# Sunroom Bookshelf Nest — Activity Journal A running journal of the pair of birds nesting on the bookshelf in Casey's sunroom, derived from motion-triggered clips. ## Data Hygiene Notes - **2026-05-09 pre-hatch audit**: per-clip JSON before first confirmed chick visibility (2026-05-07 06:13:46 PT) has been normalized with explicit `chicks_visible: false` / `chick_count: null`, old `bird_sex: mixed` values have been converted to `both`, and prompt-context leaks such as "known clutch size" have been removed. Older appended draft blocks below may still preserve stale "male incubates" / "male nest-sitting" language from earlier runs; treat the corrected standalone files in `data/narratives/` and regenerated `data/daily-metrics/` as canonical. ## Setting - **Where**: open-cup nest of dried grass + small twigs, built on the windowsill against the side of *Shoe Dog* by Phil Knight (book propped vertically as a wind/cover break — book is upside-down, presumably knocked or settled that way) - **Cameras over time** (three angles total, two now retired): - **Google Nest cam** (1920×1080 fisheye, IR-capable) — wide-angle room view. Active 25 Apr → 28 Apr 20:27. - **Wyze cam** (2560×1440, fisheye, IR-capable) — close crop of the nest, OSD timestamp on every frame. Clips received on 27 Apr morning; may be live longer than that. - **Reolink PTZ** (`camera.sunroom_fluent`, 896×512 sub-stream, IR-capable, motion + AI sensors) — active 28 Apr 19:55 onward; primary going forward. Currently auto-pans on motion (worth pinning to a fixed nest preset). - Plus **Casey's iPhone**: a handful of direct nest photos and Nest-app screenshots from 25–26 Apr. - **Species (confirmed)**: **House Finch** (*Haemorhous mexicanus*). Confirmed from a Casey-taken close-up on 25 Apr 16:06 PT showing **two pale-blue speckled eggs** in the cup — that egg coloring + open dried-grass nest + ~10–12 cm body is diagnostic. (House Finch eggs are pale blue/blue-green with very small dark spots, ~1.6–2.0 cm.) - **Phase**: incubation. The brooding bird sits low in the cup with body settled and head tucked, present at night and during dawn/dusk. Visible parent swaps are rare on this footage (only ever one bird visible at a time), but two-parent participation is implied by the rapid clusters of motion events spaced 30 s – 2 min apart at predictable feeding intervals. --- ## 2026-04-25 (Sat) — *first day on tape; eggs photographed* The day's anchor: **Casey took close-up phone photos of the nest at 16:06 PT and could see two pale-blue speckled eggs in the cup**, with no parent on it at that moment (foraging break). Later in the evening he checked the Nest app and screenshotted the live view at 17:24 and 21:13 — by 21:13 the brooding parent was settled on the nest for the night. - **16:06:01** (iPhone photo): close-up — **2 eggs visible**, pale blue with dark speckles. House Finch ID is locked in here. - **16:06:20 / 16:06:22 / 16:06:23** (iPhone photos, multi-angle bursts): same nest, eggs and grass cup confirmed; book "Shoe Dog" propped vertically as wind cover. - **17:24:53** (iPhone, Nest-app screenshot): wide-angle Nest view. Eggs visible from above as two small pale dots in the cup; no parent. - **21:13:27** (iPhone, Nest-app night-view screenshot): IR mode, **bird visible on the nest** — overnight incubation underway. - **22:16:05** (Nest cam clip, 10 s, IR): bird still on nest, head tucked, body filling the cup. Confirms the screenshot. So Saturday is **Day 1 of full-time incubation**: 2 eggs definitely laid, parent settled by evening. House Finches typically lay 1 egg per day until clutch is complete (4–5 eggs), and incubation usually starts around the second-to-last egg. So if 2 eggs were visible on 25 Apr, the female may still have been laying through 27 Apr — which means the **revised hatch window is ~9–12 May** (12–14 days after the last egg). --- ## 2026-04-26 (Sun) — *first full day, 34 events* Busy day. The day's overall shape: dawn shifts → steady daytime feeding visits → human interruption mid-afternoon → quiet evening. ### Dawn shifts (5 events in 30 min) - 06:22:20 (10 s) — nest occupied at first light, bird visible in cup - 06:23:08 (10 s) — second event 48 s later: classic *nest-relief shift* — incoming/outgoing parent - 06:41:31, 06:42:20, 06:52:40 — three more events spread across 11 min; likely repeated parent visits with food ### Steady daytime feeding visits - 07:38:40 (45 s) - 08:46:48 (~60 s) - 09:39:54 → 09:40:06 → 09:40:22 — **3 events in 28 seconds** (busy moment; both parents on the nest area) - 10:05:23 (45 s) - 11:17:59, 11:19:19, 11:19:53 — three events in 2 min - 12:13:36, 12:14:14 — paired - 13:07:09 → 13:07:31 → 13:07:53 → 13:08:11 — **4 events in 62 seconds** (rapid sequence — possibly a feeding visit with multiple departures/arrivals) ### 13:20–13:30 — *humans, not birds* A 5-minute clip at 13:20:33 plus follow-ups at 13:25:32 (2.5 min), 13:28:33 (1 min), 13:29:57, 13:30:41. Frames show **Casey (in dark/Tesla shirt + cap) and a child (red hair, graphic tee)** in the sunroom. Lots of background activity — looks like working/cleaning around the room. The brooding bird tolerated the disruption (no clip shows the nest abandoned mid-event). ### Afternoon resumes - 14:02:53, 15:53:52, 16:59:40, 17:14:15 — normal cadence resumes once the room cleared ### Evening fade-out - 18:55:11, 19:09:47, 19:19:13 — last foraging visits before dusk - 20:03:09 — final event of the day, settling in for the night ### Three extra angles from this day - **12:41:14** (`unknown_clip_*`, 21 s) — UUID-named export, source unclear (could be Wyze or Reolink mobile app). Daytime nest activity. - **14:17:59** (`wyze_snapshot_*`) — Wyze cam still: confirms the nest from the Wyze close-up angle (much tighter framing than the Nest cam — should be the best frames for any future bird-ID detail work). - **14:30:50** (`wyze_clip_*`, 4 s) and **15:56:32** (5 s) — Wyze cached short clips. Brief afternoon nest visits. - **14:33:00** (`iphone_video_*`, 32 s) — Casey-recorded iPhone video. Frame at t=1s clearly shows the **bird in the nest** (small dark form sitting low in the cup, head visible). Best handheld view of the brooding parent. **Headline**: incubation is in full swing; the male is bringing food roughly every 1–2 hours, sometimes in tight clusters (consistent with feeding-and-departure sequences). The bird's tolerance of close human activity at 13:20–13:30 is notable — they've made peace with humans in the room. --- ## 2026-04-27 (Mon) — *30 events; quieter midday* ### Dawn → morning - 06:28:32 (9 s) — first morning shift - 07:34:22 (37 s) — established morning visit ### 08:30–09:20 — *the busy morning hour* - 08:34:11, 08:36:52, 08:37:37, 08:39:29, 08:39:50, 08:46:33, 08:58:39 — **7 events in 24 minutes**; this is the densest cluster of bird visits in the whole archive. Very consistent with a peak feeding window during early-stage incubation/brood. - 09:15:51, 09:16:34 — pair ### Late morning → afternoon - 10:15:51, 10:17:12, 10:17:41 — triple - 10:35:43 - 11:12:51, 11:13:24, 11:13:59 — triple - 11:54:46 - 12:58:00, 12:58:29 — pair - 14:11:12, 14:12:36, 14:13:13 — triple - 15:45:22, 15:45:33, 15:46:07 — triple ### Late - 17:10:32 — last daylight visit - 21:21:47, 21:22:11 — *unusual late-night events*. Nothing at this resolution shows what triggered these. Could be: settling adjustments, a brief disturbance (light from another room), or moths attracted to IR. Worth flagging. ### Wyze cam angle — *the close-up confirmation* Casey also exported 13 short Wyze cam clips from this morning that arrived in a bulk batch (export-stamped 17:27–17:29 PT but **OSD-stamped from across the actual morning 06:16 → 09:16**). The Wyze view is much tighter than the Nest cam — the nest fills a meaningful chunk of the frame and the brooding bird is unambiguously visible. Clusters from the Wyze export: - **06:16, 06:23, 06:28, 06:29, 06:31** — five Wyze clips in 15 min. Dawn shift. - **08:33, 08:34, 08:36, 08:37** — four Wyze clips in 4 min, overlaps with the Nest cluster. - **08:53, 08:58, 08:59** — three Wyze clips in 6 min. - **09:16** — single Wyze clip. These Wyze clips are the **best raw footage we have for this nest** (highest resolution, closest crop, OSD-dated). They confirm the brooding bird sitting low in the cup at 06:16 — which together with the previous night's footage means **the parent was on the nest continuously through the night and through dawn**, breaking only for very brief food handoffs. **Headline**: feeding cadence settled into a rhythm of triples — three quick events in a minute or two each — repeated every ~1–1.5 hours. That's the classic male-finch food-delivery pattern: arrive, hand off / feed, depart, second pass. The big morning cluster (08:34–09:20) is the strongest signal yet that **two parents are actively working the nest**, and the Wyze close-ups confirm the brooding bird is steady throughout. --- ## 2026-04-28 (Tue) — *Nest cam ends, Reolink begins* **Nest cam (06:00 → 20:27): 41 events**. Reolink takes over at 19:55 — there's a small overlap window. ### Dawn - 06:00:47, 06:03:49 — pre-sunrise shift - 06:39:20, 06:43:03 — second pair, full dawn ### Morning → midday - 08:23:32 - 09:40:45, 09:41:01, 09:47:11 — triple - 10:32:39, 10:33:08 - 11:31:55, 11:32:21 - 12:44:12 (20 s) ### Afternoon - 13:58:53, 14:00:23, 14:01:07 — triple - 15:24:02, 15:25:42, 15:26:01, 15:27:53, 15:29:05, 15:30:34 — **6 events in 6 minutes**. Either a parent doing repeated feeding shuttle, or a disturbance. Bigger sample needed. - 15:37:16, 15:52:46 - 16:23:15, 16:46:48, 16:48:53 - 17:30:50 ### Pre-dusk → dusk - 18:20:33 - 18:25:14, 18:27:23, 18:27:28, 18:28:13, 18:31:14, 18:32:15, 18:32:34 — **7 events in 7 min**, the second big cluster of the day. Likely the brooding parent settling for the night with a final-feeding flurry from the partner. - 19:10:54 ### 19:54 onward — Reolink takeover - 19:54:34 (Nest), 19:55:36 (Reolink) — both cameras saw this event; cameras now overlap - 19:55:36 → 19:55:58 (Reolink, 14 s): bird on nest, low incubation pose; PTZ panned mid-clip - 19:56:35 → 19:57:07 (Reolink, 32 s): same posture, second motion event 37 s after the first → **classic nest-relief** - 20:00:27, 20:01:24 → 20:01:58 (Reolink, 34 s): IR/night — brooding parent settled in for overnight - 20:03:09, 20:20:16, 20:27:36 — Nest cam's last events of its run **Headline**: feeding cadence held steady through the day; two notable activity clusters bookend the afternoon (15:24–15:30 and 18:25–18:32). Camera handoff from Nest → Reolink happened cleanly — both cameras captured the same 19:55 motion event from different angles. From here forward the Reolink is the primary view. --- ## Across the four days — *what we know* - **Species locked in: House Finch.** Casey's 25 Apr 16:06 close-up shows two pale-blue speckled eggs — diagnostic. - **Nest is active and incubating.** Bird present overnight on every day with clips, and present in dawn frames on each subsequent morning. No abandoned-nest signs. - **Two parents tag-teaming.** The repeating "three events in a minute" clusters and the dense 08:34–09:20 morning blocks both fit the male-bringing-food / female-incubating pattern characteristic of House Finches. The Wyze cam close-ups make this unambiguous. - **Hatch window estimate (revised with egg evidence)**: 2 eggs visible at 16:06 on 25 Apr. House Finch lays 1 egg/day until clutch is 4–5; full-time incubation usually starts at second-to-last egg. So last egg likely 27–28 Apr, hatch likely **9–12 May 2026**. - **Humans don't seem to bother them.** The 26 Apr 13:20 event with two people in the sunroom for ~10 minutes did not provoke abandonment. - **Most surprising**: how regular the cadence is. Even-spaced triples every ~1.5 hours during daytime is almost metronomic. - **Best raw footage** is the Wyze close-up cluster from 27 Apr morning (06:16 → 09:16). Highest resolution + clearest bird visibility of anything in the archive. --- ## Daily-story workflow — *what to do every day* The workflow Casey wants is "daily story" — one journal entry per day that summarizes the bird's day. Here's a proposed pattern that should hold up for the next few weeks: ### Inputs - Reolink-side: clips in `/media/family_nas_surveillance/sunroom_motion_*.mp4` (from the HA automation we just set up) - Anything Casey notices / observes / hears that I don't have on tape ### Daily process (run once per evening or the following morning) 1. **List** the day's clips by timestamp. 2. **Cluster** events that happen within ~3 min of each other into "scenes". This is the right granularity — individual motion events are too noisy. 3. **Sample** 2–3 frames per scene (or per long clip), with extra coverage of clusters and unusually long clips. 4. **Classify** each scene as one of: - `incubating` — bird visible on nest, no relief - `relief` — two events ≤ 2 min apart, bird visible in/around nest - `feeding` — three+ events ≤ 2 min apart, often with motion at the nest edge - `human` — humans visible (skip for journaling, just note) - `unknown` — visible motion but no clear bird/human 5. **Write** the day section using the structure above: dawn, morning, midday, afternoon, dusk/night. 6. **Mark milestones** — first chick visible, first feeding-of-chicks behavior (parent pulls food UP from nest cup vs setting it DOWN), fledgling activity. ### To make this fully automatic - **Pin the Reolink PTZ** to a single nest-framed preset and turn off auto-tracking on motion. Right now the camera pans mid-clip and frames don't compare apples-to-apples across days. - **Write a `daily-bird-story` script** (TypeScript on this machine) that: 1. Pulls each day's clips from the NAS share 2. Extracts keyframes via ffmpeg 3. Sends frames + the scene clustering to Claude (Inference.ts) for the same kind of writeup we did here 4. Appends to this `BIRD_JOURNAL.md` 5. Runs daily at e.g. 22:30 via cron on this Mac (or as a HA shell_command if you want it on the Pi) - **Optional**: pipe through Audio extraction too — House Finch song is much easier to ID by ear than visual ID at this resolution. Would be a quick add since the clips already have AAC audio. If you want me to build that script next, say the word and I'll wire it up so each evening you wake up to the next entry already drafted (then you can edit/approve before it's "final"). --- ## Watchlist — *things to look for in coming days* - **Hatching cue**: parent picking AT the nest (egg shells visible, brief flurry, then normal feeding). Estimated window 7 – 10 May. - **Chick visibility**: first feeding gape — open beak above the nest rim during a parent visit. - **Frequency increase**: feeding-cluster cadence will jump from ~1 per 1.5 hrs to ~3–5 per hour once chicks hatch. - **Fledging cue**: chicks visible on the rim, exercising wings, eventually a long-pause clip with no chicks in the nest. ~12–19 days after hatch, so estimated 19 May – 28 May. - **Predators / disturbances**: anything large at the window, cats inside the room, etc. Worth flagging immediately. ## 2026-04-27 (Monday) — Frequent breaks from incubation duties today. The female continues to incubate the clutch of five eggs, but her attendance is inconsistent. The day is characterized by alternating periods of attentive incubation and extended absences where the eggs are left uncovered. She settles in securely for the night after a day of intermittent activity. