| Apr 27 |
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Incubation has started. Mrs Blue was in the box for most of today. Mr Blue brings her a green caterpillar.
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We are unsure of how many eggs we have, but here it looks like eight which is very exciting for us as last year we had seven. I have also included this (rather revealing) picture of Mrs. Blue's underparts which look a bit sore. I hope (if she knew) she won't mind this picture.
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| Apr 28 |
Mrs Blue has woken up with a bit of a hang (feather) over and doesn't seem to be able to shake it off! But hold on a minute! I think I can see nine eggs there! Well, I think we have a feisty mum here! So if she chooses to wear a big feather on her head now and then, good luck to her!!!
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| Apr 30 |
Mrs Blue is a very meticulous and conscientious Mum-to-Be, pushing into the nest cup and stretching her wings back to just make the right adjustments to her eggs. But where did that bright green fluff come from? I am intrigued as it looks very like a man-made fibre I recognise from the nest which I retrieved from last years box in January!!
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Her collection of eggs (clutch) looks beautiful. At first glance they are just white, but in fact they are delicately speckled pink. Occasionally she stands up away from her eggs and looks expectantly towards the entrance.
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Incubating eggs must be an exhausting activity and she must eat regularly to keep up her strength. She calls to Mr. Blue and he brings her a lovely big crunchy insect.
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| May 1-6 |
Incubation carries on and on and on. Mrs Blue hardly leaves the nest.
Because she moves a lot during the process our system records about 6000 images a day.
It is something of a mesmerising task searching through them for interesting pictures because they all look the same.
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So, just to illustrate. here are pictures of the eggs revealed in all their splendid glory!! As you can see they do not remain still at all. They move around a lot. Its a wonder they do not get cracked!!
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Go to next stage. |
