After a month of extreme weather including a flood, 7 days of temperatures over 70F (including one day with a high of 90F) then an 11-inch snowstorm, another warmup and then another cold snap with 40mph winds and a cold rain, something miraculous occurred -- two sandhill crane colts hatched on the same day.
Five days after the eggs were laid both parents worked frantically to raise the nest and were successful. Last year only one egg hatched after a lapse in incubation. This year however the flood occurred earlier in the incubation period and both parents worked on shoring up the nest. Last year only the female did most of the nest raising and the eggs were left out in the cold much longer. Maybe this year dad figured out he needed to help her.
Then the heat came and then the snow. In a previous year, mom abandoned the nest after a 4-inch snow. I worried she might do the same but she stuck with incubating the eggs even though she was buried in 11 inches of snow.
April was a meteorological mess with just about every weather event that normally happens in a year! What these cranes went through was amazing and yet they prevailed.
Негізгі бет Sandhill Crane Colts - First Day of Life - May 1, 2023
Пікірлер: 1