Saturday 30 October

An early start for us this morning, and a quick head count before heading out for a run. All three chicks were on the balcony - two in the pot, and Teeny tucked away in its very own spacious owl box on the floor. I'm glad to see that this owl box is finally coming to good use - very clever, our Teeny!

Today is the day the shortlist of names comes out for our middle chick. Africam will have the link up sometime mid afternoon Central African Time. Please show you care about the chicks, and give them each a proper name. Chick 1 and chick 2 don't flatter their sweet personalities.

I've been asked by a few people whether the parents still feed the chicks when they are not in the nest - like Teeny now that is on the balcony floor. The answer is a definite yes. Both parents fly in with food, find each chick (if like last night they are in different areas) and feed them in turn.

Coming back from our run just now, I see Teeny has moved to behind the pot plant so he / she can get a good view of the garden below. The other two are enjoying the extra space in the pot plant, and stretching out and sleeping.

Another glorious sunny day here - we're heading out into the garden to enjoy it too.

PM - Explorer back again before the sun sets with Pot Plant Owl (Mom) in the far pot. She turns a blind eye to what I can only describe as a bit of "bad behaviour". As soon as she leaves, little Explorer feels he/ she is given license to have free reign and do what he/ she wants. Hop onto the balcony pillar, and then sit there with a smug look on face. "You can't stop me!"

Teeny explores every inch of the balcony floor, and seems neither distressed nor bored. It was Teeny who first discovered Allan's shoe lying near the owl box - tempting little Teeny to take a closer look.

Teeny thinks: "Hmm, looks like something I can eat. Let me try" as Teeny jumps on shoe and gnaws at it.
"No, maybe I can play with this thing" as Teeny stands on the shoe grabbing onto the leather strap with its teak.
Later on, when one of the other chicks came down to the balcony floor, Teeny very definitely conveyed "Get away from MY shoe!" as Teeny spread its wings over the shoe and snapped at its sibling. Really too cute to watch.

No.2 sitting in the pot was the last to be fed tonight, and we were all getting quite anxious about the feeding. Not that we don't trust that the parents will feed No.2 because they have proven time and time again what good parents they are. It was because the stress No.2 felt in seeing the others, especially Teeny, get lots of food, was palpable. There was a bit of cheering when No.2's anxiety subsided as it tucked into a sizeable bite.

Just after signing off from the chat room, our area had a power cut. While we have a GPS for the camera, we had no lights on the balcony to light it enough for streaming. Really sorry if this inconvenienced anyone, but this was out of our control. Next time, I'll stand there all night with a torch shining on the chicks, okay? Just kidding!