(Photo copyright Robert Scott)
The two chicks were ringed yesterday at 33 and 31 days old and all went well. The female knew something was in the offing as she was unusually absent from the nest when the camera first came on (10am) but the weather was kind, being bright but not too hot or windy, and the chicks were at little risk.
The chicks were removed from the nest about 12:30pm and taken down to ground level to have their rings put on. They lay quite flat against the ground, which is their instinct on the nest when predators approach. However, unlike the nest they didn't quite camouflage in as well. Feathers were taken from the birds for analysis to determine sex and once we know the results I will let you know on here.
Once all the measurements were taken they were put back into the nest after about 40 minutes. The chicks immediately lay flat on the nest and after a while were seen to poke their heads up. The female stayed away until 4pm until she was sure all was well and when she did come in she was quickly followed by the male with a fish. She then fed her chicks while keeping an eye out to check that the humans had definitely gone home.
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