Hungarian Saker Falcons.

[melv16]

https://www.mavir.hu/web/mavir/feszekmegfigyeles

The camera is back online...yaayyy. 

[melv16]

New blog.

The newly paired gerbils didn't stay idle for long.

 

The young hen had already prepared for the nesting the previous week, i.e. she deepened the nesting hole in the gravel bed so that the eggs would be safer during incubation, and then she began incubating (you can see the hen standing in the nesting hole in the picture).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the following pictures, we can follow the events taking place in the nest in chronological order: first we see the hen incubating, and then later when she lays the eggs.

 

While life is going on in the nest box, the experts managed to identify the breeding pair. It seems that unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Csenge. A new female arrived in her place, who does not have rings, so we cannot identify her. It is certain that a younger female paired with Hunor, based on the pattern of her feathers. While a new female arrived in the nest, the male remained in the nest he occupied.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The male's job is to provide the prey after mating. During the day, Hunor appears several times with the prey, which he shares with the female. In the picture below, he brought a starling to his mate, as rodents and small mammals are still hibernating, so they have to make do with smaller birds.

 

We were part of a truly special Women's Day, as on March 8th at 8:54 a.m. the hen presented the nest with her first egg. It is expected that the nest will grow by 2-3 eggs within a few days, and the eggs will be warmed in turns.

 

 

[melv16]

2 eggs uncovered 😟

[Hazlinny]

Are they safe like that?

[melv16]

Latest blog.

Events in the nest have accelerated, and our birdwatchers have witnessed exciting moments in the past few days: while in the first half of the week two eggs could already be seen in the nesting box (03.10. 15:13), a third one appeared yesterday (03.12. 11:06). It is conceivable that by the time this post is published, the number of eggs will have increased further, as the shrike usually lays 3-4 eggs, but five eggs are not uncommon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several interested questions were received, stating that not only Csenge, but also Hunor, the male grebe, did not return, as the male grebe currently breeding has a yellower beak and a different pattern of feathers. According to the experts participating in the observation, even if the male grebe has lost his mate, he usually continues to occupy the nest until he mates with another female. In this case, this is also likely to have happened, and the chance that both birds died is small.

 

By the way, the male grebes have a yellower beak than the female, but this also depends on the food intake. The color and pattern of their plumage can change, given that they molt annually, so their plumage is also renewed - nevertheless, the assumption cannot be ruled out. If the ring identifier of the current male grebes could be read, we could gain complete certainty, but this would require capturing the bird, which would jeopardize its success during the breeding season

[melv16]

4 eggs. 

[ladybirder]

Wow.  Doing well.  I hope it's warmer there than here.

[melv16]

New blog.

 March 14, at 6:19 p.m., our observers noticed the fourth and then the fifth merganser egg in the brood box after 10 a.m. on the 17th. This has not been the case in the past five years; Csenge, the aging hen, usually incubates three eggs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to experts, similarly to other falcon species, intensive incubation begins after three eggs in the case of the peregrine falcon. This natural instinct has developed because if they incubate continuously from the first egg, the chicks hatch in the order of their arrival. Thus, the first chick is much more viable, will be larger than the last, and will take the prey from the smaller ones. To avoid such a sharp difference, from the moment the female begins incubation, the first three chicks hatch at about the same time. The temperature of the eggs must be kept at more than 37 °C in order for the hatching to be successful. When the female eats or flies a few circles to exercise her muscles, the male – whose job is to catch prey – takes over the nest and sits on the eggs. The eggs will not be left alone for more than 20-30 minutes, and this short interval does not cause any problems in the hatching. The likelihood of a sixth egg being added to the clutch is slim, although there has been precedent for this before.

 

We would like to thank our active observers for the pictures and news about the life of the nest. We continue to welcome interesting observations at [e-mail] .

[melv16]

Both on show.