Mystery Solved

Watering a line of Acer grafts this afternoon I happened across a group of partridge chicks. It was an obvious assumption that the chicks had at last hatched and I rushed home to pick up my camera.

On returning to the nursery I searched for the chicks and counted five, which was disappointing as there had been thirteen eggs initially, however given the spraying nightmare I was pretty relieved there were any at all and they were wonderfully amusing as they followed their mother about pecking at everything in sight.

I decided to go to the nest site and remove any old un-hatched addled eggs so as to not attract rats or whatever had moved the egg mentioned in yesterdays journal.

It came as something of a shock to see my original partridge still sat there!

Obviously there has been a second partridge (or first really considering her eggs have hatched first) and I’ve been totally unaware. I feel like a dog with two dicks, excited and delighted. She must have nested around where I found the egg, which was probably infertile so never hatched. Mystery solved. There is also a nest of wrens in a hole in the wall and a nest of goldfinches in one of the standard wisterias I’m training. A good day indeed.