June laid her first egg of the season today. This was about two weeks
earlier than normal for this part of New England and at least two weeks earlier than
June's first egg last year. As she laid the egg at 9:30 this morning, she repeated
this strange coughing sound (95K) for
several minutes. She was so diligent with her incubation duties, that the partially
obscured picture at right was the best I could do for today.
The most surprising thing about June's actions (other than the cough) was
the roughness with which she handled the egg. She used her beak to knock it around like a
billiard ball as she moved it from one incubation position to another. In this picture she
is seen reaching between her wing and tail to rotate the egg. The sound of her beak on the
egg indicated that this was also less than a delicate procedure. Those eggs must be as
tough as rocks.