Yesterday we climbed the tower again to attempt a cleaning of the viewing windows but we’re now faced with very alert and easily alarmed chicks who insist on backing out to the wooden ledge to argue the case when a white rubbery glove enters the box to wipe our view back again. It’s ‘heart in mouth’ stuff because they’re not ready yet for any flight but are now at the age where they’re happy to play on the ledge, often facing inwards and sometimes tripping over themselves or being hit in the head when one wants to attempt wing stretching or flapping. Their frustration is growing with each day of being confined to such a small space.
Within the day the viewing window has turned dark again!
There is a definite difference between the three chicks now; two are well advanced in their fledging (left and right in the photo) and are more likely to hang over the ledge than the third chick (middle) which still has a way to go on both counts. Possibly the difference between male and female, but hard to tell with limited video footage at the moment!
Maybe less than a week to go before first flights (aged 34 days and 32 days respectively now) …