09.00, Morning all, we've got Poppy incubating her three eggs at the moment, when she took over from Henry at 07.22 facing to right hand side of the box.
09.11, Change over, Henry comes in takes over from Poppy, shuffles about a bit, then makes himself comfy facing the back of the nest box.
09.14, Henry still not completely settled starts maneuvering his eggs so he can try to get comfy once again, settles now facing the right hand side of the box.
09.39 Henry shuffles a bit more, gave us a quick glimpse of an egg then settles back down facing the same way.
10.05, Another little shuffle and back down in the same position.
10.30, Somethings going on outside, going by Henry's behaviour, looking around and looking up into the sky.
10.33, Slight change of position, Henry now facing the back right hand corner of the nest box where he falls asleep.
10.55, Henry now awake and alert
11.00, Now handing over double shift Jan with Henry busy incubating.
The first two hours of this shift the Tiercel was incubating and was very settled for most of the time.
11.05 Tiercel shuffled briefly on the eggs and then was dozing until
11.14 Alert and watchful. Focused on some activity overhead.
11.29 Preened briefly then shuffled, bobbed and resettled.
11.45. Shuffled, bobbed then settled again
11.52 Shuffled, bobbed, settled
12.00 Unilateral hemispheric sleep
12.19 Preening and shuffling
12.25 Alert and watchful
12.28 Pecking gravel, shuffling then settled
13.06 Change over. After incubating for two minutes short of four hours the tiercel left the platform and the falcon took over, quickly settling on the eggs facing the rear of the box.
13.30 The falcon turned the eggs then changed position and settled in a brief spell of sunshine.
13.42 The falcon appeared disturbed, moved to the edge of the box calling then left the box.
13:43 Intruder alert! Male chases of an intruding Peregrine.
13.44 The tiercel returned to the eggs, shuffled, bobbed and settled on them but remained alert and watchful, focused on something happening beyond the platform.
13.49 The falcon is briefly visible on the front of the platform but quickly flies off.
14.00 The tiercel is disturbed by a fly and is still very alert.
14.05. Shuffle, bob, settle.
14.21 The fly returns!
14.22 Another brief spell of sunshine and he is dozing.
14.36 Pecking gravel, shuffling eggs, bobbing and changing position in another spell of sunshine.
14.43 Dozing
13:43 Falcon leaves eggs.
13:44 Tiercel arrives and sits on eggs. It is a good guide as to which bird takes over, as even with three eggs, the Tiercel struggles to cover them!
14:58 The Tiercel is sat over the eggs as I start this stint. For my benefit, he has a quick shuffle of the eggs, then settles back, facing East across the box.
15:04 The Tiercel is watching something outside the box, but not of too much concern at the moment.
15:12 The Tiercel is alert again, scanning the area outside the platform. He opens his beak wide in a gape.
15:15 Alert again, but gradually settles back to the half-asleep state.
15:24 At last, a little sun is evident , lighting the Tiercel just briefly. He rises up a little, re-positions the eggs, then turns to face more out of the platform before settling down again. Now facing South-East.
15:33 The Tiercel is alert again, looking around the roof area and up above, but again no real clue as to the cause.
15:40 Just able to see that he has both eyes closed for a moment.
15:51 Another shuffle, ending up facing due East again. This is followed by a few half-hearted pecks at stones. Next comes a short session of preening, then another shuffle over the eggs.
16:09 Another session of stone picking, which results in the Tiercel facing North-East, into the back corner of the platform.
16:20 The Tiercel is suddenly alert, and appears to be calling to the Falcon, although she is not visible in the inset view. He relaxes again after a few moments.
16:29 Time for re-arranging the eggs. The Tiercel really does struggle to get them all positioned to his satisfaction, but eventually he manages it, now facing East again.
16:34 Another adjustment, with a sort of rocking action that seems to be his method of settling on the eggs. He has a quick visit from a large fly! Perhaps that is the reason for the occasional moments of alert that we saw earlier.
16:45 The late afternoon sun is a little stronger now, lighting diagonally across the Tiercel. He was apparently dozing, but has woken up again. Power nap!
16:47 The Falcon arrives , and after a brief exchange of chirps, they swap places. The Tiercel leaves, and the Falcon settles on the eggs facing directly away from the camera, almost North.
17:00 The Falcon seems well settled as this session comes to an end. Interesting to note that her body seems to be giving little upward movements. Does this indicate that a fourth egg may be on its way? Answers on a postcard please, to the usual address!
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