Two eggs have hatched!

At some point during last night, the first egg hatched and at daybreak, here was this exciting view of the first eyass (baby hawk) out of the egg with the half-shells on either side, and a clear pip and crack in the second egg.

         Screen cap - Carolyn Sutton


A little later as the sun came up, the eyass has moved away from its shel, and the second egg is well on the way to hatching.

         Screen cap - Scott Kemper

At about 10:45 AM, the formel stood up, and there was the second eyass pushing out of its shell with mom watching intently.

Here are some Youtube videos recorded by WillowOaksYorkies of both hatches.  Many thanks to Willow for capturing these exciting events from the Franklin Institute camera.

In this first video, when mom stands up we can see the newly hatched eyass, and the second egg starting to crack.  She settles back down at 1.44, then at about 4.25 she does what almost appears to be a somersault as she checks what's happening beneath her, and we can definitely see the second egg starting to crack open.

Now we can see the formel inspecting what's happening down below as the eyass waves its head from under the formel's chest.  At 1.55 she moves away a little and we can see a huge pip in the second egg.  An ad comes on at 3.14 and no more hawks.






In this video, both eyasses are moving actively and looking strong.  Mom returns at 3.20 and checks them out carefully and settles down.  Newly hatched eyasses do not need to be fed immediately.  They can go for up to 24 hours before needing the first feeding. 

The tiercel, wonderful and experienced dad that he is, checks in on his eyasses, and seems uncertain how to settle down onto them.

All together, this has been a marvelous morning with the Franklin Institute hawks as they once again demonstrate their superb parenting skills and experience.  Could there be a better start to the Earth Day weekend as we wait for #3 to arrive and complete the 2012 family.

Many thanks again to WillowOaksYorkies for the great videos.