This graph shows the number of minutes per hour that the box is EMPTY of adults for each month of the year (2012-18, 2021-22). There’s an obvious drop in September when the adults are incubating. And not much absence in August and October (brooding) either. And a slight increase in absence during the hotter months, when it’s probably nicer to sit outside and less competition for the nest site. Now we have the tower cam, I’ll be able to actually make some comparisons and see if they are in fact on top of the tower during some of these absences, or they could just be resting in shady tree, of course.
Please do not distribute this graph. It is just basic exploratory data, not peer reviewed.