On this day two years ago, the six eggs which had been laid all hatched.

The first shell was seen at 12.30am and just under 12 hours later at noon the last chick to hatch did so without a parent in sight. It broke free and had to wait 10 minutes before the female arrived back to greet it and remove the shell. She had incubated them for 14 days.

It took 19 days from the last chick to hatch to fledging, and all fledged quickly within 10 minutes.

At this time last year the female was still incubating and the ten chicks didn't start to hatch until the 22nd May, which was aslo 14 days after incubation started.

They broke free over three days, with seven the first day, two the following day and the remaining ones on the 24th May. It took them 18 days to fledge, with the first going at 7.22am and the last at 5.07pm, nearly 10 hours later.

This year full time incubation started on 2nd May, so tomorrow is the 12th day and we wonder if they are nearely ready to break free.

The problem is, it's sometimes really difficult to ensure that the cameras catch all the action if they start popping out during the night.

We'll try and get it all on film ... and the next few days will tell.

The weather was not good this morning, and another 6mm of rain fell with continual dull and almost storm like conditions.

We had a slight panic at lunchtime when the sky flashed brightly and an enormous thunder clap went off directly above the house. We suffered a 10 minute power cut and when the computers and cameras had been switched back on, all we saw through the close view camera was this:

Thankfully after rebooting a few things and fiddling around it has come back to life ... not what we want to happen just before the big event!

There weren't any further outbreaks of thunder apart from one at 12.42pm, and it was interesting to see how the female reacted to the noise.

She was working away inside the nest cup, and did rather slow down for a second and look up as the bang went off above her :

What's that feather doing on the wall?

Noisy skies

Apart from the lunchtime distractions, the day has been ... well ... a male day really.

Maybe it was the weather, maybe it's because he sometimes thinks he's already a Dad, but the male has been in his element today ...

The Male and Food
After a little mini marathon first thing, he slowed up with the food deliveries.

It looked as if the female had popped out to do her own shopping, when he decided to deliver another food parcel ...

Looking more confused than ever, he checked inside and then out, watched himself in the glass wall reflection and offered the meal to the eggs several times:

The male has food ... any takers?.

Males Flap their Wings Too
This morning at 8.00am the male had yet another surprise for the camera - he decided to flap his wings.

He was on the side of the box with food, and the female was getting quite vocal, but momentarily he flapped his wings a few times in exactly the same way as she sometimes does.

Again this is something we haven't seen before, and 'usually' it is only a female which will display this type of behaviour.

... He really has been full of surprises this season!

The male is in a flap here.

Have they Hatched Yet?
It's been shown before, and it continues to happen ... infact today he probably did this far many more times than we saw.

He really does seem to be fixated about the eggs. He'll get the shock of his life when they do hatch and start to accept food from him!

An expectant and impatient father to be, visits the eggs.

Food for the Night
He might be a little short of brain cells sometimes, but when you need him he can do the right thing at times.

This evening he made a quick succession of feeds to keep her going for the night:

Four of his six feeds are here.

Cameras at the ready, and we all wait to see if anything cracks tomorrow, which is very unlikely ... but you know this pair!