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[STLbf]

No mice allowed in this nest box!
Newman and Elaine are alternating incubation times for the 3 eggs here.

[LisaG1967]

Elaine shows off her 4th egg about 10 mins ago on rewind   

[shep]

😍  HAPPY CATURDAY!
April 5, 2025
I am delighted to see her 4th egg yesterday!

🥚 🥚 🥚 🥚

[STLbf]

Shep, This means that Elaine has laid 5 eggs this year!  The first one in the nest at LaX, that she abandoned to another female and the male there.

Fingers and toes crossed for a successful hatch and fledge here.

[shep]

True. While 5 eggs is unusual, it happens.

Apollo notes, bcaw
It seems like Elaine is taking after her Mom in South Bend.
Her Mom has laid 5 eggs each year since 2022 when she arrived.
Now, she hasn't hatched them all, but what an effortl
Grandma Moxie has never laid more than 4 but she is still laying those eggs at 14!

[STLbf]

Newman brought a warbler to Elaine about 8:30 this morning. She grabbed it and flew away; he took over incubation.  Changeover from Newman to Elaine about 9:15.

[STLbf]

Elaine grew up in South Bend, Indiana, and so did I!!  We're both Hoosiers   

Everything seems OK about things here at GSB today.

Question about peregrine egg colors -- Three of the eggs are quite mottled and paler than the fourth, which is very reddish.  Is there any significance to the color of eggshells for peregrines?

[shep]

Probly no significance - but - maybe only 1 or 2 of her eggs is fertile.
ONLY a guess

[Linda M]

It seems that it's normal for color variation among eggs in the same clutch.  From Amy's blog of March 20, 2023: https://www.raptorresource.org/2023/03/20/egg-colors-and-shapes/

"Egg Colors

Where do egg colors come from? Once a bird’s egg enters its shell gland or uterus, it is plumped with water and covered with calcium carbonate, a chalky white substance that forms the egg’s hard shell. In birds that color their eggs, pigments mix with the last layers of calcium carbonate to form the egg’s ground color. Blotches, spots, streaks, and squiggles are applied as the egg presses against a layer of epithelial cells in the shell gland, causing them to release or squirt pigment on the developing shell. If the egg is stationary or moving very slowly, it will be solid, blotched, or spotted. If the egg is in motion, it will be streaked. And if the bird was startled during pigment deposition, the egg might have a distinct pale or uncolored band around its middle."

P.S. to STLbf - I'm also a Hoosier, from Indianapolis.

[Nora in IA]

I remember Mariah & Kaver at Kodak in Rochester, NY used to have five, but it was a lot of work for them.

[STLbf]

Linda, thanks for the info about egg colors from Amy's blog.  Very helpful to know that color doesn't offer clues to the sex of the egglet, or other life-determining info.

Always good to meet a fellow Hoosier.   

[STLbf]

Changeovers as expected, and the 4 eggs look fine this morning.

Beautiful sunrise with low, foggy clouds.

Amy's blog from yesterday has great info about Elaine's adventures here at GSB and the other nest where she laid her first egg.

[STLbf]

Several changeovers as expected this morning at the GSB nest box.

[Nora in IA]

Glad this is finally going well here!! 

[clarindagirl]

Just started watching yesterday.  Glad to see four eggs and  both parents.