14-15 April 2007: Hot!
The temperatures these 2 days are very high for spring in the Netherlands. Normal brooding isn’t possible during the day, the female comes in frequently, spreads the feathers on her tail and wings to provide shadow for the eggs (although they are not in direct sunlight). She can’t keep up that position for longer than 2-3 minutes, and then she leaves the nest box, only to return a few minutes later. Unfortunately, my camera also has trouble with the temperature/light conditions, so I can’t show you properly how this looks.