Feeding the Squabs.

Well, we have two squabs in the nest. They hatched sometime in the morning of the 26th. Haven't seen much of them until today. Managed to get a video of them feeding. Full sound of the demanding squabs. If you watch it all the way through, you will see the two greedy beaks feeding. Enjoy.

Video Link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IVI5OBDhWmnrbpt3CS_XHZ1bH94bLAGY/view?usp=sharing

Update for Tuesday 23 June 2020

Not sure what's happening, but the squabs should have hatched by now. Ah, well, all seems to be in order in the nest. One thing I have noticed is that time on the eggs is shared between the male and female. They appear to do shifts. I have seen a change over at midday on two occasions. Here is a snap of the one of the pigeons on the nest at 0830 this morning. Standing by for the appearance of the first hungry mouth 

Video Link - Set Up

CCTV is up and running. It took a bit of setting up. I wanted to get as close as possible, without unduly upsetting the pigeons. I have set it up so that anyone can share the video link - see instructions below. 

Access

• To access, you will have to download the Reolink App.

• Open the APP and click on the plus "+" button and scan the QR Code below.

A couple of points to be aware of:

• Quite a good picture of the pigeons nesting, but the nest is not in the centre of the frame. It is to the left hand side. I had limited access, without frightening the birds, so that is as good as I can get for now.

• Once you have the picture on your phone, I suggest full horizontal screen mode. Simple to do. Then zoom in on the nest. 

• There are three viewing quality settings - fluent, balanced and 5MP (or high). I Suggest you use the high setting, which gives a very clear picture.

• Remember that you will be streaming, so watch the data.

• The live streaming is also quite heavy on battery usage, so be aware of that as well. 

The Beginning - The Wood Pigeons Set Up Home

I have no idea why this weird pair of wood pigeon elected to nest where they have. It is probably the very worst position. There are also crows and maples in the garden, which often perch on the roof, overlooking the nest site (See photo below). Given half a chance, they would steal a fresh pigeon egg or two. The nest is at head height, above the dividing wall between us and our neighbours, so humans are regularly moving round and about the nest. And of course squirrels have been known to visit, searching for food, such as a fresh egg.

There is plenty of information on the internet in reference to wood pigeons. The following link is for wikipedia, which is detailed enough. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_wood_pigeon

The nest was completed about 3 weeks ago. That was painful to watch. It seems that the nest construction is a joint effort between male and female. It was a case of the blind leading the blind. One or the other would arrive with a 'suitable' twig, firmly held in the beak. The next 10 minutes were spent, trying to weave the twig. In and out of the nest, turning and twisting the twig to different angles, until finally it fitted. They got there in the end. Not a pretty sight, but its home. The female must be happy with the build quality, and that's all that really matters. 

I have no idea when the egg(s) were actually laid, but I would guess that it is between 2 to 3 weeks ago, from today. Apparently the eggs hatch after 17 to 19 days, which means that hatching is imminent. Here's hoping. 

I am in the process of setting up a CCTV to allow video streaming in real time. I will advise soonest and hopefully be able to provide a link, for you to watch at you leisure.