Apologies for delay in updates; several reasons for this, mostly to do with over-commitment, but not helped by my computer breaking down for 4 days. Anyway, after weekend, I have finally caught up and things are changing fast.
Aspro is being left along for much longer periods – including a mammoth 201 minutes on 7/11. Feeding times are getting shorter – and Aspro is starting to feed him/herself (especially when Beau brings the food) although Swift is obviously reluctant to let this role go yet! Aspro is also trying to shield its food from his/her parents.
Food is mainly juvenile starlings as far as I can tell – it’s still rather rare that a whole bird is brought in.
the top photo comes from 5 days ago, when Beau brought in the prey, which was then taken by Swift and fed to Aspro. the bottom photo is from this morning – quite a change. More tomorrow when I’ll have more time.
Thanks for the update, Cilla. It’s been a bumper morning for food so far – including a bird from Beau which Aspro sat and looked at for ages!