skygirlblue wrote:
mwplay, I remember all of that...and I remember having the discussion about hormones shifting with the male...that incubation went on forever!! I also remember wondering what would happen IF DL's eggs hatched. How would Cher's eggs be treated...I sure don't want to see that play out here!!
No one on cam 1 or 2....
It would be doubly sad if Dad lost this nest. I don't think Cadence would "dump" him. Sesenta didn't Dump KathyQ and as far as we know, Stormin hasn't dumped Erin. Now if another male came and challenged Dad? That would be another issue. I think Dad's priorities are the eggs right now. He would be sharing incubating duties and providing food. I don't know what would shift him out of that behavior and into full courtship. Probably some mating is going on out of cam, but is it enough to fertilize eggs?
..and speaking of Dad, he is back on the eggs.
Dad is feeding her and there has been mating observed, but he's on the eggs so much that he would not see a threat come into the territory. She would and hopefully would respond as such. I do think she is guarding the eggs more when Dad is away than when she first arrived. I DON'T want her to "dump" Dad - at all. I just hope that a single male doesn't come into the territory thinking she doesn't have a mate. That's more of my concern.
And Sesenta and Kathy Q were at least together during the cycle. Same with Stormin and Erin. Both of those females were not trying to get a mate to court her. The situation is just a little bit different here. It seems that it is much easier when there is a displacement of a male vs female due to attachment to eggs. If we compare the SF takeover vs. the SJ takeover, SJ had much more success - hatches and Fernando took care of the offspring as if they were his.
This just reminds me so much of SF. I also wonder if he's hunting/providing for her, but I don't know if it is at the level required to build up calcium reserves for egg laying. Normally the females look like tanks prior to laying, I think because of all of constant food delivery. If Dad is just doing the minimum and expecting her to also hunt due to the shift to incubation mode vs. courting mode, I wonder how that will effect the viability of any eggs Cadence lays.
Again, sad situation here. I really hope that it stays calm & peaceful, and Dad is on the eggs enough, maybe there will be a hatch of these eggs. In SF, I remember that Cher booted Dan out of the nest. She would spend the night on the ledge. At least here, Dad is on the eggs at night. That might give these eggs a chance.
Really hoping for a good outcome here. Unfortunately, just another difficult learning situation for all of us.