Most of yesterday, Jackie and Shadow had a day of well-timed shift changes. Then in the afternoon, Jackie was just a bit off. She announced to Shadow she was leaving and flew off…only a minute before Shadow arrived with a fish dinner!
But not to worry. Shadow loudly called out to her, making sure she knew that he had brought dinner home. Then he patiently waited without taking even a nibble of the fish. Hearing his news, Jackie immediately flew from her nearby perch tree straight into the nest. Of course, she had to call out the whole way, making sure the neighborhood knew that the fish was hers.
There was some boisterous discussion about the situation as she arrived. Then Shadow stepped aside, letting Jackie have the fish as she continued loudly laying claim to it. When she finally took official possession of the fish, Shadow left her to eat in peace.
With Jackie on the nest around dusk, Shadow brought in a nice, 3-pronged stick. Even though it was a beautiful stick and he laid it right in front of Jackie, she just started chirping and twerpling instead of getting up. So, Shadow came up with a better plan…the leftover fish! Jackie had not eaten the whole fish earlier, so Shadow very kindly pulled it right over to her beak…and that was simply too tempting for Jackie to resist.
Shadow was most likely just being kind and loving to Jackie, and not secretly using the fish to lure her off the nest. But in any case, Jackie got up from the nest bowl to claim and eat the rest of the fish…
…and while she was eating, Shadow sneaked very quietly around her and over into the nest bowl to settle onto the eggs. Then, being his mischievous self, he couldn’t resist nipping Jackie’s tail while she ate. Maybe Jackie’s full crop made her feel generous-instead of arguing with Shadow, she flew off the front porch. And Shadow had finally earned night duty on the nest!
While he slept, Shadow provided an easy-to-see demo of the bald eagle’s eyelid--it closes from the bottom up, rather than from the top down like ours does.
Much later, while Shadow slept, Jackie either couldn’t sleep or ‘Jackie’s rules’ got triggered by the windy conditions-in bad weather Jackie has to always be on the nest. She flew into the nest just before 2 a.m., startling Shadow. Bald eagles usually don’t like flying at night, but the moon's brightness must have created an exception.
Even in the midst of being startled by her late-night visit, Shadow voiced his official complaint. He got up from the nest bowl, looking a little confused about what to do next, but then finally flew out the back door. And Jackie settled into her usual mode of taking care of the nest at night.
Jackie and Shadow left the eggs on their own for over an hour during the afternoon today. Their process of realizing the eggs are not going to hatch usually includes a slow pulling away from the continuous incubation process. But Jackie was back on full duty tonight.
We’ll look forward to seeing what nature has in store for us tomorrow. Thank you for continuing to keep up with Jackie and Shadow's journey.
Sandy
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Негізгі бет 3-27-2024 Finally, Night Duty!
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