We have Tawny Eggs! Exciting new Tawny Footage from Yew View…

For the last two years, our Yew View tawny has laid around the 5th March. This week, when I logged remote onto the camera, I saw she had remained in the box at night, as well as rooting in the day. This change of behaviour could only mean one thing… and I was correct… our tawny had laid her first egg… just about 10 days earlier than the last two years.  Maybe this very warm patch of weather had spurred her on, but tawnies often nest this early so I don’t have any concerns.

Looking back at the footage leading up to her laying, she spent more time, ‘paddling’ with her feet, creating a hollow in the net box substrate. I was pleased to see she had moved more to the centre of the box, meaning both cameras were in focus.

I am thrilled with the quality of the images we are getting from this box..

When roosting in the day, she had been right up against Camera 2.

Due to her being so close to cam 2 , I had had little opportunity to see how well the flu was set for her. Once she moved back, I was thrilled to see how much detail we could see on her, when she was sitting in the right focal plane…..

She was very restless on the day she laid her first egg… you can see her panting in this clip….

This clip shows the first view I had of her beautiful white egg, laid on the 23rd February. This is the same clip, but viewed from the two different cameras.

Checking through the footage from the external camera, I was amazed to see I had captured them mating on two occasions…

She certainly looks very content in this box..

By the 26th, we had two eggs…

The male started feeding the female as soon as she stayed in the box at night. This male was an excellent hunter last year. I hope he will continue his excellent record.

On one of the rare occasions the female left the box, the male came in with a worm for her. This special clip shows him gently calling, whilst looking at the eggs; the very start of the next generation of Yew View tawnies!

After all the excitement of the tawnies, I turned my attention to some of the other cameras. I had been monitoring a small hole dug by a badger last year. There were a few visits by a couple of badgers and a fox, but no permanent use yet…

Our kingfisher has not reappeared yet, but we had this spectacular buzzard appear earlier in the week….

This Jay was another great capture.. the first time we have had one visit here.

Surprisingly, the muntjac are still on site.

Nice to also see a small group of red legged partridge passing through…

As I write, I checked the camera and I can see we have a third egg. We now have 30 days incubation before we capture our first views of our 2019 owlets. I just can’t wait!

from www.wildlifekate.co.uk https://wildlifekate.wordpress.com/2019/03/01/we-have-tawny-eggs-exciting-new-tawny-footage-from-yew-view/