When Jeremy and JP conducted the latest Cahow check on Feb 23rd, they discovered that at least 3 chicks had already hatched in Nonsuch Translocation Colony A, with many more having started “pipping” their eggs from the inside which is the start of the 1 to 5 day hatching process.
Jeremy Madeiros: Last year only 2 chicks had hatched on Nonsuch by the end of February, and this year when everything seems to be starting sooner, we are on track for 6 to 8!
If all goes well, we also seem to be on track for a total of 18 to 20 chicks on Nonsuch this year, easily breaking last years record of 15, with similar success being seen in the other Cahow nesting islands in the wider Colony as well.
The Feb 23rd video starts with a health check of the CahowCam 2 burrow, where the very successful pair were amongst the latest to lay their egg this year on January 18th. This would put the expected hatching date to be around the 10th to the 14th of March, so be sure to continue to watch the LiveStream around that time. Unfortunately this year the egg in the CahowCam 1 burrow is infertile, however the parents will likely continue to try and incubate it for the next few weeks and their interaction are worth watching as well.
Skip to 17 minutes in the video to meet the first of the 3 newly hatched chicks that were found by Jeremy during the visit, whilst a video of the 3rd chick can be seen on Instagram.