S2 is magic, I have seen her a few times now and she does take your breath away. Her posture, her flight, the way she moves and flies, it's amazing and awesome.
Richmond
Richmond, James River Bridge and Cobb Island are Web Cam projects from the Center For Conservation Biology in Virginia. And what a great job they are doing for the re-introduction of the peregrine falcon. These 3 webcams are fantastic. We are all enjoying the images.Read all about VAFalcons here:
http://ccb.wm.edu/vafalcons/falconhome.cfm
Indianapolis
KathyQ and Kinney have 4 eggs. They where laid on March-17-19-21-23. And estimated hatchday is April 24. Getting closer and closer...James River Bridge: 7 days old
These precious little eyases are growing real fast. They have turned into real raptorchicks. The form of the skull, their appetite for blood and meat. Raptors to be... once, not yet. They are three little adorable baby peregrines. Sir James, already 17 years of age and beautiful Elizabeth are taking very good care of them. This morning I noticed how they feed the 3 hungry cutsomers together. So they are being stuffed and that is a good thing.
Essential in teh development are the major flight muscles. They make out 25% of the bodyweight. Those muscles should be big and strong and trained before they can take their first flight. So a lot of healthy lean meat is excellent for them. They will start flapping their wings very early. As soon as when they are about 10-12 days they discover they have them.
Nijmegen: 3 eggs left
The damaged egg has been removed by the peregrines. Only 3 left. It will probably hav ebeen damaged during the fight in the nestbox. Th eeggs where all over the place. When an egg is damaged , the contents will be eaten by the peregrines and the rest thrown out of the box. It cannot stay broken in the box. It will be a possible source of infection for the other 3 embryo's. For the same reason food is not eaten in the nestbox and droppings are left outside.Later on when the eyases are getting older, the nestbox will turn into a real mess of feathers, prey leftovers and droppings. Good thing they cannot smell to well.....
Thanks Arjen for the photo's!
Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project
Watching the peregrines incubate we often see that they turn the eggs. Why? For decades all kind of suggestions where made, but we now know that it has everything to do with albumen. Th eprimary function of eggturning appears to be to maximise the efficiency of the process of albumen utilisation by the embryo. When incubation starts eggs have to be turned very often. The incubationtime is short and the temperature is high in order to hatch soon. The development is very fast and therefore should be optimal. Reptile embryo's for instance take a much longer time to grow. Of major importance is the growth of the extra embryonic membranes and by turning the eggs the growth will be maximal. Turning also ensures a maximal formation of the sub-embryonic fluid.More about this subject on my website.
Bologna
Today for the first time the eyases where left alone for a long period of time. As I predicted yesterday. They are 13 days of age now. They begin to sit upright, although leaning against eachother. The very beginnings of wing feather development are also seen around this time.
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