It's always exciting at this time of year when the lapwing nests start to hatch out. Five of the nests have hatched so far, with more due to follow soon. The first picture below shows a typical egg following hatching, with the 'flat' end of the egg having been chipped away. The adults take the egg shells away from the nest, but tell tale small fragments are often left behind in the lining of the nest. The second picture shows a very recently hatched lapwing chick, still slightly wet from being in the egg and the egg 'tooth' is still visible on the end of it's bill. When a chick becomes too large to absorb oxygen through the pores of its eggshell, it uses its egg tooth to peck a hole in the air sac located at the flat end of the egg. This sac provides a few hours worth of air, during which the chick breaks through the eggshell to the outside. The egg tooth falls off several days after hatching.