After the saga of the Ealing Peregrines, I wrote last month, I promise to keep this article short(er)!
We couldn’t have a newsletter all about eggs without mentioning the egg-xtraordinary events happening on top of Ealing Hospital with our Dusty and Freddie.
From reforming their bond to the noisy courtship we heard on the webcam, Dusty and Freddie have again performed well as a breeding pair. This will be their third year of producing eggs at the same nest site and we hope it will be as successful.
True to form, Dusty laid her first egg on egg-xactly the same day as in 2023 on 18-Mar-24. Several people were on the webcam live to see the egg laid at 05:06! That’s dedication or obsession; you decide which.
She followed this just outside the 48-hour window, with egg number two at 10:04 on 20-Mar-24. Then again with egg number three on 22-Mar-24 at 19:12 when lots watched the laying live.
Then Dusty fooled us all, as she started to settle down to what we thought was the incubation period. But oh no, she surprised us with her final and fourth egg at 13:56 on 26-Mar-24.
Immediately after, full incubation started with Dusty doing the heavy lifting and Freddie giving her a break now and then; they make a great partnership.
Based on the date of 26-Mar, we can expect to see the first hatching in 28-32 days. It will start with pipping on the shell as the chick uses a specially designed “egg-tooth” on its beak to crack the shell.
So egg-xpect the first chicks on or soon after 23-Apr-24.
You too can watch the webcam live here to see the chicks‘ arrival.
See, I said the article would be shorter but no apologies for the egg-puns!
Emma Chard-Cumming
Past EWG Secretary (and still an obsessed Peregrine fan!)
