Lawrence Peregrines: Day 20!
May 24, 2019 in In the Nest Box, lawrence peregrines, Peregrine Falcons Eastern Massachusetts, Peregrine Falcons Massachusetts
The Peregrines started the day off under mostly sunny skies, wind from the west at 10MPH, and gusts up over 20MPH, and the temp at 63F. The day ahead calls for partly sunny skies, with a high near 68. Breezy, with a west wind 14 to 21 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 33 mph, so this means right into the nest box which continues to be lined with lots of feathers.Tonight calls for mostly cloudy skies, then gradually becoming clear, with a low around 48. Northeast wind 5 to 8 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Here are the chicks being fed again while in the back left corner. At 19 days of age, the chicks are roughly half the size of their parents, but their feet are already nearly full-grown, and thus appear disproportionately large. Also at this age, a small patch bare of down begins to appear behind the eyes. Around day 20, some yellow/beige becomes visible in the patch behind the eye, and a distinct dark edge to the wings becomes visible as the flight feathers continue to grow in length beneath the layer of down. The dark eye patch is becoming larger.
Literature cited:
Ratcliffe, D. 1993. The Peregrine Falcon. 2nd ed. Carlton, England: T. and A. D. Poyser.
The Canadian Peregrine Foundation, Peregrine Falcon Development – Age Guide; http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/info/ageguide.html