2-25-2023 Slow In The Snow

On Saturday, Jackie sat on the nest for long hours, apparently napping, until the falling snow covered everything but the outline of her tail and beak. Jackie’s method for handling bad weather is to sleep through as much as possible. But, no worries…when she woke, she shook all that soft white stuff and, as always, her waterproof feathers kept her completely dry, even under her snowy roof. By the time Shadow flew in the back door a short time later, Jackie was almost completely covered again. Shadow waited patiently as Jackie spent the next 4 minutes staying put in her comfy spot and talking softly. Apparently taking a break in the middle of the storm is always a tough decision and she had to tell him all about it. She kept talking even as she got up and flew off the front porch, leaving Shadow to the nest-sitting. Jackie’s break wasn’t long enough for Shadow to get fully covered in snow or even have a nap. When she returned, still talking and twerpling, he tried to complain but seemed to have lost his voice in all the cold wind and weather. He stayed put as she talked her twerpling tales and circled around him. He did find enough of his voice to issue some small complaints. Then he simply watched from his cozy nest bowl position as she dug up a frozen fish and had a long lunch without offering him even a bite. Of course, Shadow knows better than to ask Jackie to share food during nesting season. When the fish was almost gone, Shadow got up and stood near Jackie, maybe hoping for a leftover morsel. But when none came, he left out the back door. And Jackie was back on nest duty. At least Shadow’s last shift of the day lasted long enough for him to nap and get more snow-covered. He woke to Jackie flying off the basement limb and circling around to the nest. He had to complain a little and refuse to get up for the principle of it. But when she moved in on him, he let her have her spot back. And she settled in for the night. . . It appears now that Jackie and Shadow’s eggs are not going to hatch this time. We cannot know exactly why—they could have not been fertilized, or could have stopped developing somewhere along the process for any of a variety of conditions and reasons. Without seeing what was going on inside the eggs during each step of the process, we have no way to know what happened. We will simply trust that nature knows best what it is doing and why. Jackie and Shadow are both still taking good care of the eggs. According to their history, they may continue to do that for up to a few weeks before they decide to give up on the eggs hatching. In the past, they have started taking longer and longer breaks without incubating the eggs. Shadow has historically taken longer than Jackie to give up and has shown more obvious concern about it. The eggs may be preyed upon by other birds, or be left to be buried into the nest. As always, we will patiently watch to see what happens from here. We will allow ourselves to be open, curious and learning from nature even through the sadness in our hearts. Sandy