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:16** *(Dawn incubation)* — The female is settled low in the nest, incubating as the day begins. - **06:23** *(Incubation)* — She continues to incubate, briefly shifting to reveal several eggs. - **06:28** *(Morning break)* — The bird is observed leaving the nest, exposing the full clutch of five eggs. The nest remains empty for several minutes. - **07:34** *(Empty nest)* — The nest is documented as empty. - **08:33** *(Restless incubation)* — A flurry of activity shows the nest empty, then the female briefly returns, perches on the adjacent shelf, and departs again before finally settling back down to incubate. - **08:46** *(Empty nest)* — The nest is again seen empty. - **08:53** *(Incubation)* — The female is back in the nest cup, incubating. - **08:58** *(Incubation)* — She remains settled on the eggs with her head tucked. - **09:16** *(Incubation)* — The bird continues to sit low in the nest, covering the eggs. - **10:15** *(Mid-morning break)* — After a period of absence, a bird perches on a book directly above the nest before flying away, leaving the nest empty once more. - **10:35** *(Empty nest)* — The nest remains unattended. - **11:12** *(Brief incubation)* — The female arrives to incubate but departs again just over a minute later. - **11:54** *(Midday quiet)* — The nest is empty during the midday period. - **12:58** *(Afternoon incubation)* — After being empty, the nest is occupied again by the incubating female. - **14:11** *(Afternoon departure)* — A bird is seen near the nest and then flying away rapidly, leaving the eggs exposed. - **15:45** *(Extended afternoon absence)* — Multiple clips confirm the nest is empty for a prolonged period in the mid-afternoon. - **17:10** *(Late afternoon incubation)* — The female is back in the nest, incubating with her head tucked. - **21:21** *(Dusk settle)* — Infrared clips show the bird settled low in the nest cup for the night. ### Notes - The clutch size is confirmed at five eggs, visible during several of the female's departures. - The female's frequent and sometimes lengthy absences from the nest during daytime incubation are notable. - A faint human figure was detected in the background of a clip at 21:22. ## 2026-04-29 (Wednesday) — Male spends unusual time sitting in the nest. The day was marked by routine incubation, primarily by the female. However, the male took an unusually active role, sitting in the nest cup on several occasions, a behavior not typically seen. The pair also performed a clear incubation relief in the morning before settling into a quieter afternoon and evening rhythm. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:11–06:59** *(Dawn shift)* — The female is on the nest at first light, takes a brief break around 06:16, and returns by 06:38 to continue incubating. - **07:57–09:35** *(Morning incubation)* — The female incubates steadily through the mid-morning hours. - **10:33–10:36** *(Mid-morning relief)* — After the nest is left empty, the male arrives and briefly sits in the cup. The female returns shortly after, and he departs as she settles in to incubate. - **11:28–11:33** *(Male nest-sitting)* — The nest is empty for a few minutes before the male is again observed sitting alone in the nest cup. - **12:10–12:45** *(Midday visit)* — The male visits the incubating female. He is seen briefly in the nest cup, at the nest edge, and on the shelf below during this period. - **14:16–17:13** *(Afternoon incubation)* — The afternoon consists of long incubation sessions by the female, punctuated by a couple of short breaks where the nest is left empty. - **20:02** *(Dusk settle)* — The female is settled on the nest for the night, incubating. ### Notes - The male was observed sitting in the nest cup multiple times today (10:35, 11:33, 12:43), which is highly unusual for this species during incubation. - Several clips clearly show only two eggs in the nest, though other context suggests there may be more. This discrepancy should be monitored. ## 2026-04-30 (Thursday) — *A brief morning visit before an empty nest.* The day's activity begins with the male visiting the incubating female at the nest. A short while later, the female takes a break, leaving the single egg unattended in the nest cup. ### Scene-by-scene - **08:09** *(Morning visit)* — The female is incubating when the male arrives. He interacts with her on the nest before moving to perch on the nearby bookshelf. - **08:53** *(Incubation break)* — The nest is empty, revealing the single pale-blue speckled egg in the cup. ### Notes - The nest was observed empty for a period, with the egg left unattended. ## 2026-04-30 (Thursday) — Male takes several surprising turns on the eggs. The day is characterized by a steady rhythm of incubation, with the female taking regular, short breaks. The most notable activity is the male's unusual behavior; he is observed sitting in the nest cup on three separate occasions, a task typically handled exclusively by the female. The clutch remains stable at five eggs. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:13** *(dawn shift)* — The female is on the nest incubating as the day begins. - **08:09** *(morning visit)* — The male visits the nest, interacting briefly with the incubating female before perching on the nearby bookshelf. - **08:53** *(incubation break)* — The nest is left unattended for a short period. - **09:24** *(midday incubation)* — The female is back on the nest, and she alternates between incubating and taking short breaks for the next hour. - **10:09** *(male incubates)* — In an unusual turn, the male is seen sitting in the nest cup, appearing to incubate the eggs. - **10:15** *(female returns)* — The female is back on the nest, resuming her incubation duties. She continues to alternate on and off the nest through the late morning. - **11:21** *(male visit)* — The male visits again, perching beside the nest while the female incubates. - **12:18** *(nest relief)* — The male is briefly in the nest cup before the female arrives and takes over incubation duties. - **12:30** *(afternoon quiet)* — The female incubates steadily, taking several breaks where the nest is left empty for short intervals. - **14:14** *(long incubation stretch)* — For nearly three hours, the female incubates consistently with no recorded breaks. - **17:19** *(male incubates)* — The male is again observed sitting in the nest cup, his third time today. - **19:00** *(dusk incubation)* — The female is settled on the nest for the evening. - **19:45** *(evening break)* — The nest is briefly empty. - **20:00** *(dusk settle)* — After a short absence, the female returns to the nest to incubate. - **21:00** *(late evening break)* — The nest is left unattended for at least 30 minutes, which is unusual for this time of night. - **21:45** *(final settle)* — A bird, presumably the female, is back on the nest for the night. ### Notes - The male was observed sitting in the nest cup at 10:09, 12:18, and 17:19. This is highly unusual behavior and worth monitoring. - The clutch count remains stable at five eggs. - The nest was left empty for an extended period late in the evening (from at least 21:00 to 21:30). ## 2026-05-01 (Friday) — Male spends unusual time sitting in the nest. The day is marked by intermittent incubation from the female and highly unusual behavior from the male, who is seen sitting in the nest on multiple occasions. The nest is frequently left unattended, particularly during the overnight hours. The clutch of five eggs remains intact throughout the day. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00** *(overnight watch)* — The female's incubation is inconsistent through the night. She is present for some 15-minute intervals but leaves the five eggs exposed for long stretches, sometimes for an hour or more at a time. - **07:09** *(morning relief)* — After a period with the nest empty, the male arrives and briefly sits in the nest cup, followed by the female who takes over incubation duties. - **07:59** *(male nest-sitting)* — The male arrives at the empty nest and settles into the cup, remaining there for at least a minute. The female returns to incubate by 08:15. - **08:45** *(midday quiet)* — The nest is empty for a period before the female returns around 09:10. She then leaves again, and the nest remains empty for nearly three hours. - **11:53** *(male nest-sitting)* — The male arrives at the empty nest and settles in. By 12:00, the female is back in the nest incubating. - **13:08** *(afternoon shift)* — The female arrives at the empty nest. A minute later, the male is observed sitting in the nest cup. - **19:57** *(dusk settle)* — The female arrives at the nest and settles in for the evening. - **21:37** *(late evening absence)* — The nest is observed to be empty late in the evening, with all five eggs visible. ### Notes - The male is documented sitting in the nest cup on at least four separate occasions today. This is highly atypical behavior for a male House Finch during the incubation stage. - A single clip description at 13:08 mentions only two eggs are visible upon the female's arrival. All other clips throughout the day confirm the clutch size is five, so this is likely an observational anomaly due to camera angle. ## 2026-04-29 (Wednesday) — Steady incubation with brief breaks and a male visit. The female spent the vast majority of the day incubating the eggs, a pattern punctuated by several short breaks. The male made a notable appearance around midday, visiting the nest while she sat. The day concluded with the female settled on the nest for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:11–06:38** *(Dawn shift)* — The female is incubating at first light, takes a brief break leaving the two eggs exposed, and then returns to the nest. - **06:59–09:35** *(Morning incubation)* — The female sits steadily on the nest through the morning hours. - **10:33–10:36** *(Mid-morning relief)* — After the nest is briefly empty, the male visits and performs an exchange with the female as she returns to incubate. - **11:28–11:33** *(Midday break)* — The nest is left empty for a few minutes before the female returns to her duties. - **12:10–12:45** *(Male visit)* — While the female incubates, the male arrives to perch at the nest and on the shelf below for several minutes. - **14:16–15:28** *(Afternoon breaks)* — The female takes two short breaks from incubation, returning to the nest after each one. - **15:48–17:13** *(Late afternoon incubation)* — Incubation is consistent through the late afternoon. - **20:01–20:02** *(Dusk settle)* — The female is settled in the nest for the night. ### Notes - Several clips where the nest was empty only showed two eggs visible in the cup. - The vision system initially misidentified the incubating female as a male in multiple clips, which were later corrected. House Finch incubation is performed exclusively by the female. ## 2026-05-01 (Friday) — Female holds steady, taking regular incubation breaks. The female continues her steady incubation of the five eggs, following a consistent pattern of sitting on the nest punctuated by several breaks. Her routine was captured throughout the day and night, with motion cameras catching her returning to the nest. The male was also briefly spotted in the vicinity in the morning. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00 - 06:45** *(overnight incubation breaks)* — Throughout the night, the female alternates between incubating and taking breaks. The nest is left empty for periods ranging from 15 to 45 minutes at a time, with the five eggs visible under night vision. - **07:09 - 08:15** *(dawn relief and settle)* — After the nest is empty for over an hour, a motion-triggered event captures the male and female arriving near the nest. The female then settles in for a solid period of incubation. - **08:45 - 13:09** *(midday incubation and breaks)* — The female takes another break before returning to the nest around 09:07; the male is seen perched in the background during this return. She continues this pattern of leaving and returning to incubate through the late morning and early afternoon. - **19:57** *(dusk settle)* — Following a long gap in motion events, the female is recorded returning to the nest and settling in for the night. - **21:37** *(late evening break)* — The nest is observed to be empty again late in the evening. ### Notes - The clutch size remains stable at five eggs. - The female's pattern of leaving the eggs unattended for extended periods, even overnight, continues to be observed. - Two motion clips from late in the evening (22:15, 22:29) are missing descriptions, creating a gap in the record. ## 2026-04-30 (Thursday) — A steady rhythm of incubation and short breaks The female spent nearly the entire day incubating the clutch of five eggs. Her routine was consistent, involving long periods on the nest punctuated by short breaks for foraging. The male visited the nest area a couple of times, and one notable interaction saw him briefly in the nest cup just before the female returned to her duties. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:13** *(Dawn incubation)* — The female is already on the nest, incubating as the day begins. - **08:09** *(Morning visit)* — The male visits the nest, perching nearby while the female continues to incubate. - **08:53** *(Morning break)* — The nest is briefly empty, with the eggs visible in the cup. - **09:24** *(Incubation resumes)* — The female is back on the nest, settling in for a long stretch of incubation. - **10:09** *(Mid-morning routine)* — The female continues incubating, taking a few short breaks where the five eggs are visible. - **11:21** *(Male visit)* — While the female is incubating, the male arrives and perches beside the nest. - **12:00** *(Midday break)* — The nest is empty for a short period around noon. - **12:18** *(Nest changeover)* — The male is seen briefly in the nest cup before moving to the shelf, at which point the female immediately arrives and takes over incubation duties. - **12:30** *(Afternoon routine)* — The afternoon follows a steady pattern of the female incubating, interspersed with several short breaks where the nest is left empty. - **19:00** *(Dusk settle)* — The female is on the nest as evening approaches. She takes one last break around 19:45 before returning at 20:00 to settle in for the night. - **21:00** *(Late empty nest)* — Surprisingly, the nest is seen empty for three consecutive checks late in the evening. - **21:45** *(Night incubation)* — The female is back on the nest, presumably for the remainder of the night. ### Notes - The clutch count is consistently five eggs whenever the nest is empty. - The vision pass AI repeatedly misidentified the incubating female as a male, requiring manual correction. The bird on the nest was always the drabber female, as is typical for this species. - Several clips from 23:03 onward had missing descriptions, so the last confirmed activity was the female incubating at 21:45. ## 2026-04-30 (Thursday) — *A day of system failures; no observations.* A system-wide processing failure prevented the analysis of all video clips for the entire day. While cameras captured numerous motion-triggered and interval-based events, their content could not be determined. Consequently, there are no behavioral observations for the nest on this date. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:13 - 23:45** *(data unavailable)* — Throughout the day and night, dozens of clips were recorded, but a persistent error prevented any visual analysis. It is unknown what activity, if any, occurred at the nest. ### Notes - A complete failure of the vision analysis system occurred, affecting all 69 clips recorded today. This issue requires technical review to prevent future data loss. ## 2026-04-30 (Thursday) — A day of courtship feeding and steady incubation. The female spent nearly the entire day incubating, taking only a few short breaks. The male was an attentive partner, visiting the nest multiple times to deliver food directly to her. During one of her absences, the camera confirmed a full clutch of five eggs is now present in the nest. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:13** *(Dawn shift)* — The female is already settled in the nest cup as the day begins, visible in the early morning IR footage. - **08:09** *(Morning feeding)* — The male visits the nest with food, leaning in to feed the incubating female before he departs. - **08:53** *(Incubation break)* — The female takes a short break, revealing the eggs in the nest cup. - **09:24** *(Mid-morning routine)* — The female returns to incubate. During another brief absence around 9:45, five eggs are clearly visible for the first time. - **10:00** *(Steady incubation)* — For over an hour, the female incubates consistently, with only minor shifts in position. - **11:21** *(Midday feeding)* — The male arrives for another courtship feeding, perching beside the nest to provide food to the female. - **12:18** *(Afternoon feeding)* — After another period of steady incubation punctuated by a short break, the male makes a third feeding visit. - **12:30** *(Long afternoon watch)* — The female incubates without interruption for several hours through the afternoon. - **17:19** *(Late afternoon feeding)* — The male makes his final observed feeding visit of the day, perching on the nest rim. - **19:00** *(Dusk settle)* — The female continues incubating into the evening, taking one last short break before darkness falls. - **20:00** *(Overnight incubation)* — The female returns to the nest and settles in for the night, remaining a constant, low-contrast shape in the IR footage through to midnight. ### Notes - Clutch size is confirmed at five eggs. - The male continues courtship feeding, bringing food to the incubating female at least four times today. - One clip noted a bird in the cup with reddish plumage on head and chest — that's the male, not the female. Female House Finches do not have red wash. The brief cup visit was the male, not an unusual female variation. ## 2026-04-25 (Saturday) — *An afternoon of confusing egg counts.