Eggs on a wing and a prayer

A clutch of falcon eggs have narrowly escaped being crushed by falling boulders and were saved in a forestry site rescue.

Forestry workers from Woodlot Ltd alerted staff at the Marlborough Falcon Conservation Trust when they spotted a nest.

The almost hidden nest was discovered next to a road ready be filled in and the eggs would have certainly been destroyed.

A surrogate mother has been found for the eggs, which were laid by a chick released by the trust earlier this year.

Forestry worker Richard Marshall had been clearing a skid site at Benhopai Forest in Waihopai Valley when he spotted the falcon swooping. It then started dive bombing.

He said he cut the engines and went to investigate. ‘‘The only reason I found the nest was that I was 5 metres away from it.

‘‘We immediately backed off,’’ Marshall said.

‘‘People that work in the forestry industry are all conservation minded so it was an easy call to make.

‘‘The nest would definitely have been crushed so I’m really glad we were able to help and that all the eggs have live chicks in them.

‘‘It’s pretty special to be part of that and I hope that the mother lays more eggs,’’ he said.

Dash, a 7-year-old falcon living at the trust near Blenheim, was sitting on infertile eggs that would never hatch.

Falconer Diana Dobson said staff removed the eggs on Wednesday to replace them with the healthy clutch.

‘‘Dash is a wonderful mother and she would have just sat and sat until her eggs went bad.

‘‘They [Woodlot Ltd] were incredible contacting us about the problem. It was a big ask them putting work on hold but they didn’t hesitate,’’ Dobson said.

‘‘They sent us a photo of the female with a red band, so I knew it was one of ours.

‘‘She was amazing. She was so proud to show us her eggs and just watched us.

‘‘Earlier she’d been dive bombing but I think she recognised our voices and was a bit more mellow.’’

Dobson said while it was unusual for such a young bird to lay eggs she was hopeful the falcon, T39, would lay another clutch soon.

Trust staff faced an anxious wait until the embryos had developed enough to detect a heartbeat.

‘‘It’s a great outcome, the best news and we expect the chicks to arrive in November,’’ Dobson said.

‘‘T39 is a special bird, they’re all special but the fact she stayed so close to us is just wonderful.’’

The nest was virtually hidden from the outside world. Inset: The young falcon, T39, laid eggs in a nest that would have been destroyed if not for the actions of quick-thinking forestry workers.