!!! Congratulations Canada Square – TWO hatchlings
May 14, 2014 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Marion Nash Reports:
Thanks to Northam Realty Advisors and Neil Armstrong for the care they show in hosting this nest.
I arrived just before noon and the first thing I saw were eggshells! I knew we had a hatchling. Haven was very restless on the scrape but I finally did see a beautiful white fluffy hatchling. Haven had spread herself over three eggs and the hatchling.
Every few minutes Haven checked underneath her and also shuffled feathers and position and thirty five minutes after I arrived she pulled a half eggshell out from under her body. Three *halves* now on view???? Possibly a second hatchling. Twenty minutes after that the fourth *half * eggshell appeared and then I knew we had two little ones.
I saw a tiny little rear end appear from under Haven’s chin and the baby proved its little system was working just fine! A short while later the new hatchling tumbled out from under Haven and landed in front of her. This baby was still damp and the down was all stuck to its body so I could see the pink skin. Haven eyed it and then ever so gently used her beak to nudge it back underneath her. It is amazing to see that huge, lethal, tearing weapon used in such an incredibly delicate way!
Later on Stormin flew in with a food parcel. There was much chupping and chatter with his arrival and Haven wasted no time in diving at him and grabbing the food! She flew off with it and Stormin was left standing there empty-beaked. I could clearly see the two little ones. The older one, which as Marion suggested, must have hatched yesterday after I left, was all fluffy and white and managing to stand just a tad better than the sibling. The new one, just an hour or so old, was struggling to keep its balance using its tiny little wings to help. Stormin approached the hatchlings and I am sure he had no idea what to make of them especially the new one. He came really close and peered at them. Haven then flew in again with the same food parcel. Stormin moved away and then eventually flew as Haven prepared to feed the one. She chupped and talked all the time and BOTH babies opened their mouths wide!! Remember the second one was just over an hour old but that instinct or response to the calls was there, hardwired.
Haven fed only the first one hatched and, at that, not a whole lot. Again that *lethal* beak was put into action in a most delicate way. Tearing a piece of food off the parcel and then ever so gently giving it to the baby. She did that a number of times. Tiny scraps of food were ingested by the youngster. Then Haven decided that was enough and she moved to the far end of the ledge where Stormin had stashed a starling before my arrival. Haven flew off with the remains of Stormin’s food parcel. Stormin returned, briefly, before Haven reappeared. It was whilst he was there that I heard the first hatchling *peeping*. I could also see the beak open and the body moving. Amazing at just one day old and all those actions have already kicked in! Haven placed herself over the two hatchlings and the two eggs and settled down over them. That is another thing: those large feet with huge grasping pointy talons moved over and around babies and eggs alike without doing any harm whatsoever!
Lyn
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