* Afternoon photos of the nest reveal a fluctuating and mysterious egg count, which appears to decrease before ultimately increasing to a total of four. The day ends quietly with the female returning to the nest cup to incubate the new clutch overnight. ### Scene-by-scene - **16:06** *(afternoon check)* — A series of photos taken of the empty nest show a conflicting egg count, with an initial image showing three eggs and subsequent images from the same minute showing only two. - **17:24** *(afternoon check)* — A later photo of the empty nest reveals the clutch has now increased to four pale-blue speckled eggs. - **21:13 - 22:16** *(overnight incubation)* — Night vision images confirm the female is settled in the nest cup, incubating the clutch for the night. ### Notes - The egg count is highly anomalous today. Photos at 16:06 show a count of three, then two. Just over an hour later, the clutch contains four eggs. ## 2026-04-26 (Sunday) — *A day of long absences and human activity.* The day began with a routine dawn incubation and a courtship feeding from the male. However, the female then spent significant portions of the morning and afternoon away from the nest, leaving the five eggs unattended for long stretches. Human activity was also noted near the nest in the early afternoon before she returned to settle in for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:22–06:42** *(dawn shift & feeding)* — The female is incubating in the pre-dawn hours, visible as a dark shape in the IR footage. The male arrives around 06:41 to deliver food before departing, leaving her on the nest. - **06:52–08:46** *(morning break)* — The nest is left empty for a period of over an hour and a half. The female returns to resume incubation just before 9 AM. - **09:39–12:41** *(long midday absence)* — The female departs again, leaving the five eggs exposed for nearly three hours. A bird perches on the bookshelf nearby during this time but does not enter the nest. She finally returns to the nest cup after 12:40 PM. - **13:07–13:30** *(afternoon disturbance)* — A brief period of activity sees both the male and female near the nest, but not consistently incubating. This is followed by several minutes of human presence in the room, with one person handling a cable near the bookshelf. The female returns to the nest at the end of this disturbance. - **14:02–17:14** *(patchy afternoon incubation)* — Incubation is inconsistent through the afternoon, with the nest observed empty multiple times between periods of the female sitting. - **18:55–20:03** *(settling for the night)* — After another period of absence in the early evening, the female returns around 19:09. She is seen off the nest again shortly after, but by 20:03 she has settled into the cup for the night. ### Notes - The five eggs were left unattended for several long periods today, most notably a nearly three-hour stretch in the late morning. - Human activity occurred in close proximity to the nest between 13:20 and 13:30. The female returned to incubate immediately following this. ## 2026-04-29 (Wednesday) — Incubation continues, punctuated by the male's visits. The female maintained a steady incubation rhythm, taking several short breaks throughout the day. The male was an active partner, visiting the nest on multiple occasions to provide courtship feedings. The day concluded quietly with the female settled on the two eggs for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:11** *(dawn incubation)* — The female is on the nest, incubating in the pre-dawn darkness. - **06:16–06:38** *(morning break)* — The nest is left empty for a period before the female returns to resume incubation. - **06:59–09:35** *(morning incubation)* — The female sits steadily on the nest through the morning hours, at one point tucking her head. - **10:33–10:36** *(mid-morning feeding)* — After a brief absence, the female returns. The male appears on the nearby shelf and delivers food to her at the nest. - **11:28–11:33** *(late morning feeding)* — The nest is briefly empty again. The male is then seen on the nest rim, performing another courtship feeding. - **12:10–12:45** *(midday feeding)* — Following a period of quiet incubation, the male arrives once more to feed the female on the nest. - **14:16–17:13** *(afternoon incubation)* — The female takes a couple of short breaks but spends the majority of the afternoon incubating. - **20:01–20:02** *(dusk settle)* — In the evening darkness, the female is settled firmly in the nest cup for the night. ### Notes - The male was observed performing courtship feeding at least three separate times (around 10:36, 11:33, and 12:44). - The clutch size remains stable at two eggs. - A clip at 10:35 noted the departing, incubating bird had red plumage but was identified as female because males do not incubate. This is an unusual coloration observation. ## 2026-05-01 (Friday) — Steady incubation punctuated by the male's courtship feedings. The female remains dedicated to incubation, spending nearly the entire day and night on the nest. Her long shifts are broken by a few brief morning breaks and several visits from the male, who delivers food directly to her. The day concludes as it began, with the female settled in for another long night on the eggs. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00** *(overnight incubation)* — The female incubates continuously through the night, visible as a still, rounded shape in the infrared footage. - **06:30** *(dawn shift change)* — The female takes her first break around 06:30, leaving the nest empty. After a brief return, the male visits the empty nest just before the female comes back to resume incubation around 07:09. - **08:00** *(morning feeding)* — After another short break where the eggs are visible, the male arrives at the nest rim to deliver a courtship feeding to the incubating female. - **08:45** *(mid-morning incubation)* — Incubation continues through the morning, with one observed break. The male is also seen perched nearby in the sunroom later in the hour, though not at the nest. - **11:53** *(midday feeding)* — The male arrives for another courtship feeding, bringing food to the female as she sits on the nest. - **13:08** *(afternoon shift)* — Following an unobserved break, the female returns to the nest to resume her incubation duties for the afternoon. - **19:57** *(dusk settle)* — As evening falls and the camera switches to IR, the female is settled in the nest cup for the night, where she remains still. ### Notes - Courtship feeding is observed multiple times today, with the male bringing food directly to the incubating female at the nest. - Five eggs are clearly visible in the nest cup during the female's brief absences. ## 2026-04-27 (Monday) — Male brings meals as incubation continues. The female maintained a steady incubation rhythm, taking several breaks throughout the day to leave the five eggs unattended. The male proved to be an attentive partner, visiting the nest area multiple times and delivering food directly to the female on at least two occasions. As evening fell, the female settled onto the nest for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:16** *(Dawn incubation)* — The female is on the nest incubating as the day begins, shifting her position occasionally. - **06:28** *(Morning relief)* — The female takes a break from incubation, departing the nest. Another bird is briefly seen perched below the nest as she leaves. - **07:34** *(Nest empty)* — The nest is empty, with all five eggs visible in the cup. - **08:33** *(Morning transition)* — A period of frequent activity shows the nest empty, followed by the female's return to incubate. Conflicting camera views suggest she may have arrived and departed several times in quick succession. - **08:46** *(Mid-morning incubation)* — The female is seen incubating for a solid stretch, though the nest is also observed empty for brief periods. - **10:15** *(Male visit & feeding)* — The male is seen near the empty nest. Shortly after, he returns to feed the female while she is incubating in the nest cup. - **10:35** *(Late morning incubation)* — The female continues her incubation duties, taking another short break before settling back onto the eggs. - **11:34** *(Midday incubation)* — The female is settled in the nest cup, incubating steadily through the midday period. - **11:54** *(Nest empty)* — The nest is briefly observed to be empty. - **12:56** *(Afternoon transition)* — After a period of incubation, the female takes a short break before returning to the nest. - **14:07** *(Afternoon relief)* — The female is seen incubating before leaving the nest empty. A bird perches on an adjacent book before she returns to the cup. - **14:39** *(Incubation continues)* — The female is sitting on the nest. - **15:43** *(Second feeding)* — The male arrives to feed the incubating female. Soon after his visit, she departs the nest, leaving the eggs exposed. - **16:26** *(Late afternoon incubation)* — The female is back on the nest, incubating through the late afternoon. - **21:21** *(Dusk settle)* — Well after dark, the female is settled in the nest cup for the night, visible via the infrared camera. ### Notes - The male was observed feeding the female on the nest on two separate occasions (10:17 and 15:45). - The clutch count remains stable at five eggs. ## 2026-04-28 (Tuesday) — Incubation Continues Amidst Human Activity and Male Visits The female House Finch diligently incubated her five eggs throughout the day, taking several breaks. A male was observed twice near the nest, possibly for a relief attempt. A notable event was a period of human presence near the nest, interacting with devices and the camera. Despite these interruptions and some camera visibility issues, the female returned to incubate, settling in for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:00** *Dawn Incubation* — The female was present in the nest cup, incubating eggs. - **06:39** *Morning Break* — The nest cup was empty, revealing five pale-blue speckled eggs. - **08:23** *Incubation Resumes* — The female returned to the nest and settled in to incubate. - **09:40** *Male Visit* — The female was incubating, then briefly departed. A male House Finch with red plumage was observed on the nest rim. - **09:47** *Nest Empty* — The nest cup remained empty. - **10:32** *Mid-morning Relief* — After a period of absence, the female arrived at the nest rim. - **11:31** *Midday Break* — The nest cup was empty, with five eggs clearly visible. - **12:44** *Incubation Resumes* — A finch arrived at the nest and settled into the cup to incubate. - **13:58** *Afternoon Break & Male Sighting* — The nest was empty, then a male was briefly seen near the nest on the bookshelf, followed by the female returning to incubate. - **15:24** *Human Presence & Disturbance* — The female was incubating, but a human male was observed very close to the nest, interacting with a device and the camera. The nest then appeared empty, with some camera views becoming obscured. - **15:37** *Post-disturbance Empty* — The nest cup was visible and empty. - **15:52** *Camera Obscured* — The nest was not visible in these frames. - **16:46** *Brief Departure & Return* — The female arrived, departed briefly, and then returned to incubate. - **16:53** *Consistent Incubation* — The female was consistently incubating in the nest cup. - **17:30** *Evening Break* — The nest cup was empty, with five eggs visible. - **17:48** *Empty Nest & Obscured View* — The nest was empty, then became partially obscured. - **18:20** *Empty Nest* — The nest cup was empty. - **18:23** *Extended Empty Period & Human Presence* — The nest was empty for an extended period, interspersed with multiple clips where the nest was not visible or frames were blurry. A human was also observed near the nest during this time. Five eggs were visible when the nest was clear. - **18:35** *Nest Empty* — The nest cup was empty, with eggs visible. - **19:08** *Evening Incubation Begins* — The female was incubating, though the nest view became unclear in a later clip. - **19:18** *Continuous Evening Incubation* — The female was consistently incubating, with some brief moments of unclear camera views. - **20:20** *Dark & Unclear* — Frames were too dark to discern any activity. - **20:27** *Late Evening Relief* — The nest was empty, then the female arrived and settled in to incubate for the night. - **21:25** *Nighttime Incubation* — The female remained in the nest, incubating through the night, with some camera pans away from the nest. - **22:10** *Deep Night Incubation* — The female continued to incubate, with some camera views panning away from the nest. ### Notes - Five pale-blue speckled eggs were consistently visible when the nest was empty. - A male House Finch was observed twice near the nest rim or on the bookshelf. - Significant human presence and interaction with a device and the camera near the nest occurred in the afternoon (around 15:24) and early evening (around 18:30). - Several clips throughout the day suffered from camera visibility issues, including the nest not being visible, blurry frames, or darkness. ## 2026-05-02 (Saturday) — Steady incubation punctuated by a feeding and human interaction. The female spends most of the day incubating, taking several short breaks. The male visits once in the afternoon for a courtship feeding. A human interaction near the nest in the late afternoon causes a brief disturbance, but the female returns and settles in for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **10:55** *(mid-morning incubation)* — The female is sitting on the nest. - **11:52** *(incubation break)* — The nest is briefly empty, revealing one egg, before the female returns to resume incubation. - **12:34** *(midday incubation)* — The female continues to incubate the eggs. - **13:50** *(courtship feeding)* — The male arrives, perching on the books beside the nest to deliver food to the incubating female. - **13:58** *(post-feeding settle)* — The female is settled back on the nest after the feeding. - **17:11** *(afternoon break)* — The nest is empty, with eggs visible. - **17:21** *(human visit)* — A human is visible near the nest area, which is empty of birds at the time. - **17:41** *(return to nest)* — Following the disturbance, the female is back on the nest incubating. - **18:40** *(evening break)* — The nest is empty again, with the male visible nearby. The female returns to the nest within two minutes. - **19:12** *(brief absence)* — The nest is empty, showing five pale-blue speckled eggs. - **19:16** *(dusk settle)* — The female returns to the nest and settles in. - **19:54** *(overnight incubation)* — The female remains on the nest continuously as evening progresses. She shifts her position occasionally, and the camera switches to IR mode as darkness falls. ### Notes - The incubating female exhibits some red plumage on her head and chest, which is more typical of males. - A human was present near the nest around 17:22. - One camera clip at 17:22 was blurry and had a corrupted timestamp, showing a date of 2026-05-07. - A clear view of the nest at 19:12 confirms a clutch size of five eggs. ## 2026-04-25 (Saturday) — An afternoon check reveals a missing egg. Afternoon observations found the nest unattended by the parents. A close inspection during this time revealed a startling change: one of the three eggs has disappeared, leaving only two. The female returned after dark to resume her incubation duties for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **16:06** *(human visit)* — A series of photos taken during a check-in documents the disappearance of an egg. The first image shows three eggs, but photos taken just seconds later show only two remaining in the cup. - **17:24** *(human visit)* — A later check confirms the nest is still empty of adults. - **21:13** *(dusk settle)* — An infrared photo shows the female has returned to the nest and is incubating the remaining eggs. - **22:16** *(overnight incubation)* — A different camera confirms the female is settled in the nest cup for the night. ### Notes - One egg disappeared between 16:06:01 and 16:06:20. The cause is unknown. ## 2026-04-26 (Sunday) — A day of long breaks and human proximity The female continues incubating the five eggs, but takes several extended breaks, leaving the nest empty for long stretches of the day. The male makes a single brief visit in the morning. In the early afternoon, a human is present in the room, working near the bookshelf and holding a device close to the nest before the female returns. