It’s closing in on 30 days since the first egg was laid on April 1st. Incubation has continued round the clock since April 5th. Hatching of all viable eggs are expected to take place sometime between May 6th and 13th. The first sign that a hatch is imminent is when an egg becomes “pipped”. A small whitish spot or a “pip” appearing on an egg means that the chick inside is beginning to break out. The time between the appearance of a pip and a hatch ranges widely, but last year the first pip preceded the first hatch by only a matter of hours. Seeing a pip spot on an egg can be difficult, especially if the eggs are only visible for brief moments when the parents relieve each other of incubation duties. Hopefully, we will see a pip soon after it appears and we will be able to alert everyone that a hatch is about to happen. Keep watching the video feed and look for our alerts on Facebook and on this website.
Today we had a bit of excitement when an intruder came into the territory and both Peregrines came out to defend the site. Fortunately, the eggs were left alone for only about a minute, which couldn’t be considered a significant lapse in incubation. Look below for a link to the video of today’s action. Watch carefully and you’ll see the falcons fly by the nest box a few times before Astrid finally returns and resumes incubation.
Won’t be long!