Today's blog is brought to you by the following amazing volunteers - Graham, Andrew and Peter
09.00 Morning All, Start of another blog with Poppy in attendance and thanks to John in Cromer Henry is perched on the S/E pinnacle.
09.16 Poppy up on her legs strides of the edge of the nest box, has a quick look around and then departs leaving the chicks home alone.
09.20, Henry arrives to look after his young one. Laying beside her.
09.34 Poppy arrives, Henry soon leaves, leaving her to care for her one and only chick.
0946 In comes Henry with prey, Poppy snatches it away from him shortly followed by the chick snatching away from her, Poppy soon gets it back and starts feeding feed her cheeky little one.
09.50 End of feed, Poppy makes herself comfy facing East.
10.30 All quiet with Poppy still in attendance.
10.43 In comes Henry with prey, once Poppy takes from him strolls over to the and starts feeding her.
10.46 Poppy finishes feeding and departs with the remains of the prey.
10.52 In comes Poppy once again, snuggles up to her little one in the back left hand corner.
13.00 Poppy in nest box, standing over (now much bigger) chick. Egg is visible to the right, uncovered.
13.03 Chick asleep. Poppy also dozing.
13.11 Poppy now calling.
13.13 Chick is up and calling, then lays back down.
13.16 Chick awake and looking around.
13.17 Poppy shuffling about.
13.26 Poppy having a preen.
13.27 Chick gets up and defecates. Can see some black on the back edges of its wings.
13.34 Poppy having a good preen and cleaning her talons.
13.49 Chick has a stretch. Poppy still upright with egg hidden by tail.
14.00 Poppy again preening and cleaning talons.
14.01 Poppy and chick now both up and alert. Poppy moves towards edge of nest box, obscuring chick.
14.06 Flashes of movement past camera. Poppy leaves and Henry comes in, and he and his chick seem to start chatting.
14.09 Chick move in close to Dad and starts preening. Really looks like a parent/chick bonding session. Looks quite sweet.
14.14 Henry comes to edge of nest box and flies off, leaving chick unattended.
14.16 Chick stretches wings and totters about. Then sits down, bobbing head a lot.
14.17 Chick pecks at gravel and totters about again, flailing wings, as if trying to maintain balance before sitting back down. Like a toddler learning to walk I suppose.
14.19 Chick remains sittin at left hand edge of nest box.
14.20 Poppy back in box and standing over egg.
14.22 Poppy settle down on egg. Chick doesn’t move from its position.
14.23 Chick seems to be trying to elbow its way underneath Mum, but is now just a bit too big to fit.
14.40 Poppy settled with rear half of chick poking out. Egg partially visible as well.
14.50 Poppy now more upright with more of the chick visible. Egg now completely visible. Suddenly they both stand and Poppy flies off.
14.54 Chick has a fidget round and a good preen. It’s amazing how far round they can turn their head.
14.56 Henry back in box and seems to be shuffling egg around, with chick close at hand.
15:00 The Tiercel continues his vigil with the chick and egg both tucked in front of him. The blustery breeze is ruffling his feathers, as well as lifting other loose ones from the floor of the platform.
15:03 The Falcon arrives, but not with food. The Tiercel leaves, and then a few moments later, so does the Falcon, leaving the chick sprawled partially in the sun beside the egg. The chick’s beak is moving, so it may be calling, or perhaps just panting a little in the warm sun.
15:06 The chick has settled off to sleep, then the Tiercel returns, again without food, which the chick can be seen calling its disappointment!
15:11 Having stood for a few minutes, the Tiercel settles a little over the egg, so that he is in a half-crouched position. He doesn’t cover it completely, so it remains in the sun next to the chick. The chick is not covered, and raises its head half-awake to deal with an itch on its back, before collapsing again.
15:16 The chick repeats the itch manoeuvre a couple more times, then rouses up to try and get under Dad’s right wing. It ends up standing close by him again.
15:20 The chick stands, wobbles round, raises its tail and ejects a white stream into the corner. As if that was too much effort, it collapses back on the gravel beside the egg.
15:22 The chick gets up again and tries to burrow head first under the Tiercel, but of course now a large part of its body is still sticking out! The Tiercel accepts this without doing anything to correct the situation.
15:26 A report from a fellow WhatsApp observer that there was a failed food pass at around 3pm. The food fell onto the roof of the church, so whether it will be retrieved is unknown.
15:31 The Tiercel tries again to cover the chick, but only partially succeeds. Quite blustery up there today.
15:39 The chick emerges from under the Tiercel, stands briefly, then snuggles down again.
15:43 The Tiercel looks round with one eye shut!
15:52 The Tiercel has another little shuffle to cover the chick, but makes no real difference. The sun blazing in makes the egg look almost golden. The Tiercel yawns!
15:55 Still watching with his right eye closed.
15:58 The Tiercel disentangles himself from the chick and leaves it in the sun. The chick jiffles about a little, but remains flat on the gravel.
16:02 The chick stands up and looks around, resting its left foot on the egg. It begins gaping its beak several times, and a blob of material is regurgitated. It then immediately begins some preening activity. The shadows of emerging feathers can just be seen on the wings.
16:05 The Tiercel returns, again without food. He stands beside the chick, who leans on his sunny side, and appears to yawn, before picking at its feet, the Tiercel’s feathers, and its own fluff.
16:08 The Tiercel looks round sharply, then moves to the front of the platform. Then takes off after a moment or two. The Falcon arrives with food, which the chick is very happy to accept! There are yellowish feathers on the prey.
16:12 As the feeding proceeds, there are moments when the chick backs away from the offered food. Perhaps this is to allow its latest mouthful to go down. It also shows signs of wanting to help itself when the Falcon is eating a piece herself.
16:16 The chick appears to have had enough, as it shuffles away. The Falcon manages to give it another piece, but then takes the prey and disappears off camera to the left of view. The chick now has a bulging crop which makes it a little top-heavy as it scratches at its beak. Then it turns away and goes to stand at the back of the platform. It stands directly behind the egg for a moment, then shuffles and wobbles its way forward into the sunshine. It gives its wings a shake.
16:20 The Tiercel returns and settles behind the egg, so the chick moves alongside him on his left, but does not try to burrow under his wing. The Tiercel turns to face the chick, and shuffles closer to give it some cover.
16:23 Once again the Tiercel tries to provide some cover for the chick, but this is proving increasingly difficult as the chick is rapidly overhauling him for size. Eventually the chick does put its head under the Tiercel, with its rear end sticking out.
16:32 The Tiercel’s right eye closes from time to time, and his feathers are buffeted by the gusty wind.
16:44 The Tiercel takes the opportunity to do some preening, paying particular attention to his tail feathers. Then he moves on to his neck, that most awkward of spots. He bends over the chick, which makes the chick twitch as he moves to preen his other side.
16:49 Time for a change of position. The Tiercel backs round to leave the chick laying by itself on the gravel. He inspects the egg for several seconds, then resumes preening, first on his right wing then his breast feathers.
16:52 The Tiercel looks intently at the egg again, then gently shuffles it back under him. He stops with it at his feet. Neither parent now seems to bother with trying to incubate the egg, but they still have that instinct.
16:57 The Tiercel looks briefly skyward, but remains standing facing the afternoon sun.
17:00 This session ends with the Tiercel watching over the chick, which is sprawled asleep on the gravel after a feed about 45 minutes ago.