30 November 2022
Ten days old!
There was no sign of food in the nest yesterday evening, but the male was calling regularly from the corner of the tower parapet above the box through the night and hopefully delivered some food.
This morning when I climbed over to check on the chick, I could hear it giving wheezy begging calls, and when the female left the box and flew down to the Tea Garden the chick was sitting upright balancing on its tarsi. It even clicked its bill at me a few times – impressive behavioural development for a chick that is only 10 days old!
There was again no sign of food remains but the fact that only 1 of the 5 eggs laid by the female has hatched means that the only chick seems to be still feeding- and growing well.
The two chicks from the first brood are now both missing – the first for the past week, and the second since Monday. The timing is concerning – (did they move off because the male was only feeding the new chick), but hopefully they are now skilled enough, and there is enough food out in the park for them to survive.
By Geoff Lockwood