Ashley has begun laying - we think

Our little Flycatchers have been busy since my last posting on this subject and the nest is complete and the hen has begun sitting on the nest in a more permanent fashion. We are expecting from three to seven creamy white eggs, blotched with brown and lavender, which the hen will incubate for about 15 days. Once hatched, the altrical young; (born naked), will remain on the nest for about two weeks.

In the meantime, we have posted our front door 'non-passe' as well as all of the front deck. This is a very exciting time for us and we feel quite protective of our little family and don't want to spoil it in any way.

The hen departs the nest from time to time to feed, and we expect that once she has laid the eggs and begun the incubation process that she will be fed by the male. This isn't guaranteed at this point, but the information we have is that she incubates the eggs alone.

Our proud little father returns to visit the nest every so often and the chatter of conversation is quite loud. We can only assume that he's telling her to hurry up and get those eggs laid, and her loud response would probably be for him leave that to her.

We haven't been able to determine exactly which of the birds is which at the moment; they are to all external appearances, identical. Only when she's on the nest do we know who's who.

There will be more posts and hopefully photos to follow as things progress. Our attention is also directed to the back yard where we have a female Jackrabbit; who has obviously just had a litter of leveret. We haven't seen the young yet, but the doe is a regular visitor; twice a day to hungrily devour a couple of handfulls of corn. Every morning I arise at 5:00 am and there she is waiting for me to feed her. It's such a treat for us to see Spring in action; up close and personal.

Life indeed is: "Living at Hog Heaven"