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The Journal of Rfalconcam

Fifth Egg on Easter Eve

Mariah’s five eggs

Look carefully at the group of eggs– there are two on the right, one behind the other, for a total of five!

Mariah continues to surprise us all this year! Sometime around 4:00 PM today, she laid the fifth egg of 2007, about 67 hours after her previous one. Since she laid the first egg on March 26, they’ve come at intervals of 50, 106, 60 and 76 hours respectively– an average laying period of 73 hours, or about 20 hours more than her normal 54 hour intervals, so she has us all completely flummoxed this time around.

Here’s another shot…
Mariah with five eggs

Four eggs are lined up in front, with the fifth egg hidden behind the second one (counting from the left). Mariah’s breast and the eggs in front make it hard to see, but if you take a close look you can just make it out.

Mariah’s been incubating the eggs for the past five days. Usually, Peregrines begin incubating when the next to last, or penultimate egg is laid. They do this to ensure that all of the eggs will develop together, and hatch at more or less the same time. With the fifth egg being laid five days after the third, it’s likely that it will hatch after the others. That may put the last eyas at a bit of a disadvantage since its other siblings will be bigger and stronger, but there’s probably no need to worry about that. Mariah has had other “late” eggs in past years and even the smallest of her offspring usually end up being just fine. One of the major reasons for that is because Kaver has proven to be a very good provider, even for the large broods that Mariah seems to like. He’ll certainly be busy with five hungry eyases to feed (to say nothing of feeding himself and Mariah), but he’s an old hand at it, and an excellent hunter, so we’re confident that he can repeat his performance of years past.
Five eggs in the nest box

I suppose the question of a sixth egg is appropriate. Mariah laid six last year, so it’s possible, and with her newfound unpredictability it would be foolish to think she’s done even now. We’ll see in a few days whether she’s going to surprise us again.

-Jess

19 Responses to “Fifth Egg on Easter Eve”

  1. carol Says:

    Jess you must be happy you are able to tell all the news after each egg. Yes she is one of a kind (Mother) and a Easter present for all. Thanks Jess for your intresting up dates. The D & C reported 4 eggs yesterday, // and we have five .

  2. Martha Says:

    5 Eggs! Exciting News to wake to on Easter morning!

  3. Ryan Family Says:

    These are the eggs we like to wake up on Easter morning and find! Yeah for the big 5! Go falcons!!

  4. Audrery (London UK) Says:

    What stars Mariah & Kaver are!! No 5 was just the perfect Easter Egg. Thanks for the pictures Jess.

  5. George Says:

    Haven’t seen Kaver lately. Any sightings?

  6. Denise Says:

    I have been watching the falcons for years. I am so happy that the website/cameras are still up and running even though Kodak opted out. Is there are problem with the multi-view part of the website? I get nothing when I click on that part of the site. Anyone have any ideas? Let’s hope for six eggs!

  7. Sharon (NZ) Says:

    Five eggs – fantastic! My husband and I check in every day to see how these wonderful birds are doing.

  8. Margaret Says:

    Wow. I knew she was going to have at least 5! This is wonderful.. Can’t wait to see what she does next! That will be some brood to feed. This is the first website I check every morning.

  9. Stephany Says:

    Hi Jess, I’m happy to know now that Mariah has laid her 5th egg. I’m from Mrs. Andino class when vacation is done I’m going to tell her that if she has seen Mariah’s 5th egg. I hope that her incubation comes early

  10. Richard Says:

    How exciting! This is my third year watching these eyases. I am looking forward to it.

  11. Gian Says:

    I am in 4th grade and I wonder if her children from last year ever come back to visit?

  12. mary Says:

    5 eggs!!!!! this is wonderful. I have been a avid watcher for 5 years now and I look forward to watching this all winter long. When the eggs are laid this means to me its spring and I will be addicted to watching the birds all the time.

  13. Shawna Says:

    Jess,
    What has happened to the 5th egg? I was just watching Mariah (I think) and she just flew off of the eggs and I only see 4. Did she push the 5th away because it wasn’t viable?

  14. Susie Says:

    Does anyone know thw sites of others that keep us up to date on the kodak falcons? I remember “shaky” something posting pictures and blurbs but I no longer have that site. Does anyone have that information? I love the information and having more than one site to read is enjoyable.

  15. Terri Says:

    I was sad to see that there are only 4 eggs today. Looks like the loss may have happpened around 11:47 yesterday at “shift change” with Kaver to Mariah. I captured a picture from Camera 2 that looked like a broken egg. Hopefully the rest will survive to fledge.

  16. Tom Says:

    Gian,
    Falcons are very territorial and have short memories. If one of last years brood tries to come back, he or she will not be recognized and will be chased away by Mariah or Kaver in defense of their scrape and the eggs.

    Last year’s young will have to find their own neighborhood to play in.

  17. Shaun Says:

    Well, I think that Mariah noticed that the egg was a different color. Does’nt that mean they’re sick? She could of known that it would suffer and she tossed it down. Or, Mariah came flying in from getting food and did’nt see it. She might of ended up kicking it down on accident!

  18. Alison Says:

    Shaun, the color does not really indicate the viability of the egg. Both pale and dark eggs hatch, here and in other scrapes.

  19. SUE HAMILTON Says:

    I just want to say a big THANK YOU for this wonderful sight that I have enjoyed the past two years.


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