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:22** *(dawn shift)* — The female is incubating in the pre-dawn darkness. The male arrives around 06:41, perching on a book near the nest before departing. - **06:52** *(long morning break)* — The nest is left empty for nearly three hours. The five pale-blue speckled eggs are clearly visible. The female finally returns to the nest area at 09:40. - **10:05** *(midday incubation)* — After another break, the female is back incubating by 11:19. A second bird briefly perches on the nest rim while she is sitting. - **12:13** *(lunchtime return)* — The nest is empty again for a period before the female returns to settle on the eggs just after noon. - **13:07** *(human visit)* — The nest is empty when a human becomes visible in the background. Between 13:25 and 13:29, a person is active near the bookshelf, at one point holding a white device near the nest. The female returns to incubate at 13:30, immediately after the activity ceases. - **14:02** *(afternoon incubation)* — The female takes another break but is back on the nest by 14:17, incubating through the mid-afternoon. - **16:59** *(evening break)* — The nest is empty for over two hours. The female makes a brief, unsettled return at 19:09 before leaving again. - **20:03** *(dusk settle)* — The female is settled in the nest cup for the night, visible in the infrared light. ### Notes - A human was active near the nest between 13:25 and 13:29, holding a device in close proximity to the eggs. The female returned to incubate shortly after. - The female took multiple extended incubation breaks today, leaving the eggs unattended for several hours at a time. - An unidentified second bird briefly visited the nest rim at 11:19 while the female was incubating. ## 2026-04-25 (Saturday) — *An afternoon of egg-counting confusion before settling in.* The nest was empty during several afternoon checks, with photos showing a fluctuating number of eggs before settling at a total of four. As evening arrived, the female returned to the nest and began incubating for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **16:06** *(afternoon check)* — A series of photos shows the nest is empty. The visible egg count is inconsistent across these images, first showing three eggs and then two. - **17:24** *(afternoon check)* — A later photo of the empty nest reveals that it now contains four pale-blue speckled eggs. - **21:13** *(dusk settle)* — An infrared photo confirms the female is in the nest cup, settled for overnight incubation. - **22:16** *(overnight incubation)* — Footage from a second camera confirms the female remains tucked into the nest, incubating through the night. ### Notes - The egg count was highly anomalous this afternoon, appearing as three, then two, and finally four over the course of about an hour. - The female is now incubating overnight, a key milestone. ## 2026-04-26 (Sunday) — A day of long breaks and brief male visits. The female takes several long breaks from incubation today, leaving the five eggs unattended for extended periods. The male visits the nest area multiple times while she is away, perching briefly on the rim or nearby shelves. Following a period of human activity in the room this afternoon, the female returns and settles on the nest for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:22** *(dawn incubation)* — The female is on the nest incubating as the day begins, visible in infrared light. - **06:41** *(male visit)* — The male makes a brief appearance, perching on the books above and the shelf below the empty nest. - **06:52** *(morning absence)* — The nest remains empty for over an hour and a half, with the five eggs visible. The female returns to resume incubation at 08:46. - **09:39** *(mid-morning absence)* — After another break, the nest is empty again. The male pays another quick visit to the bookshelf area. - **11:19** *(male visit)* — During another period of absence, the male briefly lands on the nest rim. - **12:13** *(midday return)* — The female returns to the nest twice to incubate over the lunch hour. - **13:07** *(afternoon absence & male visit)* — The nest is empty again. The male visits the nest rim for a moment before flying away. - **13:20** *(human visit)* — One and then two people are active in the room for about ten minutes. The female is absent during this time, returning to incubate just as the activity ceases. - **14:02** *(afternoon incubation)* — The female incubates for much of the afternoon, with at least one short break observed. - **16:59** *(evening absence)* — The nest is left empty for another long stretch of over two hours in the late afternoon and early evening. - **19:09** *(dusk settle)* — The female returns to the nest for the evening. After one last brief departure, she settles in to incubate for the night, visible in the IR camera feed. ### Notes - The female is taking frequent and lengthy breaks from incubation throughout the day. - The male continues to visit the nest area, but is not observed directly feeding the female on the nest. His visits often coincide with her absences. - Human activity in the room occurred for approximately 10 minutes in the early afternoon. The birds were not present during this time. - The clutch size remains stable at five eggs. ## 2026-04-27 (Monday) — Steady incubation punctuated by male courtship visits. The female maintained a consistent incubation schedule for the five eggs, taking several short breaks throughout the day. The male was a regular presence, visiting the nest area frequently and delivering food to the female on at least three separate occasions. The day concluded with the female settled securely on the nest for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:16** *(dawn incubation)* — The female is incubating as the morning begins, shifting her position occasionally. - **06:28** *(dawn feeding)* — The male visits the nest area, and a courtship feeding occurs. The female then departs for a short break, leaving the five eggs exposed. - **07:34** *(incubation break)* — The nest is empty, with all five eggs visible. - **08:33** *(morning feeding cluster)* — After a period with the nest empty, the male is seen near the nest. The female returns, and a second courtship feeding is inferred as the male is present. - **08:46** *(incubation break)* — The nest is empty again. - **08:53** *(morning incubation)* — The female is back on the nest, incubating steadily. - **09:15** *(return to nest)* — Following a brief period with the nest empty, the female returns to resume incubation. - **10:15** *(mid-morning feeding)* — The male is seen perching near the empty nest. Shortly after, the female is in the nest cup as the male perches beside her in a clear courtship feeding event. - **10:35** *(incubation break)* — The nest is empty. - **10:40** *(midday incubation)* — The female is back on the nest. - **11:11** *(return to nest)* — The nest is empty for a few minutes before the female returns to incubate. - **11:34** *(midday incubation)* — A solid period of incubation is observed across several clips. - **11:54** *(incubation break)* — The nest is briefly empty. - **12:41** *(midday incubation)* — The female is incubating. - **12:56** *(afternoon activity)* — The nest is empty, and the male visits the bookshelf nearby. The female returns to the nest shortly after. - **14:07** *(afternoon incubation)* — The female incubates steadily. - **14:11** *(afternoon shift change)* — After a brief break where the nest is empty, the female returns to settle on the eggs. - **14:39** *(afternoon incubation)* — The female continues to incubate. - **15:43** *(afternoon feeding)* — The female is incubating, takes a break while the male visits the area, and then another likely courtship feeding occurs with both birds present at the nest. - **16:26** *(late afternoon incubation)* — The female is on the nest. - **17:10** *(brief incubation)* — The female arrives at the nest, sits for a short time, and then departs again. - **21:21** *(dusk settle)* — The female is settled deep in the nest cup for the night, visible in the infrared light. ### Notes - Clutch size remains stable at five eggs. - The male's courtship feeding is a consistent and recurring behavior, observed multiple times throughout the day. ## 2026-04-27 (Monday) — *Male visits punctuate a day of steady incubation.* The female spends the day diligently incubating the clutch of five eggs, taking several short breaks. The male is a frequent visitor to the bookshelf, often perching near the nest while she is away in behavior consistent with courtship feeding. As evening falls, the female settles in to incubate through the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:16** *(dawn incubation)* — The female is incubating in the pre-dawn darkness, shifting her position occasionally. - **06:28** *(dawn feeding & relief)* — The male visits the nest area. The female departs shortly after, leaving the five eggs exposed before returning to the nest. - **07:34** *(incubation break)* — The nest is empty, with all five eggs visible. - **08:33** *(morning activity cluster)* — The nest is left unattended for several minutes. The male visits the bookshelf, and the female is seen arriving and departing before finally settling back down to incubate. - **08:53** *(mid-morning incubation)* — The female remains settled on the nest, with only brief breaks where the nest is left empty. - **10:15** *(courtship feeding)* — The male, showing his red plumage, visits the bookshelf near the empty nest. The female is later seen incubating while he perches on the shelf below. - **10:35** *(incubation break)* — The nest is empty, with the five eggs visible. - **11:11** *(male visit & return)* — The male perches on the shelf below the empty nest. The female returns to incubate shortly thereafter. - **11:34** *(midday quiet)* — The female incubates steadily for a period through the late morning. - **12:41** *(afternoon incubation)* — Following a break, the female is back on the nest incubating. - **12:56** *(afternoon feeding visit)* — The male visits the nest area, perching on a book and the nest rim while the nest is empty. The female is recorded departing during this time. - **14:07** *(afternoon incubation)* — The female is settled on the nest. - **14:11** *(male visit & return)* — The male visits the shelf while the nest is empty. The female is recorded returning to the nest to resume incubation. - **15:43** *(late afternoon feeding visit)* — After a period of incubation, the female leaves the nest. The male is then seen perching on the bookshelf nearby. - **16:26** *(dusk settle)* — The female is on the nest, incubating as the afternoon light fades. - **21:21** *(overnight incubation)* — In infrared video, the female is settled deep in the nest cup for the night. ### Notes - The clutch size remains stable at five eggs. One clip briefly appeared to show four, but this is likely due to an egg being obscured from the camera's view. - The male's consistent visits to the nest area while the female is on break are characteristic of courtship feeding behavior, where he provides food for her away from the nest. ## 2026-04-28 (Tuesday) — Long incubation breaks, male check-ins, and human activity. The female took several extended breaks from incubation, leaving the five eggs unattended for long periods during the day. The male visited the empty nest on multiple occasions, perching nearby but not interacting with the female. The afternoon and evening also saw two separate instances of human activity near the nest, after which the female returned to settle in for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:00** *(Pre-dawn incubation)* — The female is incubating in the dark, visible in the IR frames. - **06:39** *(Morning break)* — The female leaves the nest, which remains empty with eggs visible for nearly two hours. She returns to resume incubation at 08:23. - **09:40** *(Male visits)* — The male visits the empty nest twice, perching on a bar above it and on the nest rim. - **11:31** *(Midday incubation)* — The female is incubating, though the nest is seen empty for a brief period. - **14:00** *(Afternoon male visit)* — The male appears again, perching on the shelf next to the empty nest. - **15:24** *(Human visit)* — A human is present near the bookshelf for several minutes, interacting with the camera while the nest is empty. - **16:46** *(Afternoon shift change)* — The female is seen leaving and then returning to the nest to incubate. - **17:30** *(Evening disturbance)* — The nest is left empty again. A second period of human activity is recorded near the nest around 18:30. - **18:35** *(Dusk settle)* — The female returns to the nest. After one more short break around 19:56, she settles in for continuous overnight incubation. ### Notes - The eggs were left unattended for multiple long stretches today, including a period of nearly two hours in the morning. - The male visited the nest site three times while the female was away. These were not courtship feedings, as the nest was empty. - Two separate human disturbances occurred near the nest in the afternoon and early evening. - The clutch count remains stable at five eggs. ## 2026-04-29 (Wednesday) — *Steady incubation punctuated by male courtship feeding visits.* The female remains dedicated to incubation, spending the majority of the day on the nest. She takes several short breaks for foraging, leaving the eggs unattended for brief periods. The male makes multiple visits throughout the day, often perching on the rim or a nearby shelf in what appears to be courtship feeding behavior. