It was some
days before we managed to see what she was sitting on (when she was taking the
rubbish out?) Seven nicely formed eggs.
And some support from a mate, with morsels of food.
For two weeks she has been busy all day and most of the night rearranging the nest and 'turning the eggs' (is this really what they do?) never leaving for more than a few minutes. Then on Saturday, early in morning...
... she disappeared for a couple of hours and came back with some new nesting material. And at 8 o'clock she vanished for the rest of the day - not reappearing until 7 that evening.This has happened for the last three days.
The first day the eggs were well covered |
and today (Monday) not very well at all. |
yesterday (Sunday) less well, |
Have the eggs passed their sell-by date and been abandoned? Have the parents started a new day-time home somewhere else?
It is impossible for me to be sure this is the same bird that is returning in the evening. Could this be another starting up a new nest on top of the old eggs?
Any clues welcome! (you can watch the unfolding story here box #1).
Update..................
Tuesday the eggs look quite exposed (cold and rainy all day) |
From 6pm Tues until 5:20 am Wed |
A brief spell at 7:30 and 8:00am Wed to extra nesting material to (partly) cover up |