UPDATE Feb 27th @ 1:57 AM - Our chick has hatched!
Watch LIVEstream now: http://www.nonsuchisland.com/live-cahow-cam
CAHOW HATCHING ALERT!!! The hatching process for the Cahow chick in the CahowCam1 burrow is well underway!
Jeremy first observed dimples in the egg during his nest check on the 25th, then @2:32 am on the 26th JP observed the first pip when the parent took a quick break, briefly uncovered the egg.
During another reveal @ 3:24 am 3 pips were observed, which had then combined into a larger pip / hole by 4:12 am.
By 5:46 am the hole/ crack was even larger with peeps being heard from under the parent @ 5:51am, but most likely still from inside the egg.
It can sometimes take up to 48 hours from the first pip until the chick manages to fully emerge by chipping away to make a large enough hole, or by connecting a series of pips into cracks around the larger end of the egg so that it can then be pushed off.
At 12.16 pm, an energetic preening session revealed a still mostly intact egg.
At 8:30pm after several more reveals over the afternoon, the parent takes a break leaving the egg alone in the nest and the chick can be heard very clearly vocalizing from inside the egg.
At 9:12 pm the second parent returns and after a few minutes of vocalizing and preening its mate, takes over incubation and starts aggressively rearranging the nest.