25 July 2023
Some hopeful signs . . .
For the past few days, the female has been sitting tight in the box – lying up against the back wall and apparently incubating. There was no sign of the egg “that had been left out in the cold”, and I couldn’t see if it, or any other eggs that she might have laid, were safely under her. Last night I waited for her to leave the nest and then popped up the ladder to check on the contents – three eggs grouped together where she had been lying.
Given the fact that the first egg was left uncovered for several days, it is highly unlikely to hatch, . . . and as for the other two? – we will only know if they are fertile in a month’s time.
By Geoff Lockwood