!!! Little Run-a-way!
May 18, 2009 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
As it’s a holiday today I decided to take what I thought would be a quick trip down to the site to check on our family and see how they fared with the unusually cold nights over the weeked.
I arrived at approximately 10:45 to find 3 very active eyases and just as I was about to settle in for a good look..one of them decided to jump out of the nestbox! She is on the side of the webcam and perhaps wanted to visit her dad who is sitting on top of the cam. At first she stuck right to the edge of the box and then as time passed she got bolder and decided to go towards the edge of the ledge..that was when I realized that this would be no quick visit!
Fortunately she didn’t venture too far off and no doubt a chup from mom cautioned her to turn around which she did. Then she decided that running towards dad might be fun but she didn’t get far before she tired out. So back she went to the side of the nestbox and promptly settled down for a nap. Most of the three hours was spent watching them nap and try to shelter themselves from the sun. Angel also spent quite a bit of time alternately shading them with her wings, preening them or giving them beak kisses - very affectionate mum for a bird of prey!
Tomorrow the eyases will be 3 weeks old and right on schedule I noticed, not only is their size quite impressive standing next to their mother, but I could clearly see what looks like to the eye like someone dipped the edges of their wing tips in black ink and black stripes on their bodies in between the down. This is the first sign that their flight feathers and body contour feathers are developing.
When I left them, all three were napping in the shade - 2 sprawled out in the nestbox and the other right beside the box with Angel watching over them. No doubt little Miss Run-a-Way will find her way home again once dinner arrives…!