It wasn’t until yesterday afternoon that Shadow got to see his 3rd egg for first time…
…since a snow storm moved in shortly after Jackie laid that last egg, she stayed on the nest through the night and past noon yesterday. Jackie’s rule #173 is that she is always on nest duty during inclement weather—that is also rule #’s 3 through 28, just to make sure it is wellunderstood. (Rule #1 is “Jackie rules the nest” and Rule #2 is “Jackie always wins.”) (Shadow’s only rule is “during nesting season, do what Jackie says.”)
No matter how many times Jackie got covered with snow during the storm, she simply stood up, shook it off, rolled her eggs and settled back down to incubate them…
…Jackie and Shadow’s over 7000 waterproof feathers and downy feathers underneath keep them toasty warm and dry. They also both develop a brood patch on their chest during nesting that allows them to scoot the eggs in close to their skin. With their body heat, they keep the eggs safe, warm and protected.
As usual, Shadow was anxious to get his turn on the eggs. He even flew in to sit on a lower limb of the nest tree, just to check that Jackie and the nest were fine…and to be ready, if needed. But it was still snowing, so Jackie stayed on the nest.
Finally, when it stopped snowing in the midafternoon, Jackie left the nest…and within seconds, Shadow flew in to take over nest duty!
This was the first time Shadow has ever seen 3 eggs in the nest. He kept looking back and forth at them as he stretched his legs around them…but his legs wouldn’t go around all of them when they were sidebyside. It had worked the day before…why wasn’t it working now? Realizing that something was definitely differentor maybe after counting themhe rolled the eggs closer together and fit himself over the top.
—Jackie is about 1/4 larger than Shadow, so she can fit over the top of 3 eggs more easily.
After her hour plus break, Jackie returned to the nest…and Shadow tried to ignore that she was there. When she started moving closer, he complained loudly that it was still his turn. Jackie remained patient, but firm as she gently stepped toward the nest bowl and touched Shadow lovingly on the head. She finally stepped into the nest bowl so that he had to move…which he did, but not without muttering little complaints. He knows Jackie’s rules #1 and 2, but sometimes has to argue with them anyway.
So, Jackie settled in, prepared to protect her eggs through the night and the continuing snow storm.
We are grateful that we get to observe the amazing determination of nature through Jackie and Shadow's loving care of their nest, eggs and each other.
Sandy

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