Getting closer to the ledge

I’ve caught up!  Thanks so much for Arjen’s videos which filled in gaps on the weekend and yesterday.

The preferred diet over the last few days has been juvenile starlings and galahs (these are large pink and silver cockatoos).  Plus one eastern rosella.  These parrots are very common, fortunately.   The starlings are barely a snack, but good practice for plucking and self-feeding.  The galahs are such a good feed, the little ones usually fall into a huddle afterwards.

The sisters (Mell and Rubi) are usually the first to grab a prey, but little Vim got one ‘small lump’ (of undetermined origin) first, before it was promptly taken from him by one of his sisters.  Eventually he was able to grab a starling and was able to eat it all himself and he usually picks over the remains of the larger prey.   He has also been the boldest.  Whilst all chicks are getting very close to the ledge, he has been the first to (almost) stand on it.  His juvenile plumage is almost complete.

 

 

Here is a video of a family scene complete with the stepfather jumping over chicks and feathers flying everywhere.

20161110-legs-of-star-whole-family

This morning we had a possible visitor.  I assumed at first it was Xavier, but the bird landed awkwardly on the outer ledge, which was indication that it was unfamiliar with the site and did not have the confidence to come in.  There are a couple of stills and a MKV video.     I’ve put a picture of Xavier for comparison.

 

20161110-a-visitor-q

 

Let me know what you think.    I’ll be looking in most afternoons to measure our youngsters’ progress, on track so far, despite the odds.

Cilla