There is good news, and bad news, tonight. The bad news is that we visited the nest today to band Mama Hoo Hoo’s unbanded mate, who we call Francisco, but we had to cancel the event when we arrived.
The good news is that the reason we canceled is that the nest has begun hatching!
Before banding we carefully inspected the eggs and saw starring patterns. Starring is when the eggshell first begins to crack as the tiny chick inside begins pecking and sawing it’s way out. Click to enlarge the photo above and see if you can find the starring pattern on two of the eggs.
If you are struggling to see it, here is a closer view of one of the eggs:
Most likely we are still very early in the hatch process. That is very faint starring you see on the eggs. The nest could now hatch anytime between now and about four days from now. But a safe bet is that Mama Hoo Hoo’s nest, for better or worse, will hatch on the 4th of July.
Stay tuned for more!