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:11** *(Dawn shift)* — The female is incubating in the nest as the camera transitions from infrared to color at sunrise. - **06:16** *(Morning break)* — The nest is briefly empty, revealing two pale-blue speckled eggs. - **06:36** *(Female returns)* — After a short period with the nest empty, the female returns and settles back down to incubate. - **06:59** *(Incubation)* — The female is settled in the nest cup, incubating. - **07:57** *(Incubation)* — The female continues to incubate steadily. - **09:35** *(Male visit)* — The male makes a very brief appearance near the nest before departing. - **10:33** *(Unusual male behavior)* — The nest is empty, then the male arrives and sits directly in the nest cup, an unusual act for a male during incubation. He then moves to the window sill, and the female returns shortly after. - **11:28** *(Midday break)* — The nest is empty again for a short time. - **11:32** *(Male visit & egg count change)* — While the nest is empty, three eggs are visible. The male then arrives to visit the female, who is back on the nest. - **12:10** *(Incubation)* — The female is incubating. - **12:24** *(Incubation)* — The female continues her incubation duties. - **12:43** *(Afternoon feeding visit)* — The male visits while the female is incubating, perching on the shelf below and then on the nest rim beside her. - **14:16** *(Afternoon break)* — The nest is empty, with two eggs visible. - **14:48** *(Incubation)* — The female is back on the nest. - **15:10** *(Afternoon break)* — The nest is again empty, showing two eggs. - **15:28** *(Incubation)* — The female is settled in the nest cup. - **15:48** *(Incubation)* — The female continues to incubate through the afternoon. - **15:54** *(Incubation)* — The female remains on the nest. - **17:13** *(Incubation)* — The female is still incubating as evening approaches. - **20:01** *(Dusk settle)* — The female is settled in the nest for the night, visible in the monochrome infrared view. ### Notes - **Egg Count Discrepancy:** The visible egg count fluctuates. Most clips of the empty nest show two eggs, but the clip at 11:32:11 clearly shows three. This suggests a third egg may have been laid overnight or this morning. - **Unusual Male Behavior:** At 10:35:46, the male was observed sitting inside the nest cup, which is highly atypical as males do not incubate. This event is worth noting for behavioral analysis. ## 2026-04-28 (Tuesday) — Male visits and human disturbances punctuate incubation. The female takes several long breaks from incubation, leaving the five eggs unattended for extended periods. The male visits the nest multiple times throughout the day, but always finds it empty. Two separate human visits occur near the nest in the afternoon before the female returns to settle in for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:00** *(dawn shift)* — The female is incubating in the pre-dawn darkness but departs sometime before 06:39, leaving the nest empty. - **08:23** *(incubation resumes)* — After a long morning break, the female returns to the nest and settles on the eggs to resume incubation. - **09:40** *(male visit)* — The male arrives at the empty nest, perching on a bar above it and then on the rim. - **10:32** *(male visit)* — The male makes another brief visit, appearing on the rim of the empty nest. - **11:31** *(midday shift)* — The female is seen incubating, but the nest is empty again a minute later. - **12:44** *(incubation)* — The female is back in the nest cup, incubating. - **13:58** *(male visit)* — The nest is empty when the male arrives, perching on the shelf next to the nest for a few minutes. - **15:24** *(human visit)* — A human is present near the nest for over six minutes, interacting with the camera while the nest is empty. - **16:23** *(afternoon quiet)* — The nest remains empty through the mid-afternoon. The female is recorded leaving at 16:46. - **16:53** *(afternoon incubation)* — The female returns to the nest and settles in to incubate for the next half-hour. - **17:30** *(pre-dusk break)* — The nest is empty again for nearly an hour. - **18:23** *(human visit)* — A second period of human activity occurs near the empty nest, with a hand visible near the nest cup at one point. - **19:08** *(dusk settle)* — The female returns to the nest and begins incubating for the evening. - **19:54** *(overnight incubation)* — Despite some conflicting camera views showing an empty nest, the female is consistently recorded incubating as darkness falls. She remains settled in the nest cup through the late evening. ### Notes - A single clip at 18:35 reports only two eggs are visible, while all other clips clearly show five. This is likely an image artifact or partial view of the nest cup. - The male made at least three courtship visits today (09:40, 10:32, 13:58), but the female was absent from the nest each time. - Two significant human disturbances occurred near the nest while it was unoccupied. ## 2026-04-29 (Wednesday) — Courtship feeding and a clutch of three. The day was marked by the male's frequent visits to the nest to feed the incubating female. In between these courtship feedings and the female's short breaks, a third egg appeared in the nest cup. The female settled in for the night, continuing her incubation duties. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:11–06:38** *(Dawn routine)* — The female incubates at first light, takes a twenty-minute break where two eggs are visible, and then returns to the nest. - **06:59–09:35** *(Morning incubation & feeding)* — The female incubates steadily for several hours. The male arrives for a quick courtship feeding around 09:35. - **10:33–10:36** *(Unusual male behavior)* — The male visits again for a feeding. During this visit, he is observed sitting directly in the nest cup, which is highly unusual behavior while the female is nearby. - **11:28–11:33** *(Third egg appears)* — After a short break, the nest is seen to contain three eggs. The male visits shortly after, peering into the nest cup. - **12:10–12:45** *(Midday incubation and feeding)* — The female incubates for a long stretch. The male visits again around 12:44, perching on the nest rim and nearby shelf to attend to the female. - **14:16–17:13** *(Afternoon routine)* — The afternoon consists of long incubation periods by the female, interspersed with brief breaks. During these breaks, only two eggs are visible in the nest. - **20:01–20:02** *(Dusk settle)* — The female is settled on the nest for the night, continuing incubation. ### Notes - A third egg was observed for the first time at 11:32. However, subsequent clips of the empty nest at 14:16 and 15:10 only show two eggs visible. This could be due to egg positioning or an observational discrepancy. - The male was observed sitting directly in the nest cup at 10:35, a highly unusual behavior for this species during the incubation phase. ## 2026-04-30 (Thursday) — Male visits punctuate a long day of incubation. The female spends the vast majority of the day incubating the five eggs, a pattern broken by several short personal breaks and visits from the male. He appears at the nest multiple times, often while she is sitting. The day concludes with the female settling onto the nest for the night just as the camera switches to infrared mode. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:13** *(dawn shift)* — The female is already incubating in the nest as the day begins. - **08:09–08:53** *(morning male visits)* — The male visits the nest area. During his first appearance, the female arrives and settles into the cup while he is present; later, he is seen on the shelf below the empty nest. - **09:24–10:25** *(morning incubation)* — The female alternates between incubating and taking breaks, leaving the five eggs visible in the nest cup during her absences. - **10:30–12:18** *(midday incubation & visits)* — A long period of steady incubation is interrupted by two visits from the male, who perches near the nest while the female is sitting. - **12:30–17:19** *(afternoon incubation & visit)* — The female incubates consistently through the afternoon, with only a few short breaks noted. The male makes one more visit late in the afternoon, perching on the nest rim while the cup is empty. - **19:00–19:45** *(evening routine)* — She is back on the nest in the early evening but takes at least one more short break, leaving the eggs exposed. - **20:00–23:45** *(dusk settle & overnight)* — The female returns to the nest around 20:00 and settles in for the night. She remains incubating through the late evening, as seen in infrared frames. ### Notes - The clutch size is confirmed at five eggs during multiple periods when the nest is empty. - The male makes at least five distinct visits to the nest area throughout the day. - The camera switches to infrared mode for overnight observation around 20:00. ## 2026-04-30 (Thursday) — *A quiet day of incubation, punctuated by male visits.* The day followed a steady rhythm of incubation, with the female spending nearly all her time on the eggs. She took several short breaks, primarily in the morning and midday. The male was a frequent visitor before noon, checking in on the nest and his mate. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:13** *(Dawn incubation)* — The female is already on the nest, incubating in the monochrome light of early morning. - **08:09–08:53** *(Morning male visits)* — The male makes two visits to the nest area. During the first, the female returns to the nest to join him. During the second, he perches near the empty nest cup. - **09:24–10:45** *(Mid-morning incubation)* — The female incubates diligently, with a few brief breaks where the eggs are left unattended. The male makes another quick appearance at the empty nest around 10:09. - **11:21–12:45** *(Midday activity)* — Incubation continues, interrupted by two more male visits. He appears at the nest rim while she is incubating and later perches on the shelf below. - **13:00–17:19** *(Afternoon incubation)* — The female settles in for a long, uninterrupted session on the nest, remaining steadfast throughout the afternoon. - **19:00–19:45** *(Dusk settle)* — As evening arrives, the female continues incubating, taking one last short break before settling in for the night. - **20:00–23:45** *(Overnight incubation)* — The camera switches to night vision, capturing the female as she incubates steadily through the late evening hours. ### Notes - The clutch size is confirmed at five eggs, seen clearly during an incubation break at 12:45. - An observation at 17:19 notes some reddish plumage on the incubating female, which is an interesting coloration. ## 2026-05-01 (Friday) — Male visits bring food and a surprising nest-sit. The day was characterized by long, quiet periods of incubation, punctuated by several notable visits from the male. He provided courtship feedings and, in a highly unusual turn, was twice observed sitting directly in the nest cup himself. The female's routine of overnight incubation and short daytime breaks otherwise continued as normal. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00** *(overnight incubation)* — The female incubates steadily throughout the night, visible as a low-contrast shape in the monochrome IR footage. - **06:30** *(dawn break)* — Just after dawn, the female leaves the nest for a break, revealing the five speckled eggs in the cup. - **07:09** *(morning feeding)* — The male arrives to feed the female on the nest. She remains incubating after he departs. - **08:30** *(mid-morning break)* — The female takes another short break, leaving the nest empty for a brief period. - **09:07** *(incubation resumes)* — The female is back on the nest incubating. The male is briefly spotted perched on a fixture in the background. - **11:53** *(unusual male behavior)* — In a surprising event, the male is seen sitting directly in the nest cup. By noon, the female is back on the nest incubating. - **13:08** *(afternoon relief)* — The female returns to the nest after an absence. The male is again seen sitting in the nest cup around this time. - **19:57** *(dusk settle)* — After a long, quiet afternoon with no motion detected, the female returns to the nest to settle in for the night. - **21:37** *(night incubation)* — The female is settled deep in the cup, incubating through the late evening hours. ### Notes - The male was observed sitting in the nest cup on at least two occasions (11:53 and 13:09). This is highly unusual behavior for a male House Finch during the incubation period. - The clutch count remains stable at five eggs. ## 2026-05-02 (Saturday) — Human visit disrupts incubation; clutch grows to five. The day is characterized by steady incubation from the female, punctuated by several courtship visits from the male. A significant human disturbance occurs in the late afternoon while the nest is unattended, followed by a surprising increase in the egg count. The female settles in for the night, incubating a new total of five eggs. ### Scene-by-scene - **10:55** *(Male visit)* — The male perches beside the nest while the female is presumably incubating. - **11:52** *(Incubation break)* — The female takes a short two-minute break from incubation, leaving the nest empty before returning to her duties. - **12:34** *(Male visit)* — The male visits again, perching near the nest. - **13:50** *(Midday quiet)* — The male perches on a nearby book as the female continues to incubate. A few minutes later, she is seen incubating alone. - **17:11** *(Male visit)* — While the nest is empty with two eggs visible, the male is seen perched in the background. - **17:21** *(Human visit)* — A human is present near the empty nest, which now contains three eggs. The presence is recorded as a disturbance, and a subsequent clip shows only two eggs. - **17:41** *(Incubation resumes)* — The female returns to the nest and resumes incubation following the disturbance. - **18:40** *(Male visit & return)* — The male is present near the empty nest, which contains two eggs. The female returns shortly after and settles in. - **19:12** *(Egg count update)* — The nest is briefly seen empty, now clearly holding five pale-blue speckled eggs. - **19:16** *(Dusk settle)* — The female returns to the nest and settles over the five eggs to begin her overnight incubation. - **19:54** *(Night incubation)* — Multiple clips throughout the late evening confirm the female is settled deeply in the nest, incubating continuously as night falls and the camera switches to IR. ### Notes - **Human Disturbance:** A human was present near the nest between 17:21 and 17:22, while the female was away. - **Anomalous Egg Count:** The egg count fluctuated significantly. The clutch grew from two eggs (17:11) to three (17:21). During the human visit, the count was recorded as both three and two. By 19:12, the clutch size had jumped to five eggs. This rapid increase from two to five in under an hour is highly unusual and should be reviewed. ## 2026-05-01 (Friday) — Steady incubation punctuated by the male's visits. The female maintained a consistent incubation schedule throughout the day, starting with an unbroken overnight session. She took several short breaks during the morning and afternoon, and the male was seen visiting the nest on multiple occasions to provide courtship feedings. By dusk, she settled back onto the five eggs for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00** *(overnight incubation)* — The female incubates continuously through the early morning hours. She is visible as a low-contrast shape in the monochrome infrared footage. - **06:30** *(dawn break)* — The female leaves the nest sometime after 06:15, leaving the five pale-blue speckled eggs exposed for a short period. - **07:09** *(morning feeding)* — After returning to the nest, the female is visited by the male, who arrives at the rim for a courtship feeding. She continues to incubate after he departs. - **08:00** *(male visit)* — The male makes another appearance at the nest rim while the female is incubating. - **08:30** *(mid-morning break)* — The nest is empty for at least 15 minutes. - **09:07** *(incubation resumes)* — The female returns to the nest and settles back onto the eggs. - **11:53** *(midday feeding)* — The male arrives at the nest rim to feed the incubating female. - **13:08** *(afternoon return)* — Following an unobserved break, the female returns to the nest and resumes incubation. - **19:57** *(dusk settle)* — The female arrives at the nest just before dark and settles in for the night. Subsequent clips confirm she remains incubating into the late evening. ### Notes - The male was documented visiting the nest for courtship feedings three times today (07:09, 11:53, and a visit around 08:00). - The egg count remains stable at five. - There are significant gaps in the motion-triggered recordings during the day, suggesting long, quiet periods of uninterrupted incubation. ## 2026-05-02 (Saturday) — *Steady incubation punctuated by male visits and a human check.