So today I want to update you on the gannet chick I watched hatch and wrote about recently. As I write they are two weeks old!

Since chick has hatched, I have been visiting as often as I can. It's been really wonderful to track their progress, and to see the parent birds tending to their chick. And awesome to watch the speed of their growth and development. It has been such a deep privilege and joy to witness this little life unfold.

When gannet chicks (known as gugas!) first hatch they are tiny, naked and blind, with very little coordination, and no independent thermoregulation. The chick is brooded under its parent's body and is never left alone. It lies on top of the parent's webbed feet, and looks tiny in comparison. The parent birds seemed to make the transition from sitting on an egg to caring for the vulnerable chick with great tenderness, ease and assuredness - wonderful to witness. After two to three days the chick's eyes start to open, but they cannot yet hold their head steady.

When chick was very young, I had to wait patiently to get a glimpse of them. My impression was that they were sleeping much of the time. Sometimes I would suddenly hear faint cheeps from under the parent's body, signalling chick had woken. And then I got excited!

Feeding times have been a great highlight of my visits. I have needed to be lucky. Hours can go by between feeds, and unless the adult has been facing in my direction, my view of chick has been partially or totally obscured. But it's been fascinating. I think chick received their first feed on day one, though my restricted view make this difficult to confirm. But the parent's body movements are very distinctive. It may look alarming at first sight. To feed the chick in its first few days, the parent bends right down over the chick, opening their huge beak exceptionally wide and literally places it right over the chick's tiny body! At the same time the parent is regurgitating partially digested food into its gullet. And somehow the tiny chick is able to grab morsels from its parent's throat, and gulp them down before the parent moves their head away again.

In its first few days, the effort involved in feeding was so great that the chick would flop down exhausted immediately it had received such a feed, and sleep again for hours. Gradually, as the chick has grown, it has developed the ability to 'beg' by stretching its bill up to touch the parent's bill, while cheeping continuously. And at two weeks old I have seen it have as many as five consecutive feeds in a bout. Chick is much stronger now and seems to have mastered the art of begging and feeding!

And chick's looks are changing. A white fluffy down is now starting to cover its previously bare skin, and with this I have actually seen it starting to preen itself! And be groomed by the adult. And on my visit today for the first time I saw chick stretch their wings. And chick is now larger than the parent's feet. It's been really wondrous to witness chick's growth in such a short time.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

This week's self-kindness invitation is to take time to acknowledge and appreciate an achievement(s) of your own, of whatever kind. It could be anything. From trying a new recipe to finding more compassion for yourself in a difficult situation. Good luck.

Go well.

In warmth and kindness

Barbara