As twilight fell, the third egg had a visible crack so it looked very likely that the third eyass would be there by morning.
Throughout this exciting day, hawk cam watchers captured images from the Ustream feed and posted them on the Franklin Hawkaholic facebook page. I want to thank them for sharing these images so that non-facebook hawk fans can join in this amazing experience of watching the eggs hatch.
(A word of explanation about the three parallel white lines in many of the Ustream images - they are a reflection from the white screen that is behind the window that gives the hawks privacy from the activities inside the Board Room.)
True to form, T2 celebrated the arrival of his first eyass by bringing in greenery; not his usual spruce from the Barnes Museum but a large sprig of oak leaves.
Not long afterwards, he returned with food, but again he broke with habit and instead of a small vole, he brought in a squirrel.
This is a reassuring indication that he realizes he is now hunting for his expanding family which should number five hawks by Thursday. His ability to regularly deliver food in ever-increasing quantities will be essential for the survival of the eyasses.
As Mom ate, the newly hatched eyass looked up and we could see how strong and alert it already was, just a few hours out of its shell. The second egg was now showing signs of pipping.
T2 arrived to take the squirrel out of the nest, but Mom put her talon down, clearly not ready to see it removed.
As evening progressed, Mom sat serenely on the nest which was adorned with T2's latest offering - fresh maple leaves.
We could hardly contain our impatience for her to stand up so we could see what was happening with that second egg.
It was worth the wait! The second egg had broken open, and the eyass was half way out of the shell.
The diminishing squirrel carcass lay against the eyasses...
... and Mom leaned forward, dragged it over to where she was standing, and started to eat.
As she ate, more of the hatching eyass appeared out of the shell, and a pip on the third egg was clearly visible.
Mom then started to feed tiny morsels of squirrel to #1, while #2 rested.
Kevin Vaughan stopped by the nest after work, and caught T2 leaving with the remains of the squirrel.
Kevin Vaughan
Based on the clearly cracked third egg, Thursday morning should bring us a view of all three eyasses.
Pamela Raitt
Thank you again to so many hawk fans for these great screen captures.
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