* The female maintained a consistent incubation routine, taking only brief breaks from the nest. The male visited several times throughout the day, presumably for courtship feeding. A human briefly inspected the nest in the late afternoon before the female returned and settled in for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **10:55** *(morning incubation)* — The female is settled in the nest, incubating. - **11:52** *(incubation break)* — The female takes a short break, leaving the eggs exposed for about two minutes before returning to the nest. - **12:34** *(male visit)* — The male perches beside the nest while the female incubates, a likely courtship feeding. - **13:50** *(male visit)* — The male visits again, perching on the nearby books while the female remains on the eggs. - **13:58** *(midday incubation)* — The female continues to incubate quietly. - **17:11** *(male visit)* — The nest is briefly empty, with a finch, likely the male, visible on a distant shelf. - **17:21** *(human visit)* — A human is visible near the nest, inspecting the eggs while the female is away. - **17:41** *(post-visit incubation)* — The female is back on the nest, incubating steadily after the human's departure. - **18:40** *(evening relief)* — The male is seen near the empty nest just before the female returns to resume incubation. - **19:12** *(incubation break)* — During another brief break, the camera gets a clear view of five pale-blue speckled eggs in the nest cup. - **19:16** *(dusk settle)* — The female returns to the nest and settles in for the evening. - **19:54** *(overnight incubation)* — The female remains settled on the nest, incubating through the evening and into the night. All subsequent clips show her shifting slightly but staying put as the camera switches to infrared mode. ### Notes - A clear view at 19:12 confirms a clutch of five eggs. Some earlier clips only showed two, likely due to the viewing angle. ## 2026-05-03 (Sunday) — Steady incubation punctuated by the male's frequent visits. The female spent the vast majority of the day incubating the clutch of five eggs. Her routine was frequently interrupted by visits from the male, who appeared for courtship feedings throughout the morning and afternoon. The evening brought a brief period of human activity near the nest and a confusing observation of a potentially displaced egg before the female settled in for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **02:00** *(Overnight incubation)* — The female is observed incubating in the nest during the pre-dawn hours. - **08:37 - 09:29** *(Morning feedings)* — The male makes two separate visits, perching on a nearby book and the nest rim while the female is settled in the cup. - **10:26 - 11:43** *(Mid-morning activity)* — After the female returns to the nest, the male visits again for courtship feeding, perching on the shelf below and the nest rim. - **13:09 - 14:00** *(Lunchtime break)* — The female departs the nest, and the male visits briefly while it is empty. She returns soon after to resume incubation. - **14:15 - 16:15** *(Afternoon incubation shift)* — A long, quiet period of incubation, briefly punctuated at 14:16 by the male sitting in the cup for two frames before the female resumed incubation. - **16:26 - 17:00** *(Late afternoon feeding)* — Following a short break where the five eggs are visible, the male visits again. The female returns to incubate through the end of the hour. - **17:19 - 18:53** *(Pre-dusk quiet)* — The early evening consists of steady incubation, interspersed with several periods where the nest is left unattended. - **18:59 - 19:48** *(Evening settle)* — The male makes a final appearance at the nest rim. The female returns shortly after to begin settling in for the night. - **19:54 - 20:03** *(Human visit and egg anomaly)* — Human movement is detected in the background while the nest is empty. One camera reports an egg on the shelf outside the nest, but another camera shows all five eggs safely inside just a minute later. - **20:11 - 20:57** *(Night incubation)* — The female is settled securely in the nest cup for the night, confirmed by IR camera views. ### Notes - **Clutch size:** Multiple clips throughout the day confirm a clutch of five eggs. - **Male briefly on the cup at 14:16:** The male (red plumage on head and chest) sat in the cup for two frames, then the female took over and incubated. Note: an earlier auto-description called this a "female-female relief" because it labeled the male's red wash as a female variation — this was a hallucination. Only male House Finches carry red plumage. - **Egg anomaly:** At 19:55, one camera recorded an egg on the shelf outside the nest immediately following human activity in the room. A different camera confirmed all five eggs were inside the nest one minute later. This discrepancy is worth monitoring. ## 2026-05-03 (Sunday) — Steady incubation punctuated by male visits and anomalies. The female maintains a consistent incubation schedule, frequently attended by the male for courtship feedings. The afternoon featured two notable male-on-the-cup moments — a brief two-frame visit at 14:16 before the female resumed, and a longer cup visit at 16:28 with a second bird nearby. The day concludes with the female settling in for the night after a brief human presence in the room. ### Scene-by-scene - **02:00** *(Overnight incubation)* — The female is seen incubating in the dark, continuing her overnight watch. - **08:37–11:43** *(Morning feeding visits)* — The day's activity begins with several visits from the male. He perches on the nearby book and shelf, attending to the incubating female. - **13:09–14:00** *(Midday changeover)* — The female takes a break, leaving the nest empty. The male visits briefly while she is away, and she returns shortly after to resume incubation. - **14:15–14:16** *(Male briefly on the cup)* — The male (reddish plumage on head and chest) sits in the cup for two frames, then is replaced by the female, who takes over incubation. (Earlier description hallucinated this as a "female-female relief" — corrected.) - **14:30–16:15** *(Extended afternoon incubation)* — A long, quiet period follows, with the female sitting steadfastly on the eggs. The male makes one visit, perching on the shelf below her. - **16:26–16:30** *(Male in cup, female nearby)* — Following a brief incubation break, the male enters the nest cup, briefly exposing the eggs, while the female perches on the shelf below. (Auto-description called this "two males" — Casey visually confirmed it was male + female.) - **16:45–18:53** *(Intermittent evening incubation)* — The female's incubation becomes more sporadic, with several short breaks where the nest is left empty, revealing five eggs. - **18:59–19:00** *(Dusk feeding)* — The male makes a final visit for the day, perching on the nest rim while the female is away. She returns to the nest immediately after he leaves. - **19:09–19:56** *(Pre-settle and human visit)* — The nest is left unattended for several stretches. During one of these breaks, a human is briefly visible walking past in the background. - **20:01–20:57** *(Dusk settle and overnight incubation)* — The female returns to the nest as darkness falls. She settles in, shifting her position slightly before becoming still for the night, seen on infrared cameras. ### Notes - **Male briefly on the cup at 14:16:** The male (reddish head/chest) sat in the cup for two frames, then the female took over incubation. The auto-description originally labeled this a "female-female relief" — that was a hallucination (female House Finches don't carry red plumage). - **Two birds at nest at 16:28:** Two birds were present at the nest area, with one in the nest cup. The auto-description called this "two males"; visual inspection by Casey indicates this was the male and the female. Pending re-confirmation if needed. - **Egg count:** Five pale-blue speckled eggs are consistently visible when the nest is empty. - **Human activity:** A person was briefly visible in the sunroom around 19:55 while the nest was unoccupied. ## 2026-05-03 (Sunday) — *Steady incubation punctuated by two very unusual events.* The female remained a dedicated incubator for most of the day and settled in for the night. The male made several visits for courtship feeding, a typical pattern for this stage. The day was marked by two notable male-on-the-cup moments: a brief two-frame appearance at 14:16 before the female resumed, and a longer visit at 16:28 with a second bird nearby (visually confirmed as male + female by Casey). ### Scene-by-scene - **02:00** *(overnight incubation)* — The female is observed incubating in the nest cup in the pre-dawn hours. - **08:37** *(morning male visit)* — The male perches on an adjacent book before departing, having visited the incubating female. - **09:29** *(courtship feeding)* — The male is present near the nest just as the female settles in to incubate. - **10:26** *(feeding and relief)* — The female arrives at the previously empty nest to incubate, and the male visits her on the nest shortly after. - **11:42** *(mid-morning feeding)* — After the female returns to the nest, the male arrives and perches on the shelf and nest rim. - **13:09** *(afternoon break)* — The female departs, leaving the eggs exposed. The male visits the empty nest before the female returns a minute later. - **13:45** *(midday quiet)* — The nest is briefly empty, followed by a long, uninterrupted period of incubation by the female. - **14:16** *(male briefly on the cup)* — The male sits in the cup for two frames (red plumage on head and chest), then is replaced by the female, who takes over incubation. (Auto-description originally hallucinated this as "female-female relief" — corrected.) - **15:21** *(afternoon feeding cluster)* — The male visits the incubating female, moving around the shelf and nearby books. - **15:41** *(quiet incubation)* — The afternoon is marked by a long, quiet period of steady incubation by the female. - **16:28** *(male in the cup, female nearby)* — Following a brief period where the nest is empty, two birds are present at the nest area — the male enters the nest cup before departing, while the female is on the shelf below. Visually confirmed as male + female (auto-description originally said "two males" — corrected). - **16:45** *(late afternoon incubation & breaks)* — The remainder of the afternoon consists of the female incubating, interspersed with several periods where she leaves the nest empty. - **18:59** *(dusk feeding)* — The male visits the nest rim just before the female returns to settle in. - **19:54** *(human visit)* — While the nest is empty, a human is briefly visible walking past in the background. - **20:01** *(dusk settle & overnight incubation)* — The female returns to the nest and settles in for the night. All subsequent clips, many in infrared, show her continuously incubating. ### Notes - **Male briefly on the cup at 14:16:** The male sat in the cup for two frames, then the female took over incubation. The auto-description hallucinated this as a "female-female relief" — corrected (only male House Finches carry red plumage). - **Male and female at nest at 16:28:** The male entered the nest cup briefly while the female perched on the shelf below. The auto-description called this "two males" — Casey visually confirmed the second bird was the female, not a second male. - **Egg count:** Five pale-blue speckled eggs are consistently visible when the nest is empty. ## 2026-05-04 (Monday) — Male takes an unusual turn on incubation duty. The day was defined by the female's steady incubation, punctuated by frequent visits from the male. While many of his visits were typical courtship feeding stops, he was repeatedly observed sitting directly in the nest cup—a highly unusual behavior for a male of this species. A brief period of human activity near the nest in the early evening left the nest empty, but the female returned to settle in for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:04 - 06:08** *(overnight incubation)* — The female incubates continuously through the night, visible as a still shape in the monochrome infrared footage. - **06:17** *(dawn shift)* — After a brief absence that reveals the five eggs, the female returns to the nest and settles in to incubate. - **06:59** *(morning feeding)* — The male makes a brief visit to the nest area, departing shortly after. - **07:30** *(unusual male behavior)* — The male is observed sitting directly in the nest cup, a notable and atypical action. - **08:05 - 08:08** *(incubation and feeding)* — The female takes a short break from incubation. Shortly after her return, the male visits again, perching on the shelf below the nest. - **08:37 - 08:54** *(restless female, male sits in)* — The female appears restless, entering and leaving the nest multiple times. The male is then seen sitting in the nest cup again. - **09:40** *(mid-morning incubation)* — During a period of steady incubation by the female, the male makes another visit, sitting in the nest cup before departing. - **10:21 - 11:27** *(midday incubation)* — The female incubates for a long stretch, taking a few short breaks that leave the five eggs visible. - **11:30 - 11:35** *(activity cluster)* — A flurry of activity sees the male visiting the empty nest and perching nearby. The female returns to incubate, and the male is again seen sitting in the nest cup. - **11:43 - 13:01** *(afternoon quiet)* — The afternoon begins with a long, uninterrupted period of incubation by the female. - **13:12 - 13:13** *(male nest-sitting)* — The male arrives at the empty nest and is again observed sitting directly in the cup. - **13:16 - 15:51** *(deep afternoon incubation)* — The female settles in for a very long and steady period of incubation through the mid-afternoon. - **15:57** *(male and female swap)* — The male is observed sitting in the nest cup for an extended period before the female arrives and takes over. - **17:13 - 17:15** *(late afternoon activity)* — The male visits while the nest is empty and is once again seen sitting in the nest cup. - **18:32 - 18:38** *(human visit)* — A human is visible near the nest area for several minutes. The nest is empty of birds during this time. - **18:42 - 19:45** *(post-disturbance settle)* — Following the human presence, the nest remains empty for some time. The female eventually returns and appears restless before settling down. - **19:52 - 22:20** *(dusk settle & overnight)* — As light fades and the camera switches to IR, the female settles into the nest cup and remains there, incubating steadily for the rest of the night. ### Notes - The male was observed sitting in the nest cup on at least seven separate occasions (07:30, 08:54, 09:40, 11:34, 12:38, 13:12, 15:57, 17:15), which is highly unusual behavior. - Human activity was recorded near the nest between 18:32 and 18:38. The female was off the nest during this time but returned later. - The clutch size remains at five eggs, visible during the female's breaks. ## 2026-05-06 (Wednesday) — *A quiet night of steady incubation.* The only activity captured today occurred in the pre-dawn hours. The female remains dedicated to incubation, sitting tight on the eggs through the early morning darkness with no other events recorded. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:06** *(pre-dawn incubation)* — In the monochrome view of the early morning, the female is continuously present in the nest cup, incubating. - **00:13** *(continued incubation)* — A few minutes later, she remains settled in the nest, continuing her overnight duties. ### Notes - Very little footage was captured today, with all clips occurring before 00:15. The lack of daytime activity records is unusual. ## 2026-05-05 (Tuesday) — A day of steady incubation and attentive male visits. The female maintained a near-constant vigil on the nest, incubating the five eggs throughout the night and for long stretches during the day. Her routine was punctuated by several short breaks and numerous courtship feeding visits from the male, who consistently brought her food. The day's rhythm was one of quiet dedication from the female and supportive attentiveness from her mate. