Radisson - 2011 / Ivy & Princess

[The Peregrine Chick]

0945 hrs

Shift change and Ivy is on the eggs.  He's watching what's going on outside and up above and he too has done some hoovering this morning.  Egg, Eggette, Egger and Esmerelda are all still in their ovoid form.

Just as a note, Princess seemed to be pulling the eggs further inside a bit earlier this morning.  Without access to a keyboard and the Environment Canada website, seems she is confirming that we are going to have rain in the next little while.  Could also be why the two of them have been a bit awkward or fussy when settling, they could be trying to reshape the scrape so they aren't trying to incubate on a slope in order to stay undercover when it rains.

Forecast for the weekend has changed since yesterday:

at 0945 - cloudy and warm 17C with no noticeable wind on the ground
Today - A mix of sun and cloud. 30 percent chance of showers this morning. High 26. UV index 6 or high.
Tonight - Clearing this evening. Low 14.
Friday - Increasing cloudiness. 40 percent chance of showers in the evening. Wind becoming southeast 20 km/h early in the evening. High 26.
Saturday - Rain. Low 16. High 21.
Sunday - Cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Low 14. High 17.
Monday - A mix of sun and cloud. Low 7. High 16.

[The Peregrine Chick]

At last look at the eggs (0715 hrs), they were all still eggs ...

[Stormy]

Princess seems very restless right now.  Seems like she is talking to the eggies, but she isn't making any sound.  I'm also hearing faint chirping sounds - are those the little guys in the eggs doing that?  I think I'm going to be late for work this morning.

[bev.]

Boy, it has all come so fast.

Get ready for the excitement

[Kinderchick]

Cleaning house, getting as much done as possible before the four busy kids break out!!

Yes, they will certainly have their hands full, or should I say their talons and beaks full, when the "kids" are born.

[susha]

Cleaning house, getting as much done as possible before the four busy kids break out!!

[msdolittle]

major housecleaning going on ... some one is forgetting about the eggs

[eagle63_1999]

Yipeeeee I get to stay home and watch the eggs hatch this weekend I hope!!!!

[The Peregrine Chick]

1855 hrs

Ivy was talking as he was moving around on the eggs and I'm pretty sure he was talking to the chicks in the eggs.  And I'm pretty sure the "first" egg's discolouration is a pip ...  hope to catch sight again and then when I'm home I'll check the video ...

[The Peregrine Chick]

1840 hrs

Shift change, Princess had a yell and a mutter and Ivy responded and then he took over on the eggs.  He has them tucked under him but I think he might have been a wee bit more cautious in tucking them under and covering them.  I'm also not sure, but the egg at the back, which is different from the egg in my last post, may also have a pip-like discolouration.  But try not to get overly excited, it might just be darker spots on the eggshells that are more visible now that the eggs' overall colour has faded some since they were laid.

[The Peregrine Chick]

1831 hrs

I'm not trying to get anyone's hopes up but there is a suspicious small dark spot on one of the eggs which could, just might, perhaps, maybe be a pip.  The egg before it disappeared back under was closest to the camera and the discolouration was higher up on the egg, sort of where I would anticipate seeing a pip ....

Will have a look at video a bit later and see if there is a better image though I doubt I will see much better than we are seeing right now ...

[bcbird]

Trey turned out all right after all.

Yeah!

[sheltiegirl]

Thank you TPC it certainly does help. As usual a clear easily understood answer . sg

[The Peregrine Chick]

Do eggs in general ever hatch prematurely TPC, and survive? I know mammals , humans included do sometimes deliver prematurely but I was just wondering if premature hatching is survivable or if it even actually ever happens.

Depends on what you mean by prematurely ... do you mean the egg is cracked from the outside and the chick can't stay inside anymore so has "hatched" or do you mean hatches before our estimated hatch date? 

Unlike mammals where the mother plays a role in delivering infant, the chicks are the ones who do all the work in this case.  Can't say that an egg in a wild nest that accidentally broke at 25 days (rather than 30) hasn't ever survived because stranger things have happened.  Having said that, chicks go from a spark to a chick in 30 days so even a few days early is a huge deal in terms of development - I guess a rough estimate for demonstration purposes would be that 3 days of chick development is equivalent to 1 month of human development. So  hatching 3 days early could sort of be like being born a month early. 

If you are asking would the chicks be in trouble if they hatched today, the answer is no.  We used to have nests that hatched out consistently at 28 days (Madame's nests) and no muss, no fuss - Trey turned out all right after all.

Hope this helps 

[Kinderchick]

...I was just wondering if premature hatching is survivable or if it even actually ever happens.

Don't know about whether or not this ever happens with peregrine falcons, sheltiegirl. TPC will answer that question. But I do know that apparently one of Phoebe the hummingbird's chicks from her last clutch hatched prematurely and then was accidentally bumped out of the nest by Phoebe and fell on the ground. It was returned to the nest and then was retrieved and placed in rehab but did not survive.