Since the loss of the last egg, Swift has apparently got the message that there will be no youngsters this year quicker than Beau. It was noticed that Beau tends to arrive in the box and then spend quite a bit of time in the box, either making rather desultory attempts at preparing the scrape, or standing in the scrape, or wandering around. Swift, on the other hand, arrives and sits on the ledge, or goes to sleep, usually in the far right-hand corner of the box. She hasn’t done any scrape preparation for weeks. She is also beginning to show fewer signs of interest in courtship, often turning her back on Beau, sometimes not even rising to greet him.
Cilla
