She settled down on them to rest with her wings comfortably relaxed down at her sides.
Earlier yesterday morning, before she settled in to lay her second egg, Mom was out and about getting some exercise...
... but she was never out of sight of the nest where her first egg sat. When she flew back to the nest...
... she took extra care to land gently to avoid damaging the egg.
While she was away from the nest, T2 took his turn sitting on the egg.
When she returned and settled in for the morning to lay the next egg, T2 stopped by to check on progress.
The angle of the light at that time of day creates some reflections in the window, but when the Franklin Institute staff install the black privacy screen, those reflections will be far less noticeable.
After the second egg appeared, and Mom left the nest for an afternoon break, T2 flew in and took a look at what had suddenly appeared. Holland Ailes, a Facebook hawk fan, captioned this image, "T2 to self: 'We are going to need more sticks and a lot more voles.'"
On Wednesday, T2 made sure his mate was well-provisioned with some pigeon. He had clearly eaten some of it before making his delivery.
Mom left the egg in T2's care while she took some exercise.
She then removed the pigeon and left to dine elsewhere. It is great to see T2 once again adapting to a new role - egg sitter. He doesn't yet push to sit on the eggs with quite the same enthusiasm as Dad, but longtime hawk watchers will remember that Dad was not much of an egg sitter either the first year or two, but gradually warmed up to that role.
T2 remains totally into his role as chief pine branch provider, and continues to bring large samples to the nest.
Here he is on Wednesday, taking a break on his favorite lamp-pole...
... before heading back to work.
Both hawks are doing a beautiful job with their roles at the nest...
... and the Franklin Institute hawk family currently stands at four... and counting. Thanks so much to the hawk cam watchers for these great screen captures.
If all goes well, there will be an Easter egg on Sunday!
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T2 is such an excellent soon to be dad. :) Oh, and Mom's not too shabby either. ;)
ReplyDeleteAs of this morning, T2 is now a 3-egg dad!
DeleteSo glad! I'm sure he'll be an excellent dad!
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