Update for Saturday, May 4, 2024
Overnight there were a few feeding sessions. The earlier one occurred at 12:18 AM. Ares pre-plucked that meal on his pillar perch above the nest box. Helpfully, he hopped inside the box to hand the food to Astrid which is an improvement over making her scramble across the crossperch to get it which always seems too precarious. Although we confirmed no intruders today. Ares seemed particularly intent on guarding the nest. He spent most of the day on the verandas or on his pillar perch keeping watch. Much to his pleasure, Astrid allowed him to brood the clutch today and even allowed him to handle a brief feeding session. Actually, the feeding consisted of him merely tearing off ridiculously small pieces off some scrap of food and giving it to the one chick that consented to open its bill and receive it. At one point, when Astrid came back to brood the nestlings in the afternoon, she neglected to pull the remaining egg underneath her. Considering that it was warm outside and the egg, if it is still viable, would contain a pre hatchling well enough developed to handle the ambient temperature. Regardless, after about 10 minutes she noticed it was uncovered and pulled it beneath her. Will that egg hatch? There may or may not be a pip in it. It’s very difficult to tell. We think it’s the fourth egg laid which would mean it still has some time to hatch if it is indeed viable.
