On January 17th the CahowCam2 female returned and promptly laid her egg!
At that point, “Sampson” her mate, one of the largest birds in the Colony, had been waiting for over a week. This is not the norm for the Species for which we have found that their nesting return times are generally well synchronized, despite having months apart at sea.
In this case, this may be due to this being their second season together, as she replaced his original mate, which did not return last year. Up to that point, Sampson and his prior mate were one of the most productive pairs in the Colony, having successfully fledged a chick 13 of the past 14 years.
As was to be expected, this new young female’s first egg failed last season, but time will tell if they will be as successful going forward.
Stay tuned to our LiveStreams to learn more.