Sometimes, especially just after dawn, Jackie is more than anxious to have Shadow come in and take over the nest-sitting. And he always shows up when called to give her a little break.
But sometimes, it’s not that easy…
…and Shadow has to work at it to get Jackie to give over the nest to him.
This time, in the middle of the day, it took 3 goes at it before she finally let him have his turn…
First, he brought a fish. Jackie squealed and squealed about the fish being ‘mine, mine…’ and Shadow waited patiently for her to get up and claim it. But she just kept calling until he moved out of the way and around to the back porch. Then she got up and took possession of that fish that was rightfully hers. She was off the eggs, but Shadow knows better than to try anything while Jackie is eating, so he waited patiently watching over the nest while she ate her fish…
…but then, instead of leaving like she usually does after her lunch, Jackie moved back into the nest bowl. Phooey. The ‘bringing lunch’ technique didn’t work.
So, Shadow left and returned a short time later, this time with a long stick…perhaps if he proves what a good mate he is, he can earn a turn on the eggs. He placed that long stick exactly perfectly and then patiently waited…and waited…and waited. And then finally left. Phooey. The ‘bringing a stick’ technique didn’t work either.
This time Shadow left for only a few minutes and returned with a much bigger, more complex stick. This was sure to do the trick. It was so big he had a bit of a battle as he tussled it around Jackie…well, mostly around her, only putting it on her back a couple of times, and well, only stepping on her back once or twice. But voila! The old ‘stepping on the back while handling a big stick’ technique worked. Jackie got up and Shadow got his turn to settle in on the eggs.
The next morning, Shadow got even more clever! He soared around the nest, looking like he was having great fun and invited Jackie out to take a little spin around the nest tree. And that was just too tempting! Jackie took him up on it…and then it was easy for Shadow to slip quickly onto the front porch and into the nest bowl. This worked to get Jackie moving and she flew off toward the lake for a little R and R. And Shadow got to enjoy his daddyhood.
Getting your turn sometimes requires a lot of creativity!
Sandy
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