20 Dec A Secret Revealed

OK,  we owe you all a little confession…..

We recently posted a video of one of our Martial Eagles laying an egg.

What we have been keeping secret is the fact that the egg you sew was her 2nd of the year, the first having been laid on October 30th. This first egg was removed at 15 days of incubation. Historically, the first egg laid each year by this bird has been infertile. We gave the important early stages of incubation to the adults as if infertile, a minimum of 10 days incubation by the parents increases the hatch success of eggs finished in an incubator. Despite giving the benefit of the doubt, we expected the egg to be infertile. Around 4 weeks later, the pair produced the egg you saw being laid, but subsequently,  that first egg, despite expectations, has hatched tonight. Here is the moment that Africa’s largest species of Eagle says hello to the world. There is a long way to go. The adult male has already inadvertently lead to the death of a chick by failing to brood it. He would lie down beside the chick, but not brood. The chick didn’t make it despite our intervention and returning it to a brooder. His input will be critical in the chicks survival when it is returned to the parents.  That would normally be at perhaps 3 days old, but we’ll hold off a few more days until the chicken is a little more robust, thermo – regulating and when the forecast very cold and stormy weather has passed. Stay tuned for tense and exciting updates. 🙂