MN / Elk River - 2008-22

[Elaine L]

Susha, all the eggs are there, it is just the cam angle.  Elke has been very restless, up and down, touching the eggs, listening.  I think a hatching is soon to happen!

[susha]

Elke has moved off the eggs to do some hoovering and I can only see two eggs  .  Is it the camera angle and one egg is hiding behind the other??   No sign of a hatch...

[Elaine L]

Still no hatching here, and I have been looking forward to seeing it.  Of course, as soon as I go to bed everything will start to happen.

[Liz]

Thanks so much for the photo, dupre! 

[dupre501]

Eggs all lined up in a row at 3:40 p.m.

[allikat]

I notice that Elke is a different looking peregrine with a lot of white feathers above her cere.  I don't think I have seen another quite like her.

 
Sawatske                                                                                    Elke

Quite gorgeous actually!  

[Liz]

You're right - good catch! I think it makes her very pretty.

[RCF]

I notice that Elke is a different looking peregrine with a lot of white feathers above her cere.  I don't think I have seen another quite like her.

 
Sawatske                                                                                    Elke

[Liz]

...inexperienced birds have the instincts but not the artform, that only comes with experience.

Like any good love story! (not to anthropomorphise!) 

[The Peregrine Chick]

The Sawatzkes' are looking somewhat restless today; perhaps a hatching is imminent?  I got a look at the eggs abit earlier, though, and I did not see any evidence of a hole or crack line.

Often one won't see anything on an egg, just Mom pushing eggshell out from underneather herself.  Spinning around and using her beak in what looks like an attempt to tuck the egg back under her.  The movements are the same, just so much more intense and frequent.  Think duck swimming - all looks relatively calm on the surface but underneath there is all manner of action going on!

When I had a look at her just now, she was calm, no eggshells showing, panting a bit in the sunlight.  Did notice lots of bugs flying in the air in the space between the camera and Elke (I assume its Elke).  Depending on what they are, they could have been annoying the birds.  Peregrines get cranky with their mates, their nestbox (our birds would nibble), flies or whatever was stupid enough to hang out in the nestbox with a cranky peregrine.  I remember one year watching Princess snap after flies for days.  Have no idea if she caught any, but hopefully it was stress relieving!

[Elaine L]

The Sawatzkes' are looking somewhat restless today; perhaps a hatching is imminent?  I got a look at the eggs abit earlier, though, and I did not see any evidence of a hole or crack line.

[The Peregrine Chick]

These two are new here, but they work very well together; they are very attentive, and shift changes are accomplished quickly and easily.  They seem like such an experienced couple, it makes me wonder if it is possible that they arrived here together from another site, but I think this would be very odd.

Odd perhaps, or maybe not so odd, Dot has moved to downtown Minneapolis and there is no reason for her to have done that given how well she did at this site.  Losing a mate is part of the game, that's how you get successional patterns like the ones we have on our sites, even our unsuccessful sites. I've had males abandon their lady friends for other sites, but the ladies stayed behind even if it meant not nesting.  But then we had Cowboy and Kate - neither were known to have survived even though he was 10 then and she was 5, yet they arrived together here in Winnipeg and tried to nest.  They knew what they were doing, just not a great year to do it.  Mayhaps, Sawatzke & Elke come in later that Dad & Dot did and this year it was reversed (minus Dad) so Sawatzke & Elke were able to take advantage of the opportunity. Had Dad & Dot returned, S & E could have been given their eviction papers and we would be watching a different pair.  Hard to know.  But I will say that if both S & E look experienced, then chances are they have done this, at least once, before.  Birds may be good nesters at a young age, all the things we are watching right now, there is as much artform as instinct in it and inexperienced birds have the instincts but not the artform, that only comes with experience.

[Elaine L]

Tracy, there are 3 eggs here, and the second one was laid on Friday, April 27, so we should see chicks sometime between now and June 1, as you say.   These two are new here, but they work very well together; they are very attentive, and shift changes are accomplished quickly and easily.  They seem like such an experienced couple, it makes me wonder if it is possible that they arrived here together from another site, but I think this would be very odd.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Okay, since the middle egg was laid on April 27, incubation started about then. Therefore, ... plus 33 days approx.... means that hatching could start as early as... (thinks hard)... TOMORROW!

How many eggs do we have here?  If its 3, then the incubation date starts the 2nd egg was laid.  If 4 then the date the 3rd egg.  Second last egg is the penultimate egg and incubation generally begins when penultimate egg is laid.  Having said that, Princess and Jules both got down to business right on schedule.  Hurricane however did not.  Here there was a huge gap between egg 3 and egg 4 and Hurricane wasn't interested in incubating at all for a couple of days after egg 3 was laid.  Brandon incubation counts for me starts May 4th, 2 days after egg 3 and 2 days before egg 4. 

The rest of your calculations are fine - if 27th is penultimate egg lay date, then add 31 to 35 days to get the general range, so May 28th to June 1st is probably when hatching will probably start.  New pair correct?  Could take them a few days longer if they didn't get going on incubation as efficiently/effectively as they might have with more experience.  Best to watch the behaviour of the bird on the eggs, fewer shift changes and lots of spinning.

[dupre501]

Okay, since the middle egg was laid on April 27, incubation started about then. Therefore, ... plus 33 days approx.... means that hatching could start as early as... (thinks hard)... TOMORROW!

Of course it will probably be later, but...maybe...