Aspro preparing for forthcoming fledging

With barely a week left in the eyrie Aspro has given us some amazing colour shots of feather and muscle development. This eyas is well fed and has two attentive parents. These pics were taken yesterday, while Beau and Swift were making a big noise around the tower and in the trees. Both parents will now be coercing the young one in to realising that the outside world is a marvellous place and that soon that’s the only place Aspro will find any food (the adults will eventually stop bringing food in to the eyrie and hence force fledging upon the reluctant chick). We’ll be watching closely as we don’t want a repeat of a few seasons ago when one of the chicks was leaning on the edge and by accident, it seems, slipped out and had no choice but to flap madly until the earth came up and reached its feet! It’s about 50 metres down, with a tiled roof below but a large grassy lawn just a bit further out. Apart from fledgling Snow, 2 years ago, who flew straight in to the campus carpark all flight apprentices have made it to the ground and/or the trees safely!