She pretty much left her first egg alone all day yesterday. She covered it up with some twigs and left. She did come back at dusk and spent her first night in the nest. I have read that the Mother can let the first eggs cool a lot more than subsequent eggs. If she didn't, they would all hatch at different times. They lay one egg a day but she won't start the incubation process until her last egg is laid. That way one egg will hatch per day, in the order that they were laid.
Last night I was lucky enough to see her in her nest for the first time. She didn't seem to know what to do. She was jumping around on the edge of the nest looking at the egg inside. She seemed pretty confused and just took off. Comparing the two birds definitely tells me that Lucy is young and has never done this before. I hope that she does ok with her first brood.
Tonight, I scared her off when I pulled into the driveway and she hasn't been back since. But it is 5 PM and both nests are empty. From what I can tell from watching Big Mama - thinking of renaming her Ethel ;) - 5 PM is usually dinner time.
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