As promised, I went back to check on the fairy tern juvenile that I had “rescued” and the second chick that I found and posted on previously (see post dated September 7th “Fairy Terns Progress”) during my last visit (11-13 Sept).
The juvenile was on its branch but gave rise to some concern as it does not seem to have progressed in the intervening week and was looking perhaps a little subdued. I was later reassured to note however that it does appear to have two adult birds in attendance.
The chick was looking good showing considerable growth over the last week and again displayed its crouching/hiding behaviour when I approached.
I subsequently found a new egg on a nearby tree and so will follow this also - hopefully through all the stages of its development to a successful fledging. The Fairy tern is an interesting species that makes no nest but rather lays its single egg directly onto a branch in a hollow or cleft and incubation takes about 3 weeks.
As recorded in my second post of Sunday 14th September, I recently found 3 separate instances of ground nesting White-tailed tropicbirds. This is a very exciting development in the recovery of the island following the eradication of rats in 2002. Tropicbirds incubate for approximately 6 weeks and fledge typically 10-12 weeks after hatching.
I assume that the three birds were incubating eggs and will now monitor these nests regularly and report back in the same vein and together with my reports on the fairy tern breeding attempts in a periodic post.
Check back regularly for updates on their progress and photographs of the chicks as they develop!
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