Update for Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Just before 6:30 AM we could see that there was definitely a hole in a second egg. Sure enough. At 9:08 AM Astrid pulled a broken eggshell from underneath her. Twenty minutes later we saw the new hatchling for the first time but only a second as she promptly tucked it beneath her. It was still pink and wet. Ten minutes later it had dried out and fluffed up and was as pure white as the first chick. In the early afternoon, Astrid brought in some leftovers and conducted a feeding. The new nestling was seen to eat a small amount before toppling over. Ares got a few chances to babysit the chicks. As usual, before brooding them, he spent some time looking at them like they were from another planet. He understands eggs a lot better than he understands squirming babies. During one of the switches, we discerned what we believed to be holes in one of the other eggs. This has not been confirmed yet, but we believe we may have another pipped egg.
How do you distinguish between the new hatchlings? How do you tell which is which?
The first one to hatch is slightly larger – that may change soon depending on their growth rates and what genders they are – with falcons the females are generally larger than males