 June laid
her third -- and almost certainly last -- egg of the season at 10:15 this
morning. This time, she made a noise that sounded more like a sneeze than
a cough, but her facial expression was unmistakable. Five minutes later,
she stood up to allow the brief glimpse of her three eggs shown
here. The bitterly cold weather has forced her to stay on the eggs almost
continuously for the last two days. Ward made two food deliveries last
night, but called for her to come outside for them rather than bringing
them to the nest. Each outing lasted about ten minutes and was accompanied
by wild hooting from both owls. June sounded like she welcomed the
opportunity to get outside. With more record-cold weather projected, both
Ward and June will face difficult challenges in their first week of
nesting. |