looduskalender.ee

 

 

Klaara turns eggs with a clatter in the bottom of her nest trunk and ”talks” to them.

 

We looked at  forum information from earlier years to see how and when chicks might be expected. Summing up, Klaara has started incubating with the laying of the third egg: egg-laying dates March 4, 6, 9, 11 and 15, incubation length 28-29 days. So we might expect the first hatched tawny chick on April 5 or 6 - Easter would be a very suitable time in all ways. But this is only a prediction.

 

Webcam image captured by  Maggy, LK forum

 

Klaara has lined the nest bottom with owl pellets – the dark little droppings or undigested remains from the rodents brought by Klaus: bones, fur, teeth … Towards the end of the incubation period Klaara leaves the nest only a few times during the night. She swallows the prey brought by Klaus in one piece and since owls have no crop, a part of the pellets are regurgitated on the nest bottom.

 

One discussion theme has been the fact that the eggs are white, that is, with no protective colouring. For someone breeding in a nest hollow protective colouring is not particularly important and for the adult bird acting in the cover of dark, light eggs are better visible, but it is just a theory.