Lawrence Peregrines: awaiting next egg?
April 11, 2018 in In the Nest Box, Peregrine Falcons Eastern Massachusetts, Peregrine Falcons Massachusetts
Up again just before 6AM, and observed the female out of the box, and 3 eggs nestled close to one another, under overcast skies, fog and mist, little wind, and temp at 34F. A dense fog advisory is in effect for a few more hours. The female will typically get and head out first thing in morning. Once full time incubation starts, the male will cover for her while she is out.
The forecast calls for patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 47. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
A 6:18 AM, the male arrives at the nest box, the female departs, and the male fidgets around, adjusting eggs a bit, and then departs after 7 minutes leaving the eggs unattended. This would suggest that full time incubation has not yet started. Full time incubation means one of the falcons will be on the eggs at all times except for a few short breaks, typically lasting no more than 2-3 minutes. The male was almost fumbling and bumbling with the eggs and seemed unsure on what to do….stay tuned!
The female returns at 6:36 AM and lands on the outer edge of the nest box. She moves around just a bit and then resumes her incubation posture. She will often make a number of micro adjustments before sitting still for a while. The eggs were left alone for almost 20 minutes.