Part 5. First days out of cliff nest
What a world it must be! After their first 40 days in the safe confines of their nest they take a short flight....or drop....or run depending on their readiness and a whole new world opens itself to their explorations.
Flying doesn't really start when they leave the nest. It is the same for many birds; they leave the nest but are still mostly grounded. They begin this new chapter of their lives by exploring a small area around them. That exploration slowly increases and begins to include short hop-flights and jump-flights. Each short flight is just enough to get them to a new level or new area on the cliff.
Dee and BJ encourage the explorations by delivering food to new areas. Once one fledglings goes to the food that also entices the others.
BJ and Dee would perch high above them and were extremely sensitive to any large birds. Occasionally one parent would take flight a do some low U-shaped dives above them. Food was delivered and seems to be still be mostly prepped but in quite large pieces. They are not fed but did not have to do much more than tear into it.
After several days they began to do short flights that were focused on taking off and landing and having some control while in flight. There were clumsy landings, upside-down landings as they discovered limbs, slippery rocks and ledges that were too small and narrow. But there is no hurry and they are in a safe place so they can take their time learning.
They stay fairly close to each other and there are many interactions between them. While one comes in for a landing another may turn her head upside-down and watch it from this new angle. I don't recall ever seeing any of these three squabble over anything. From hatch to fledge food has been so plentiful that there was no need for fights over food....but a short game of tug-of-war can be fun.
Above photo: Stopping to watch a butterfly
Often two would watch while the 3rd ate. It was all about watching and learning from each other. In this next set of photos BJ brought in food which was given to D8. BJ watched carefully as D8 took the food to a quiet spot to eat. Prey is never wasted and is recovered if dropped.
This new location has seemed ideal as it has met the needs of the parents, the eggs, the newly hatched and the now the newly fledged. There is plenty of room for each new activity and exploration.
It continues to be fun to watch as each personality reveals itself. Two are noisy and one is quiet. D8 continues to be a very active explorer but coordination seems to get her in trouble. However, that coordination quickly came together and it is now fun, rather than scary, to watch her explore on land and in air. D7 is the quiet one....I guess it's the middle child thing. D6 is the strongest and most coordinated and usually the first to try something new.
A few more...
Next blog: It's all about being upside-down