Thanks for all your updates, videos and alerts. As usual I’m struggling to keep up with you. I’ve been kept busy trying to record all the comings and goings and identify all the weird and wonderful lumps of food coming into the nest, including one with long red legs that I suspect is a water bird. Others have included the usual starlings and possible rosellas and pigeons. Very few whole birds, alas, making identification very difficult. I’m thinking of simply categorising by size, using some type of image enhancer that will help with measurements of the body (assuming I have that, at least!).
I’ve read various estimates of incubation, worldwide: 26-32 days, 28-33 days; Australia: average of 33 days. If we assume incubation started within a day of each egg being lain, as it did, then the first two took 35-36 days, which is already well beyond normal, but as Ingrid pointed out, it was the same as last year. Perhaps Australian birds are slower cookers. If no. 3 hatches tonight, it will be about the same time, assuming this egg was the last one lain (that was a little late, too). And if the worst comes to worst, two is better than one and certainly better than none.
It does seem as if both Xavier and Diamond are trying to help the chick out, but I’m not sure if I’m reading too much into this. Xavier was having a good peck! He could just be hungry….sorry!
VIDEO 20171004 X helping pip short
And then Diamond has a go.
VIDEO 20171004 Di rolls egg short
By chance they have the same position in the box, so it gives you a good idea of the size difference.
I also have a nice shot of the family.
VIDEO 20171003 X meets 2nd chick 
Scott is away for the next week or so. I am around all of October apart from two weekends in Sydney, including the coming one, that I can’t get out of and means I shall get even further behind. Thank goodness, at least the storage of video is working well at the moment. In fact, I can go back over a month if I need to.
I’ll need to go soon, so will hand over to the night shift. Diamond hasn’t let me see the egg with its large crack for an hour or so, but maybe you’ll have better luck.
And a final note: egg was just visible at 1948 h. Good night!
8:46PM .. a really cute moment when you could see how Diamond uses her feet to scoop and move the little ones around the nest. All this time I thought she was kicking them LOL
(and you can see the egg)
Thank you for the update, Cilla – I can’t tell the difference between Diamond and Xavier unless they stand nicely side by side, and I’m only half joking! 😉
I haven’t checked back over the past few hours, but recent events are…
“It took Diamond 5 mins to peck thru gravel along the back”
1.21s VIDEO 4x speed = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfl0kz7A9fY
.
Diamond poops on scrape again, and it doesn’t look good for egg #3″
38s VIDEO = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NwvaDjJRZ4
My links are still being moderated so I’ll repeat that last post with C&P videos.
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Thank you for the update, Cilla – I can’t tell the difference between Diamond and Xavier unless they stand nicely side by side, and I’m only half joking!
I haven’t checked back over the past few hours, but recent events are…
“It took Diamond 5 mins to peck thru gravel along the back”
1.21s VIDEO 4x speed = youtube.com/watch?v=qfl0kz7A9fY
.
Diamond poops on scrape again, and it doesn’t look good for egg #3″
38s VIDEO = youtube.com/watch?v=-NwvaDjJRZ4
Quite a lot of shuffling but not much egg exposure – here’s a shot showing a vague ‘cracky’ mark across the middle, but it may be fluff.
https://i.imgur.com/sqYIDEz.jpg
10:55:51PM a clear shot of the egg ..
I hope it’s happy news when I wake up. But it almost feels lost hope now.
I’m waiting for more clear shots of the egg, Deborah, particularly one that shows a change! None so far 🙁 Sleep well – I slept badly and shall have to have a nap soon.
Nest cam is down at the moment.
Latest on egg, hole showing but some views show an unmarked egg, so not much progress for the “vague cracky mark”.
https://i.imgur.com/0TB4Abi.png
Nest cam back up – maybe it was the hourly system reboot 🙂
I’m off-duty for a while, shall be recording, barring accidents.
Black feather nest …
https://screenshots.firefox.com/wKuEx3J99IHRMMxu/www.csu.edu.au
Just happened upon the morning feed – two babies… I haven’t been able to see where the egg is – (under a huge pile of Breakfast’s feathers???) Did anybody manage to get a glimpse of it this morning?
All good – just caught sight of it. It’s so weird – the crack seems so much bigger and there’s fluffy white poking out, and Diamond just keeps squishing it under her – but there seems to be none of the action that there was with #1. Come on, little bobblehead!
OH yes at 6:54am I’m sure I saw it moving (or is it hopeful wishing). No mistaking it’s a crack and hole now!
It’s a bit like last year .. waiting with baited breath.
oops .. BATED (I’m not a fan of fish for breakfast~)
I’m about to check for egg developments, I can’t imagine that the poor little critter has survived this long but what do I know?
I have nothing of the arrival of the huge pile of feathers, not on the ledge nor the nest. Dang dang shame!
Never mind, Cilla will come up trumps! That’s emotional blackmail 😉
Egg clearly visible at 0744 h. There was a lot of thrashing about over the last half hour, but to no avail.
There is quite a bit of white fluff visible in the egg crack….it’s now or never, perhaps. 0753 h. Unfortunately I have outdoor chores to do, but will check again when I get back in.
Try this, for picture of egg 3 (my first effort..)
https://screenshots.firefox.com/r1ElcqHdrMas5zI8/www.csu.edu.au
OMG, movement in the shell! That little critter is trying to get out. Come ON little bobblehead!!!!!!!
8:17am Xavier (I think) bumps egg with left overs. For minute or so after that you can actually see the white bump in the egg moving.
Good morning Sue!!
This looks hopeful. (I’m waiting for Xavier to feed it lol)
I don’t know WHY he gave up on feeding the eggs – clearly this egg is in need of a feed!!!
I thought I saw an actual head .. Wish Diamond would just help it out LOL
Xavier turns back up to wake the sleeping babes .. then takes off again.
https://screenshots.firefoxusercontent.com/images/6c453c48-563a-4c2e-bff5-56032ccd2738.png
Here is an egg duo snap from the time before last that it was exposed:
i.imgur.com/OK8Bpko.png
Here’s a live link to video of that occasion, freezes removed but rather overcooked 🙁
1m20s VIDEO = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMf4FmH1chw
At the moment I can’t see any movement from #3 but I’ll fine-tooth comb it after parent returns.
Oh yes, it just flapped its little wing 🙂
This is heartbreaking to watch! I’m heading out for a while, to take some deep breaths…..
I saw a bee fly by. I know people have questioned if it’s a fly or a wasp but it seems to fly in every day around 11am.
It was pretty clearly a bee (around 11:20AM for those looking for it on footage).
Was that Xavier around 11:24am? there was a dark shadow and Diamond sort of covered chicks and almost cowered. The shadow happened again (Ledge camera was way ahead so I missed it)
There was a prey-drop @ 11:15hr, Deborah, that’s the nearest event I have. Here is a slide-show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RcFOcj-WyM
.
(I think that!) Diamond just left and fetched prey from a stash, probably where she was taking it in the final snap of the slide-show?
I wonder if it could be breeze causing apparent movement? As Sue says, it’s heartbreaking to watch.
https://i.imgur.com/fbKDxvv.png
Sorry, just started new thread. I haven’t seen any actual movement and it’s very windy today.
Diamond bringing in prey:
https://i.imgur.com/O2Pgn48.png
She’s up and looking outwards (nest view)… but back to chicks.
I wondered about the wind blowing a feather stuck to the egg myself. Hope not.