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:04 - 06:42** *(overnight incubation)* — The female remains settled on the nest through the entire overnight period, seen continuously in monochrome IR footage. She occasionally shifts her position but never leaves the eggs. - **06:52 - 06:56** *(first morning break)* — The female takes her first break of the morning, leaving the nest empty for a few minutes. All five pale-blue speckled eggs are clearly visible before she returns to resume incubation. - **07:01 - 07:02** *(male visit & feeding)* — Shortly after her return, the male arrives at the nest rim. He interacts with the incubating female, consistent with a courtship feeding, before departing. - **07:12 - 08:57** *(morning incubation)* — A long, quiet period of incubation follows. The female takes one very brief break around 08:10 but is otherwise settled firmly on the eggs. - **08:57 - 09:00** *(feeding and changeover)* — The female departs briefly. The male visits the nest area while it's empty, and then she returns. The male is present on the rim as she settles back in, engaging in another feeding interaction. - **09:07 - 10:13** *(mid-morning incubation)* — Incubation continues steadily, with the female taking a couple of short breaks where the five eggs are visible. The male visits again around 10:13 to feed her at the nest. - **10:20 - 12:04** *(late morning incubation)* — The female incubates without interruption for nearly two hours. Around noon, she takes a short break, returning to the nest just before the male arrives for another feeding visit. - **12:08 - 14:52** *(afternoon incubation)* — A very long stretch of incubation occupies the early afternoon. The female leaves for a minute around 13:27, and the male visits as she returns. She remains on the nest until another feeding visit from the male around 14:52. - **14:53 - 18:05** *(late afternoon incubation)* — The female continues her diligent incubation. She takes several short breaks, and the male makes two more feeding visits, one around 16:14 and another just after 18:05. - **18:11 - 23:58** *(dusk settle)* — As evening sets in, the female settles onto the nest for the night. After a few final, brief absences, she is continuously incubating from approximately 20:20 onward, tucking in as darkness falls. ### Notes - The male's courtship feeding is a dominant behavior today, with at least eight distinct visits recorded where he brings food to the incubating female. - The clutch size is consistently confirmed as five eggs during the female's brief departures. - The female's incubation is exceptionally consistent, particularly overnight and for multi-hour stretches during the day. ## 2026-05-04 (Monday) — A day of male visits and steady incubation. The female maintained a consistent incubation schedule, taking several short breaks throughout the day. The male was exceptionally attentive, making numerous visits to feed her, often perching nearby or even sitting in the nest cup himself. A brief human visit occurred in the evening while the nest was empty, after which the female returned to settle in for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:04 - 06:48** *(overnight incubation)* — The female incubates steadily through the night, visible in monochrome infrared frames. - **06:59 - 10:26** *(morning activity)* — The day begins with the male arriving for a feeding. The female takes a few short breaks from the nest, and the male visits several more times, sometimes perching on the shelf and other times sitting directly in the nest cup. - **10:41 - 11:27** *(midday quiet)* — A long, uninterrupted period of incubation is followed by the female leaving the nest for a break. - **11:30 - 11:35** *(feeding cluster)* — A flurry of activity occurs as the male visits the empty nest. The female returns shortly after, and the male continues to attend to her from the shelf below. - **11:43 - 14:18** *(afternoon incubation)* — The afternoon is mostly quiet incubation, punctuated by a few more male visits. On one occasion, the male sits in the empty nest cup before the female returns. - **14:23 - 17:15** *(late afternoon activity)* — The female takes another break, and upon her return, the male arrives for a feeding. Later, the male is seen visiting the empty nest again, sitting in the cup for a few minutes. - **17:25 - 18:42** *(evening disturbance)* — The nest is left empty for an extended period. During this time, a human is visible in the sunroom near the nest area. - **18:58 - 23:56** *(dusk settle & overnight)* — The female returns to the nest and settles in for the night. The camera switches to infrared, capturing her incubating continuously until midnight. ### Notes - The clutch size is consistently observed to be five eggs when the nest is empty. - The male's behavior is notable today; he is seen sitting in the nest cup on at least four separate occasions (07:30, 08:54, 13:12, 17:13). - A human was present in the sunroom for several minutes around 18:33, while the female was off the nest. ## 2026-05-03 (Sunday) — Male visits punctuate a day of steady incubation. The female spent the vast majority of the day incubating, though she took several breaks in the afternoon and evening. The male was a frequent visitor, often perching on the nest rim or the shelf below while she sat. He was also seen sitting in the nest cup himself on a few occasions when it was empty. ### Scene-by-scene - **02:00** *(overnight incubation)* — The female is seen incubating through the early morning hours in infrared. - **08:37 - 09:29** *(morning visits)* — The male makes two visits to the incubating female, perching on an adjacent book and the nest rim. During the second visit, he briefly settles into the nest cup. - **10:26 - 11:43** *(courtship feeding cluster)* — The male continues to visit, perching on the shelf below the nest while the female incubates. - **13:09 - 13:11** *(midday shift change)* — The female departs for a short break. The male visits the empty nest area just before she returns to resume incubation. - **13:45 - 15:15** *(afternoon incubation)* — A long period of steady incubation by the female, broken by one brief interval where the nest is empty. - **15:21 - 16:30** *(active period)* — The female takes several breaks, leaving the eggs exposed. The male visits frequently during this time, and is twice recorded sitting in the nest cup himself. - **16:45 - 18:06** *(evening breaks)* — The pattern of incubation interspersed with breaks continues, with the nest left empty for several short periods. - **18:22 - 19:00** *(pre-dusk activity)* — The female incubates steadily, with one notable interruption where the male enters and sits in the empty nest cup just before she returns. - **19:09 - 19:56** *(dusk settle & human visit)* — The nest is empty for several intervals. During one of these breaks, a human is briefly visible walking in the background. - **20:01 - 23:48** *(night incubation)* — After a final brief period of being empty, the female returns around 20:11 and settles onto the eggs for the night. All subsequent clips show continuous, uninterrupted incubation. ### Notes - The male was observed sitting in the nest cup on at least three separate occasions (09:29, 15:23, 18:59), typically when the female was away. - A human was briefly visible in the background at 19:54 and 19:55 while the nest was unattended. - Multiple clips confirm a clutch size of five eggs. ## 2026-04-30 (Thursday) — *Incubation continues, punctuated by the male's feeding visits.* The female spends nearly the entire day incubating the clutch of five eggs. Her steady presence is broken up by several short breaks and multiple visits from the male, who appears to be providing courtship feedings. The day concludes with her settling in for overnight incubation. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:13** *(dawn shift)* — The female is already on the nest incubating as the day begins, visible in infrared light. - **08:09 – 08:53** *(morning feeding)* — The male makes his first visits of the day. He is seen on the nest rim while the female incubates, and later on the shelf below the empty nest. - **09:24 – 12:45** *(midday incubation & visits)* — The female incubates steadily, taking several short breaks where the five eggs are visible. The male makes additional visits around 10:09, 11:21, and 12:18, perching nearby while she is on the nest. - **13:00 – 16:00** *(afternoon quiet)* — A long, uninterrupted period of incubation with the female settled firmly on the nest. - **17:19** *(male in nest)* — In an unusual event, the male is observed sitting alone in the nest cup. - **19:00 – 23:45** *(dusk and overnight settle)* — The female settles for the night, taking a final break around 19:45 before returning as the camera switches to infrared. She incubates steadily through the evening, though the nest is briefly seen empty at 23:30 before she is back in place by the next clip. ### Notes - The egg count remains stable at five whenever the nest is empty. - The male sitting in the nest cup at 17:19 is unusual behavior. - A brief, late-night absence is noted at 23:30, an anomaly in the overnight incubation pattern. ## 2026-05-01 (Friday) — A day of incubation punctuated by male visits. The female incubated steadily through the night and much of the day, taking several foraging breaks in the morning. The male made multiple visits to the nest, consistent with courtship feeding behavior. By dusk, the female was settled back on the nest for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00** *(overnight incubation)* — The female incubates continuously through the night, visible in monochrome IR footage. She takes a very brief break around 02:30 but is back on the nest by 02:45. - **06:30** *(dawn break)* — As daylight returns, the female leaves the nest for approximately 45 minutes. The five pale-blue speckled eggs are clearly visible in her absence. - **07:09** *(morning feeding cluster)* — The male visits the nest rim while it is still empty. The female returns to incubate shortly after, and the male visits again around 08:00. - **08:30** *(mid-morning break)* — The nest is empty again as the female takes another break lasting about 40 minutes. - **09:10** *(return and feeding)* — The female returns to the nest. The male is seen perched on a nearby ceiling beam around the same time. - **11:53** *(midday feeding)* — The male visits the nest, perching on the rim while the female is incubating. - **13:08** *(afternoon feeding)* — The female returns to the nest after an absence and settles in. The male arrives at the nest rim almost immediately after. - **19:57** *(dusk settle)* — The female is on the nest as the camera switches to IR mode. She remains settled for the night, occasionally shifting her position. ### Notes - A clutch of five eggs is consistently visible when the female is off the nest. - The male made at least four documented visits to the nest area, suggesting regular courtship feeding. - A brief, 15-minute absence was noted overnight at 02:30. ## 2026-04-27 (Monday) — A day of attentive incubation and male feeding visits. The female spent the majority of the day incubating the five eggs, taking several breaks for foraging. The male was a frequent visitor to the nest area, often appearing shortly before the female left or returned. The day concluded with the female settled securely on the nest for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:16** *(Dawn incubation)* — The female is on the nest, incubating as the day begins. She shifts her position occasionally, revealing the eggs beneath her. - **06:28** *(Morning feeding visit)* — The male visits the incubating female, who then departs the nest. She returns briefly before leaving again, leaving the five eggs exposed. - **07:34** *(Morning break)* — The nest remains empty for an extended period. - **08:33** *(Male visit)* — The male visits the empty nest, perching on the nearby shelf. The female returns shortly after to incubate briefly before departing again. - **08:53** *(Incubation resumes)* — After a series of breaks, the female returns to the nest and settles in for a longer incubation session. - **10:15** *(Male feeding visits)* — The male visits the empty nest twice, perching on the shelf and the books above. The female is then seen incubating as the male perches below. - **10:35** *(Incubation shift)* — Following a brief period where the nest is empty, the female is back in the cup incubating. - **11:11** *(Late morning feeding)* — The male visits the shelf below the empty nest. The female returns to incubate shortly thereafter. - **11:34** *(Midday quiet)* — The female incubates steadily through the late morning and into the afternoon, with only a brief absence noted. - **12:56** *(Lunchtime feeding visit)* — The nest is empty when the male visits, perching on the shelf and the nest rim. The female returns to incubate soon after he leaves. - **14:07** *(Afternoon incubation)* — The female incubates through the early afternoon. The male visits the shelf while the nest is empty, and the female returns to the cup moments later. - **15:40** *(Long incubation session)* — A long, uninterrupted period of incubation is observed. The male visits the shelf while the female is on the nest. - **16:26** *(Evening incubation)* — The female is settled on the nest, incubating as the afternoon light fades. - **21:21** *(Dusk settle)* — In the dark, the female is settled deep in the nest cup for the night. ### Notes - The egg count remains stable at five. - The male made numerous visits to the nest area throughout the day, a behavior consistent with courtship feeding. He was observed both when the female was incubating and when the nest was empty. ## 2026-04-28 (Tuesday) — Human visit coincides with the loss of three eggs. The day began with routine incubation and several courtship feeding visits from the male. A prolonged human visit in the afternoon disturbed the nest, and a subsequent interaction in the evening saw the clutch reduced from five eggs to two. The female returned to incubate the remaining eggs as night fell. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:00** *(early morning break)* — The female is incubating at dawn but leaves the nest empty for an extended period, revealing the clutch of five eggs. - **08:23** *(morning feeding visit)* — The male arrives to feed the female on the nest rim. Later, the female is seen perched on the book above the empty nest before another male visit. - **10:32** *(incubation resumes)* — After another period of absence, the female is seen on the nest rim before settling back into the cup to incubate. - **12:44** *(midday feeding)* — The male makes another brief visit to the nest cup for a courtship feeding. - **13:58** *(afternoon feeding visit)* — The male appears on the bookshelf and then the nest rim, another apparent courtship feeding attempt while the nest is empty. - **15:24** *(human visit)* — A human male is present in the sunroom for several minutes, interacting with a device near the empty nest. Some camera views are obscured during this time. - **16:46** *(return to incubation)* — The female returns to the nest and settles in to incubate for over an hour. - **17:30** *(pre-dusk break)* — The nest is left empty again for a significant period in the early evening. - **18:23** *(human interaction and egg loss)* — Following more human presence in the room, a human hand is seen near the nest. Clips immediately after this interaction show only two eggs remaining in the cup. - **19:08** *(dusk settle)* — The male makes a final visit to the nest. Shortly after, the female returns and settles onto the remaining two eggs for the night. - **20:20** *(overnight incubation)* — The female remains settled in the nest cup, incubating through the late evening hours as observed on infrared cameras. ### Notes - The clutch size was reduced from five to two eggs. The loss occurred between the afternoon human visit and a direct human interaction with the nest area at 18:31. ## 2026-05-02 (Saturday) — Courtship feedings, a human visit, and a surprise guest. The day was marked by several visits from the male, who brought food to the incubating female. A brief period of human activity occurred near the nest in the late afternoon, but the female returned to her duties shortly after. The evening brought a surprising observation of a second male near the nest before the female settled in for a long, quiet night of incubation. ### Scene-by-scene - **10:55** *(mid-morning feeding)* — The male visits the nest to feed the incubating female. - **11:52** *(incubation break)* — The female takes a short two-minute break, leaving the nest empty before returning to incubate. - **12:34** *(midday feeding)* — The male returns, perching on the nest rim to feed the female again. - **13:50** *(afternoon feeding)* — The male visits once more, moving around on nearby books and a shelf while the female remains on the nest. - **13:58** *(midday quiet)* — The female incubates quietly. - **17:11** *(afternoon break)* — The nest is empty, with eggs visible, while a bird is perched nearby. - **17:21** *(human visit)* — A human is visible in the sunroom and near the nest while it is unoccupied. - **17:41** *(return to incubation)* — The female is back on the nest, incubating the eggs. - **18:40** *(evening feeding & visitor)* — A male enters the nest cup, likely for a feeding, while a second male with red plumage is also present nearby. The female is then seen settled back on the nest. - **19:12** *(evening break)* — The nest is briefly empty, clearly revealing five pale-blue speckled eggs. - **19:16** *(return to incubation)* — The female returns to the nest and settles down. - **19:54 - 21:35** *(dusk settle)* — For the remainder of the evening, a long series of infrared clips show the female settled in for the night, consistently incubating. ### Notes - A human was observed near the nest around 17:22. The female was off the nest at the time but returned to incubate by 17:41. - A second male was present near the nest during a feeding visit at 18:40. - A clear view of the nest at 19:12 confirms a clutch size of five eggs. ## 2026-04-29 (Wednesday) — A steady rhythm of incubation and male visits. The female spends the majority of the day incubating the two eggs, taking several short breaks. The male is an active partner, making multiple visits to the nest area throughout the day to feed her. The day ends quietly with the female settled on the nest for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:11** *(Dawn shift)* — The female is on the nest incubating as daylight arrives. - **06:16** *(Morning break)* — The nest is left empty for over twenty minutes, with the two eggs clearly visible. The female is seen returning around 06:38. - **06:59** *(Morning incubation)* — The female is settled back on the nest, incubating steadily through the morning. - **09:35** *(Male visit)* — The male makes a brief appearance in the nest cup before departing. - **10:33** *(Mid-morning feeding)* — After a short period with the nest empty, the male appears near the nest. The female is soon back incubating while the male perches on the adjacent bookshelf. - **11:28** *(Brief break)* — The nest is empty for a few minutes before the male perches on the rim. - **12:10** *(Midday incubation)* — The female is back on the nest, incubating through the noon hour. - **12:43** *(Lunchtime feeding)* — The male is seen in the nest cup, followed by a sequence where he perches nearby while the female incubates. - **14:16** *(Afternoon break)* — The nest is empty for a period in the mid-afternoon. - **14:48** *(Afternoon incubation)* — The female returns and remains on the nest, incubating through the late afternoon. - **20:01** *(Dusk settle)* — As night falls, the female is settled securely in the nest cup for the night. ### Notes - The male's courtship feeding behavior is very consistent, with at least four distinct visits recorded. - The egg count remains stable at two. - The male was observed sitting directly in the nest cup on two separate occasions (09:35 and 12:43). ## 2026-04-26 (Sunday) — *A quiet day of long absences from the nest.