The month of May - where did April go?

This is the month everyone has been waiting for and whether or not she has finished laying the eggs, incubation has started and will take approximately 12 - 14 days. The eggs will hopefully hatch and we might see the chicks fledge by the end of the month.

Nest Watch has been lucky over the past two years with no fatalities - but be warned, things can go wrong, so fingers crossed.

Egg labour it would appear is certainly becoming more natural for her, and after what appeared to be a real speedy one yesterday, today was a little longer at around 6 minutes.

Again she was low down in the cup, so the side camera didn't get a great view, but what struck us today was the fact that she freely moved around the nest cup during her clicking cycle. The first click was heard at 5.25am and it appeared to be all over by 5.32am:

This video shows the last 2 minutes of labour and a short while after the event. It starts when she has stopped clicking and is moving around in the nest cup, only to start again and complete the job. It's almost as if she's multitasking now and can arrange the sides of the nest while she produces another egg. Towards the end you can hear the male in the background, food was not far off.

In fact it took him 11 minutes before he brought breakfast, and again he got into the mood and made several deliveries over the next 15 minutes:

She rested a little more with head under wing and left for her day at 6.09am:

At one point she left her nest part exposed and gave a tantalising view of what should be 6 eggs:

It's still not easy to make them out is it?

The morning was much the same as previous days recently. The odd delivery was made, she checked her eggs and the male looked confused when he stuck his head inside:

Of course the male did get it right on the odd occasion that he found her in, even if he did have to wiggle backwards somewhat to retreat back into the garden:

Apart from further lining her nest, she did a lot of hole pecking this morning, and minute upon minute at various times was spent halfway through the hole:

And then, just like yesterday at 1.06pm she entered the box without anything in her beak and settled into the nest cup.

The male fed her a few times and she looked nice and comfortable:

Once more we thought that she was beginning her incubation, but it wasn't to be ... just yet.

At 1.44pm she lifted herself out and gave the best view yet of 6 eggs:

Two feeds and her revealing the eggs can be seen here.

In fact she left the box without covering them up, and they remained exposed for an hour and ten minutes until she arrived back inside at 2.54pm. A quick check, back into the cup and in came the male with food:

Now there have been a few things this season on Nest Watch which have been firsts for us, and it always involves the male.

The two things which have stood out most so far must be him removing nesting material (which he only did once) and of course his numerous nesting shuffles (which males really don't do).

Well ... he's done it again ...

Just three minutes before the female came back into the box, he was offering food to an empty nest. Not quite believing that it was empty, he hopped inside and started to dangle the food over the eggs, getting a feather stuck to it in the process.

As far as we are aware, this is the first time he has seen any eggs this season:

He continued to dangle the food over the nest cup, and it really looked like he was trying to feed his as yet, unborn offspring. Obviously there were no takers, so he ate it.

That's OK, you can't let a good meal go to waste, but it was the next part which really surprised us ... he gently stooped down and touched one of them (picking up another feather in the process):

Amazing, did he think the chicks had hatched?

He's very chirpy, and very unpredictable - here is the male trying to feed the eggs ...

So the next phase of their story may be upon us, and whilst she hasn't spent all her time in the nest on the eggs this afternoon, the beginnings of incubation may have started.

This is how much time she spent in the nest this afternoon up to 6.30pm:

1) 1.06pm to 1.44pm = 38 minutes

2) 2.54pm to 3.19pm = 25 minutes

3) 3.30pm to 4.23pm = 53 minutes

4) 6.14pm to 6.31pm = 17 minutes

From tomorrow onwards she should spend much more time in the nest, and depending upon how frequently the male brings food, she will also spend time away to find sustenance.

She has to eat, and of course have a few 'comfort' breaks throughout the day.

In 2005 the female started incubating her six eggs on the 30th April, and the following was noted at the start of incubation:

That year the eggs hatched on the 13th May, and the chicks fledged on the 1st June.

So 2007 might be one or two days behind 2005 ... exciting times are possibly only 12 to 14 days away !

A few more pictures from the latter part of the day:

What Exactly is Incubation?
Incubation is quite fascinating if you think about it. She has laid 6 eggs so far (there may be another tomorrow?) and every night as one more has been produced in the morning she spent the night sleeping on them. So why don't they all hatch at different times?

Eggs are naturally susceptible to the cold, but it's not until she starts what is known as 'Contact Incubation' that things start to work.

Underneath her belly she now has what is called a 'Brood Patch'. It is a patch of almost bare skin which has blood vessels close to the surface. It is by applying this warm area in contact with the eggs that she warms them, and so starts the development of the eggs.

Of course this warming has to be for prolonged periods of time, and any long spells without heat can interrupt egg development, and most likely make an egg infertile.

With all the excitement off egg laying, we seem to have forgotten to mention the weather recently.

In short, it's been warm! April saw no real rain, and the for UK that is unusual. The rain gauge in garden has collected nothing, only dust. The BBC web site had an article about it a couple days ago (here) and part of it said:

"The most obvious sign at the moment is that Oak trees have come out into leaf very well, but many ash trees are still quite bare.

This could present problems for local food chains ...

... You may have a situation where an insect relies on a particular plant, and birds or other animals rely on that insect further up the food chain."

We commented a few weeks ago about the Oak tree above the camera box, and it certainly did come out earlier than normal.

The end of another month means that the weather charts have been completed and although we seem to have had a greater fluctuation here in the garden, than in the BBC article (which is a national average) it still makes interesting reading with April being 5.11°C warmer than last year:

The Wildlife Trust even called Spring the new Summer!