A pip! Hatching is happening....

On this rainy Saturday morning, it looks as if the first egg has started to hatch.  A pip appeared in an egg at about 10:40 AM.

Karen McCunney posted these screencaps on the Franklin Hawkaholic Facebook page of the formel seemingly aware that something is happening with one of her eggs.

Here's a close up posted by Larraine Campbell

And now at 12:30 PM, she is back in incubation mode.

An hour later, the tiercel returns, and as he and the formel switch over, we get another glimpse of the pipping egg, and how it has changed position since the view an hour ago.  This changeover is now so smooth and fast, one has to be very adept to do a good screencap - thanks to Marge Goodman,

This screen cap from Janette Benner has the tiercel carefully inspecting the situation

Last year, when the pipping began, John Blakeman sent us this very helpful commentary about the haggards' response when the eggs start to hatch:

John Blakeman comments:

"I think all of this [formel's restlessness] is a response to pipping sounds and perhaps even some very soft vocalizations from the eyasses yet in the egg.

Both haggards, when incubating, can feel the movements of the unhatched eyasses, very much as a human mother can feel the movements of her unborn baby.

I'm certain that this begins to turn on mothering behaviors; hence the increased activities. The formel realizes now that she's not just sitting on three inert white objects that feel good to have against her naked brood patch. Now, things are discernibly (but invisibly) happening down there.

With new sounds and tiny motions in the egg, a whole new set of behaviors is being prompted. Motherhood is a profound phenomenon, across all species. (We men pretty much don't get it, just inexplicably watch it.)

But as the formel knows and shows, things are starting to happen down there. We are all excited."

--John Blakeman