The "Post Prandial Stupor"

The first time I actually observed the face first flop that followed a full crop, was on May 20th when Pip was just two weeks old. It wasn't long after that that John Blakeman explained to us that the "face flop" was actually known as "Post Prandial Stupor" and this is an actual biological term!

Pip would flop down (sometimes, her crop was so full, she couldn't quite pull off her "face plant") and Violet would finally get some much needed "me" time -- which she used to continue to try to incubate the unhatched eggs.

Bobby was always such a good provider! He brought mice, voles, rats, squirrels and even the occasional squab!

Rain or shine, Violet was always there for her darling baby girl! Even in the midst of a "Post Prandial Stupor" when she was unable to crawl under Violet for protection from the rain, Violet was ever the vigilent, protective, and nurturing mother!

Once Pip fell into her Stupor/Slumber, Violet was finally able to get a little flight time away from the nest. However, while Violet was away, Bobby was always close by watching over Pip!

Who can ever forget the day when Bobby got mad and smashed a hole in Dudley #1? We all speculated that he was tired of Violet continuing to try to hatch the eggs ... but Pip took it as a sign that the eggs were there for her exclusive use ... as furniture!

At just over three weeks old, Pip was starting to look a little shabby with new flight feather growth ... but she was still our little darling girl! And she could still do those awesome face plants!

The bigger Pip got, the more Violet would take her naps standing up on the edge of the nest. We all dreaded the day when she would no longer sleep with Pip ...

Bobby was real good at getting rid of leftovers and scraps of unedible prey! He'd often carry it off and we would all try to guess who would get the leftovers dropped on their head! We all thought it was funny -- of course, we were watching it from a computer screen, so we knew it wouldn't be dropped on our heads!

It broke our hearts when Pip turned one month old because that, it seems, was her signal to begin taking her meals al-fresco, on the ledge, out of camera range. If she was still doing her "Post Prandial Stupor" act, we weren't able to see it ... of course, we were very glad that she didn't decide to do a face plant off the edge of the ledge ... but there were a few times that she actually had us worried!

But that's another part of the story!