ICICI Looks Like a Hatch!!!
May 14, 2013 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
For the past week, Bruce Massey and I have been watching closely at ICICI for the promise of a hatch this year and we believe that one has occurred. Last week we watched, for the most part, Chester being the only bird of the pair visible and it would seem that his unbanded lady was doing all of the egg duty. During his time out and about, Chester started to hunt more often as the week progressed and set up caches on all of the ledges of ICICI as well as several of the DeBeers ledges. On Sunday May 12th, Bruce witnessed a distinct change in behaviour as Chester opted to sit on the wall directly above the nest and didn’t move much. He kept a watchful eye on activity below and we believe that this was their first hatch on Mother’s Day. Yesterday, Bruce spent several hours watching the ledge for the telltale signs of a hatch and was not disappointed. Chester arrived with food around 3pm and it was taken by the female, into the ledge for a few minutes and then removed from the nest ledge and stored. I arrived at around 5pm and took over watching for another few hours to continue to look for changes in behaviour by the adults. Chester flew several forays around the building and each time jetted over the ledge to check up on his lady. At 7pm he finally couldn’t stand the suspense any longer; he grabbed a cache and flew to the ledge. The pair argued quite loudly for a few minutes as Chester most likely attempted to stuff the kids with food and his female sent him packing. NOT YET she said!! Chester flew off with cache in talons and around to the west side of the building where he ate it himself. He made a second attempt to enter the ledge, this time without food, to give his female a break and again they argued. Chester is young and will soon learn that at this stage the female is in charge!! We were informed by one of the staff at ICICI that there are four eggs up on that ledge and if hatching began on Sunday, there are still chicks emerging and Chester will just have to wait until she is ready to take a break.
Congratulations to ICICI on what we believe to be a recent hatch at the site. We will certainly be working to confirm this sometime this week and keep you informed on their progress.
Remember that the Fledge Watch will begin in approximately 37 days so mark your calendars!! We will certainly keep you informed of the formal start date of the watch and if you can join us for some time, we absolutely would love to hear from you at raptor4@peregrine-foundation.ca
