2-1-2023 Sixth Try Is The Charm

Jackie’s security appears to come from knowing her eggs are safe…and when there might be danger – like wind, or bad weather, or darkness, or ravens – she trusts herself above all else to keep the eggs safe. A couple days ago it took Shadow until the 6th attempt to be able to get a turn on the nest. In the early morning, with Jackie on the nest, ravens started circling. Jackie shouted and Shadow arrived immediately on the back porch to help her yell them away. When the ravens had been handled, Jackie apparently wasn’t completely sure that all was safe--she started arranging sticks around the nest bowl, but without getting off the eggs. Being the good observer he is, Shadow knew that now Jackie wanted some nest rearranging. So, he flew off and returned in under 2 minutes with a new stick to assist her. Shadow arranged his stick perfectly, even narrowly missing putting it on Jackie’s back…nevermind that he had to walk straight across the middle of her back to get that stick to the spot it belonged. But no matter how well he placed it, Jackie wouldn’t get up off those eggs… …since that was obviously not the right stick, Shadow went out the back door and brought back another stick within minutes. He put this one right in front of Jackie for her to arrange, which she did…but still without getting off the eggs. So, Shadow walked that new stick all the way around her and laid it across her lower back…and in case that wasn’t going to work, he got the first stick from it’s place and laid it across her upper back. Surely, she would now have to get off those eggs to move the sticks… …but no, that didn’t do it either. So, Shadow waited over an hour to bring the next stick—or maybe it took him that long to search for exactly the right one that was going to impress Jackie enough to trust him with the eggs. But that stick didn’t work either. Shadow even waited around the nest for nearly half an hour. Jackie still would not budge. Time for another stick…this one only took a few minutes to find…but no matter how many times or how perfectly Shadow arranged and rearranged this stick, Jackie just kept whimpering that things weren’t safe and she needed to stay on her eggs. During each of these stick arranging visits, Shadow stayed on the nest right next to Jackie for much longer than he usually does, showing her that he was right by her side. Jackie even stood up once to roll the eggs, but still wouldn’t let Shadow have a turn. She sat back down and Shadow got the message and left off the front porch. By mid-afternoon, Jackie’s apparent fears seemed to be realized when a group of ravens came back to start circling the nest again. Shadow flew in immediately. He and Jackie both shouting at the ravens got them to leave. And Shadow hung around the nest with Jackie to make sure they were gone… …and finally, that was enough to allow Jackie to relax. She released the eggs into Shadow’s tender care and flew off for a little break. He immediately settled in on those precious eggs for his well-deserved turn. Sandy FriendsofBigBearValley.org https://friendsofbigbearvalley.org/