Incubation

We are in the doldrums of incubation and, thankfully, there isn't much to report. Both birds have taken their turn at incubating the eggs and below are a few screenshots of both of them on the eggs and some nest reliefs.

The male pops in on the ledge but the falcon didn't want to be relieved, he left 15 minutes later.

Having a snooze

The male arrives for an early evening shift, he was to leave at 9:53pm that day.

Check the difference in size between the female (above) and the male (below).

No, they don't spend their time looking at the camera, very little time in fact, but it makes for nicer shots.

The female has arrived to relieve the male who seemed reluctant to leave, often he's out like a shot before she's even landed...

Day 24, not too long to go now, the first chick should start to hatch within the week now.

No 4th egg

The estimated time for the 4th egg, Wednesday afternoon, came and went...

At 6pm on Wednesday.

A nest relief Friday lunchtime, still 3 eggs

Couldn't resist this 'looking at camera' shot...

It's a bit difficult to pinpoint the exact time incubation started as they sat on the eggs pretty much constantly almost as soon as the first one was laid but if we take the usual time of when the penultimate egg is laid, that would be Friday 15th. 29 to 32 days from then is Saturday 14th May to Thursday 17th for hatching.

Day 10, so far so good. Most of the boredom relief was provided by some rain and thunder on Saturday as the falcon looked quite puzzled by the noise on the roof of the nestbox.

The rest of the time, she reorganises the pebbles in that semi-circle you can see on her left.