Eggs ahoy.
The Hawaiian goose or Nene fans amongst you will have noticed a remarked drop in the amount of willing hand-feeders in recent weeks. Do not fear however, for following a winter fattening up on the best wheat our dedicated visitors can offer, it is time for the Nenes to transfer that energy into eggs! If you keep your eye out over the next few weeks you may still have time to see a females that are ready to lay. They balloon and balloon until they waddle around as they walk and you think their bottoms couldn't possibly stretch any more! For example BID below is definitely brewing a big clutch.
MBZ is a prolific breeder, and alongside her life-long partner LCN always and without fail will lay her eggs in the exact same nest every single year. This mature pair are quite dominant nowadays and are able to secure their nesting spot over an above the needs of other 'not quite so organised' pairs, but this can still end up in a bit of good-tempered rivalry. As a result of ones of these spats MBZ is currently easily recognisable due to the big feather sticking up out of her left wing like a sailboat! She also needs to start avoiding the fracas because she is exceedingly gravid or 'heavy' (pregnant) with her eggs! Now that the eggs have reached the lower part of their trajectory she will be able to retain them in sequence for maybe 2-3 days before she simply has to lay the first. From that point on she will lay the rest on a regular 36-48 hour cycle until she has a clutch of 4-7.
BBH below has already begun laying her clutch with her husband BBC. Long-term adoption favourites, these two are yet to achieve breeding success despite laying some of the largest clutches (7 last year!) that I have ever seen! Despite good quality egg laying and high fertility rates, this pair have so far failed to succeed due to inappropriate nest locations. Despite the traditional Nene stance on the subject, BBH has an uncharacteristic appreciation of water (as a rule Nenes try to avoid it as much as possible.) Every year she makes her nest on the edge of a very steep bank above a deep channel. I'm sure you can guess what difficulties arise with tactics such as these... When she has finally laid all of her eggs she will strip the down from her belly to help line, insulate and warm the eggs, and then place her bare breast on top of them to most dedicatedly incubate them at body temperature or 37.5 degrees.
Inappropriate nesting sites can often be observed to be as a result of who is paired with who. BBC and BBH were hatched in the same year and hand-reared for safety (we hatch some Nenes by hand every year which were in dangerous nests or distant locations.) As a result these two have been approaching reproduction with a similar level of knowledge (none!) We often find at WWT Slimbridge that the best mothers and fathers tend to be pairs which partner up with an older or experienced birds.
LTJ below was hatched in 2014 and has partnered up with AUS, a 2002 bred male. Since I began managing the Slimbridge Nenes in 2007/2008, this intrepid male has worked his way through 3 wives! He began life with AXA and for 11 years they were exceptionally happy except for a mid-relationship break-up when they were accidentally separated. Despite an entire 11 months apart during which time he reared a clutch with the female BAH, he recognised AXA again immediately. This story is proof to me that some birds know one another. Sadly in 2013 AXA passed away and after mourning her loss all summer AUS found single adult female BBV. In 2014 BBV laid a clutch of eggs of which 3 were fertile and the new pair hatched out 3 lovely juveniles. Heartbreakingly BBV then passed away leaving old man AUS alone with his juveniles. He did an amazing job as a single father and reared all three of his babes (2 sons and 1 daughter) through to adulthood alone. I sincerely hope that this time round and at the grand old age of 13, AUS will be able to find long term love at last... Good luck AUS and LTJ! He certainly brings the wisdom, and she brings the energy...
