Here is a brief report. I will add a little before I post.
I’ve just come down from observing the clutch.
Firstly, apart from a half an hour or so to feed, the female has attended the hatching-process from dawn to dusk on Thurs., Fri., Sat., and Sunday.
Secondly, the male remains exhausted; but he rises at intervals now, runs twenty yards or so to a bit of ‘green pick’ in the aisle, and briefly grazes. Then he hastens back to the clutch.
Next, the chicks alternate between modes. Either they all ‘burrow’ into the males’ feathers, and disappear from sight, or they sit in a group beside him.
I think the male is about to abandon the nest. Today is Sunday. I had the last look at the remaining eggs on Friday afternoon. There were four. At that time there were five chicks: four of B.E.’s, and Ring In. Now, there is the same number of chicks, but only two eggs. I don’t know if Ring In is still there. I can no longer distinguish him/her.
More importantly, two eggs are missing – indeed, all the pieces of broken shell are gone. There remain only the two whole eggs. Recall that the first three eggs hatched in an eight-hour-window on Thursday. At that time, Ring In had already been introduced a day before – so the male is ‘registering’ that at least one chick hasn’t eaten in five day – at least not substantially. I can see the chicks pecking and pecking. Are they thirsty?
There have been very few vocalisations, mostly from Greedy. The chicks and the male have been almost entirely silent. Felicity had a little stickbeak.
Okay, I’ll return to see whether the B.E. plus five is ‘final’ – that is, they are on the move after food and water, and the last two eggs have been abandoned.
Second Half: for about a day – though sloppy observations – it seemed that the male was torn between attending to the five chicks, and hoping the last two eggs would hatch. The male has now ‘hit the road’ with five chicks. Two eggs have been left. I hefted them: no ‘slop’ – what does that mean?
The nest is interesting: it’s just not a nest in the sense of which I think of one, that is, a ring of feathers etc. This ‘nest’ is a patch of flattened earth about six feet by three. I see that the ‘nest’ has moved as the bird has moved as the eggs have moved. The egg shells are gone -- ??
So, at first the chicks did the ‘dive into the curtain of feathers’ thing. Then they started doing that and sitting right by dad’s neck. Then they ranged as far as thirty feet away. Then finally, dad vocalised to them, and off they went as a unit.
I had a visitor, and I stopped observing; but I just saw B.E. with the chicks, silhouetted at the far end of a lane of gums just above the dam – did he take them for a drink?
Two chicks have disappeared: we had eight eggs plus Ring In. Possible total of nine. Two chicks have gone missing in the last twenty-four hours: there were five chicks visible and four eggs left. Then five chicks visible and two eggs left.
Felicity was still ‘in attendance’ until about two hours ago. She hasn’t turned up for her dinner this evening. So, in this particular case, the female has involved herself in the hatching-process. She must know they’re her chicks.
S.E.
I’ve just come down from observing the clutch.
Firstly, apart from a half an hour or so to feed, the female has attended the hatching-process from dawn to dusk on Thurs., Fri., Sat., and Sunday.
Secondly, the male remains exhausted; but he rises at intervals now, runs twenty yards or so to a bit of ‘green pick’ in the aisle, and briefly grazes. Then he hastens back to the clutch.
Next, the chicks alternate between modes. Either they all ‘burrow’ into the males’ feathers, and disappear from sight, or they sit in a group beside him.
I think the male is about to abandon the nest. Today is Sunday. I had the last look at the remaining eggs on Friday afternoon. There were four. At that time there were five chicks: four of B.E.’s, and Ring In. Now, there is the same number of chicks, but only two eggs. I don’t know if Ring In is still there. I can no longer distinguish him/her.
More importantly, two eggs are missing – indeed, all the pieces of broken shell are gone. There remain only the two whole eggs. Recall that the first three eggs hatched in an eight-hour-window on Thursday. At that time, Ring In had already been introduced a day before – so the male is ‘registering’ that at least one chick hasn’t eaten in five day – at least not substantially. I can see the chicks pecking and pecking. Are they thirsty?
There have been very few vocalisations, mostly from Greedy. The chicks and the male have been almost entirely silent. Felicity had a little stickbeak.
Okay, I’ll return to see whether the B.E. plus five is ‘final’ – that is, they are on the move after food and water, and the last two eggs have been abandoned.
Second Half: for about a day – though sloppy observations – it seemed that the male was torn between attending to the five chicks, and hoping the last two eggs would hatch. The male has now ‘hit the road’ with five chicks. Two eggs have been left. I hefted them: no ‘slop’ – what does that mean?
The nest is interesting: it’s just not a nest in the sense of which I think of one, that is, a ring of feathers etc. This ‘nest’ is a patch of flattened earth about six feet by three. I see that the ‘nest’ has moved as the bird has moved as the eggs have moved. The egg shells are gone -- ??
So, at first the chicks did the ‘dive into the curtain of feathers’ thing. Then they started doing that and sitting right by dad’s neck. Then they ranged as far as thirty feet away. Then finally, dad vocalised to them, and off they went as a unit.
I had a visitor, and I stopped observing; but I just saw B.E. with the chicks, silhouetted at the far end of a lane of gums just above the dam – did he take them for a drink?
Two chicks have disappeared: we had eight eggs plus Ring In. Possible total of nine. Two chicks have gone missing in the last twenty-four hours: there were five chicks visible and four eggs left. Then five chicks visible and two eggs left.
Felicity was still ‘in attendance’ until about two hours ago. She hasn’t turned up for her dinner this evening. So, in this particular case, the female has involved herself in the hatching-process. She must know they’re her chicks.
S.E.
