The peregrines started Sunday morning under overcast skies, winds from SW at 10MPH and temp at 67F. The forecast calls for showers and thunderstorms before 2pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 2pm and 3pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. High near 78. Southwest wind around 10 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

At one week of age, the chicks have already grown considerably relative to the size of the eggs they emerged from.  They are covered with fine white down, and in some places the pink skin still shows through (e.g. the crop, full of food in this photo).  On the day of hatching, and for several days after, peregrine chicks respond to creaking calls of an adult by raising their heads, opening and closing their beaks and giving faint “treble whine” begging calls in reply. Alarm calling from the adults usually puts a damper on the nestlings. The eyes of a newly hatched chick are closed and until about 4 days of age they remain either half open, or bleary and unseeing.

Between 4 and 8 days of age a nestling begins to distinguish and react by sight to an adult in the nest box. Very young chicks spend most of their time dozing and sleeping, and huddle closely together in a white, fuzzball, single bunch. An uncovered nestling will vocalize with an call intermediate between a “treble whine” and “chitter.” Young chicks will often look out from beneath the brooding adult. DR