 It
has now been three days since Ward has approached the nest box, and June's
whining is almost continuous. For the second day in a row, he called home
from a distant part of the territory before noon, but there has been no
further sign of him. Aside from the whining, June has incubated and
rotated her eggs as she normally would and continues to spend some time
preening her feathers and gnawing on the wood chips. On each of the last
two nights she has also taken a fifteen minute outing, and it is possible
that she has been meeting Ward on a distant perch to pick up her meals. I
have, however, not been able to hear him on either occasion and cannot
imagine what is keeping him away. The weather continues to be unusually
cold and a fresh coat of snow is falling on the area tonight. |