Here is your Happy Thanksgiving news….

We have our first egg in Princeville.  KP467, one of the topics of yesterday’s post, was sitting on the egg in the mid afternoon.  There isn’t much to the nest right now, but the parents will improve it as the days go by.

Her mate, KP531, was over in the next yard watching and vocalizing with birds next door.  Bob Waid calls him the Walmart Greeter, because last season this bird would often sit where he could meet albatrosses as they walked into our street after landing on a favorite bluff.  One of his favorites was K112, the bird he was displaying with yesterday.  They were also grooming each other, as the photo below shows.  KP467 could see them from her vantage point in the next yard.

I expect to find Kp531 sitting on the egg at nest number 1 tomorrow.  KP467 will need to go out to sea and eat, to build up her strength for the months of incubation and chick feeding to come.  It is not unheard of for a male to take a while before sitting on the egg. Two years ago I observed one who took 15 days to finally accept his fatherly duty.  During that time he would sometimes sit near his mate, but he did not seem too eager to replace her on the nest.  Once he did, though, he accepted his fate and was a dedicated parent.

KP531 has been raising chicks with his mate for at least as long as I have been collecting data.  That instinct is strong, and I have faith in its hold on him.

Don’t make a liar of me, buddy!