* The female was often away from the nest today, leaving the five eggs unattended for long periods. The male visited the nest area several times, though the female was not always present. Human activity was noted in the room in the early afternoon, after which the female returned to incubate for a while before settling in for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **06:22** *(Dawn shift)* — The female is incubating in the nest as the day begins, seen in monochrome infrared. - **06:41–11:19** *(Morning quiet)* — The nest is left empty for most of the morning. The male visits the bookshelf near the empty nest twice (around 06:41 and 11:19), and the female makes one very brief return around 09:40. - **12:13–12:41** *(Midday return)* — The female arrives to incubate the five eggs shortly after noon. She makes another very brief appearance about 30 minutes later. - **13:07–13:30** *(Human visit)* — The male visits the empty nest again around 13:07. Shortly after, one or two people are active in the room near the nest for about ten minutes, after which the female returns to incubate. - **14:02–14:30** *(Afternoon incubation)* — After another brief absence, the female is back in the nest cup, incubating through the mid-afternoon. - **15:53–19:19** *(Evening quiet)* — The nest is left unattended for most of the late afternoon and early evening. The female makes two very brief appearances but does not stay to incubate. - **20:03** *(Dusk settle)* — As night falls, the female settles into the nest cup to incubate overnight. ### Notes - The five pale-blue speckled eggs were visible and accounted for in multiple clips throughout the day. - The female's incubation schedule was intermittent, with several long absences from the nest during daylight hours. - Human presence was noted in the early afternoon, but the female returned to the nest shortly after the activity ceased. ## 2026-05-06 (Wednesday) — Steady incubation punctuated by the male's attentive visits. The female maintained a near-constant vigil over the five eggs, continuing her overnight incubation until the first light. Her day followed a steady rhythm of long incubation periods, brief recesses for herself, and numerous courtship feeding visits from her mate. As evening fell, she settled back onto the nest to resume her overnight watch. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:06** *(overnight incubation)* — The female incubates continuously through the night. All footage is monochrome, showing her settled deep in the nest cup with only minor shifts in position. - **06:36** *(dawn relief)* — The female departs for her first break of the day, leaving the clutch of five pale-blue speckled eggs exposed. She returns to the nest and resumes incubation just a few minutes later. - **07:10** *(male visit / feeding)* — The male makes his first appearance of the day, visiting the incubating female at the nest rim, consistent with courtship feeding. - **08:23** *(incubation break)* — After another long session on the nest, the female takes a short break, again leaving the five eggs visible. - **08:37** *(male visit / feeding)* — Shortly after the female returns, the male arrives for another feeding visit. - **09:02** *(incubation break)* — The female departs for another brief recess before returning to the nest a couple of minutes later. - **09:29** *(male visit & human interaction)* — The male visits for a prolonged feeding session. During this time, a human finger is briefly visible in one frame, an unusual disturbance at the nest site. - **09:53** *(incubation break)* — The female takes another short break from her duties, leaving the five eggs unattended. - **10:19** *(male visit / feeding)* — The male arrives at the nest rim to feed the incubating female. - **11:03** *(midday break)* — The female leaves the nest for a few minutes before returning to continue incubation. - **11:44** *(male visit / feeding)* — The male appears again at the nest to provide food for his mate. - **12:39** *(incubation break)* — The female takes an afternoon break, departing the nest and returning about seven minutes later. - **12:52** *(return and feeding)* — Immediately after the female returns to the nest, the male arrives for another feeding. - **14:03** *(male nest visit)* — The female departs for a break. While the nest is empty, the male visits, perches on the rim, and even settles into the nest cup himself for a moment before the female returns. - **15:15** *(male visit / feeding)* — The male visits the nest again for a courtship feeding. - **16:40** *(extended male visit)* — The male arrives for a notably long visit, perching on the adjacent bookshelf and nest rim for over ten minutes while the female incubates. - **19:04** *(dusk feeding cluster)* — The male visits for a series of feeding interactions as dusk approaches. At one point, he sits in the nest cup while the female is present. - **19:13** *(evening break)* — The female takes a final break for the day, leaving the eggs exposed for about ten minutes. - **19:23** *(dusk settle)* — After the female returns, the male makes one last visit. Following his departure, the female settles in for the night, and the cameras switch to infrared mode. - **20:08** *(overnight incubation)* — The female remains settled on the nest, incubating the eggs throughout the late evening hours. ### Notes - **Clutch Size:** The clutch size is consistently confirmed as five eggs during the female's multiple breaks. - **Male Behavior:** The male was particularly active today, not only bringing food frequently but also sitting in the nest cup on at least two occasions (14:08, 19:05) while the female was away or nearby. - **Human Interaction:** A human finger was briefly visible in one frame at 09:29. This is the first recorded human interaction this close to the nest. ## 2026-05-07 (Thursday) — A long night of incubation, punctuated by a dawn feeding. The female remained on the nest throughout the entire night, diligently incubating the eggs. Just before 7 AM, the male arrived for a brief courtship feeding. Following his departure, the female took a short break, revealing a clutch of five eggs before settling back in for the morning. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:02** *(overnight incubation)* — The female incubates continuously through the pre-dawn hours. All footage, captured in monochrome infrared, shows her settled deep in the nest cup, occasionally shifting her position slightly. - **06:47** *(dawn feeding)* — The male arrives at the nest rim while the female is incubating. He perches beside her, and they engage in beak-to-beak contact before he departs a few minutes later. - **07:00** *(morning incubation & egg check)* — Following the male's visit, the female continues to incubate. She briefly leaves the nest, providing a clear view of the five pale-blue, speckled eggs in the cup before she returns to her duties. ### Notes - First observed courtship feeding of the day occurs around 06:47. - A clear view of the nest at 07:02 confirms a clutch size of five eggs. ## 2026-05-07 (Thursday) — The first chicks arrive ahead of schedule. What began as a typical day of incubation took a sudden turn. The female remained steadfast on the nest through the night and morning, receiving regular feeding visits from the male. Around midday, however, the first chicks were observed hatching, marking an early transition from incubation to the nestling phase. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:02** *(overnight incubation)* — The female sits continuously on the nest through the early morning hours, visible only in monochrome infrared. She occasionally shifts position but remains a constant presence. - **06:13** *(dawn shift)* — As dawn approaches, the female continues her incubation duties. The light remains low, and the cameras stay in IR mode, but she is more active, shifting in the nest cup. - **06:45** *(first feeding)* — The male makes his first appearance of the day, perching on the nest rim to feed the female. The interaction involves beak-to-beak contact before he departs, leaving her to settle back on the eggs. - **07:00** *(morning incubation)* — The female resumes her watch, sitting quietly on the nest. The nest is seen empty for a brief moment by one camera, but she is otherwise consistently present. - **07:47** *(incubation break)* — The female takes a short break, leaving the pale-blue speckled eggs visible. She returns to the nest within about seven minutes to resume incubation. - **08:08** *(mid-morning feedings)* — The male visits the nest area twice over the course of an hour, perching on the nearby shelf and window sill while the female remains on the nest. - **09:44** *(quiet incubation)* — A long, quiet period follows, with the female settled deep in the nest cup. - **10:08** *(feeding visit)* — The male arrives for another courtship feeding, perching on the nest rim to interact with the female before flying off. - **11:14** *(late morning feeding)* — Following another stretch of quiet incubation, the male returns around 11:17. He perches on the nest rim and the adjacent bookshelf, interacting with the female. - **11:28** *(first hatch observed)* — A significant development occurs. Clips reveal the female is no longer just incubating eggs but is brooding at least one newly hatched, pink, featherless chick. Another clip shortly after noon shows a chick alone in the nest. - **12:19** *(post-hatch male visit)* — The male visits and is seen sitting directly in the nest cup and on the adjacent bookshelf. He interacts with the female, who is now brooding the new arrival. - **12:34** *(afternoon brooding)* — The female settles back onto the nest, now brooding her new chick(s). She takes a brief departure from the nest around 13:18. - **13:25** *(afternoon brooding and feedings)* — The female's brooding is punctuated by another series of visits from the male, who brings food and interacts with her at the nest. - **14:48** *(mid-afternoon brooding)* — A long, quiet two-hour session of brooding follows. The female remains settled on the nest, taking a short break around 16:49. - **16:58** *(late afternoon feeding)* — After returning to the nest, the female is visited again by the male for a feeding around 17:08. - **17:21** *(evening brooding)* — As evening sets in, the female continues to brood the nestlings. She takes another break around 19:25, leaving the nest empty for a short time. - **19:33** *(dusk feeding)* — The female returns to the nest and is joined one last time by the male for a feeding visit as the light fades. - **20:04** *(dusk settle)* — The female settles into the nest cup for the night. All subsequent clips show her brooding steadily as the cameras switch back to infrared mode. ### Notes - **Hatch Day!** The first chick (or chicks) hatched today. Clips at 11:28, 12:13, and 18:34 confirm the presence of at least one pink, featherless nestling. This is several days earlier than the estimated hatch window of May 11-14. - From midday onward, any activity labeled "incubating" in the source data is interpreted as "brooding" due to the confirmed presence of nestlings. - The male's courtship feeding continued throughout the day, with at least nine distinct visit clusters observed. This behavior is now critical for provisioning the brooding female. ## 2026-05-07 (Thursday) — *Hatching day brings new arrivals and activity.* The day began with steady, overnight incubation, but the morning brought the first visible signs of hatching. Throughout the day, various clips revealed a mix of eggs and newly hatched chicks in the nest cup. The male began making frequent visits to the nest, often interacting with the female and occasionally sitting in the nest himself. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:02** *(overnight incubation)* — The female incubates steadily through the pre-dawn hours. In nearly all monochrome clips, she remains settled in the nest cup, completely occluding its contents. A single clip at 01:51 shows the nest as empty before she is seen back on the nest minutes later. - **06:13** *(first signs of hatching)* — The first evidence of hatching appears, though clips from this period are inconsistent. One clip at 06:13 shows both a pale oval object and multiple pinkish shapes consistent with chicks. Other clips in the same timeframe show only eggs, or the female completely occluding the nest contents. - **06:28** *(dawn activity)* — The female continues to sit on the nest, with one or two pale, oval objects sometimes visible beside her. Around 06:47, a second bird arrives at the nest rim and interacts with the female. - **07:00** *(hatching confirmed)* — Further confirmation of hatching occurs, with different clips showing a mix of eggs and chicks. One view at 07:06 shows two eggs and two chicks when the nest is unattended. The female is seen brooding, and a male is spotted near the nest. - **08:53** *(morning feedings)* — The male, identified by his red plumage, makes several visits to the nest to interact with the female. During these visits and in between, glimpses of pinkish chicks and at least one pale egg are visible in the cup. - **10:15** *(midday brooding)* — The female spends a long stretch brooding, keeping the nest contents mostly hidden. Glimpses of chicks and eggs are occasionally visible when she shifts. An unattended view at 12:13 shows one egg and one chick in the cup. - **12:19** *(male feeding visit)* — The male is very active at the nest, sitting in the cup himself for a period. Clips show him present with at least three pinkish chicks and one pale egg, with some chicks seen gaping. - **12:34** *(afternoon activity)* — The afternoon consists of long brooding sessions by the female, punctuated by visits from the male. When the female departs briefly around 16:49, clips show three pinkish chicks and one pale egg in the nest. - **16:58** *(late afternoon feeding cluster)* — Views of the unattended nest continue to show a mix of eggs and chicks. The male visits again around 18:37 for another series of interactions with the female at the nest rim. - **18:47** *(dusk settle)* — As evening approaches, the female is mostly on the nest. She departs briefly around 19:25, revealing at least three chicks. Clips of the unattended nest around 19:33 show conflicting contents, with one view showing an egg and a chick, and another showing two oval objects. - **19:43** *(nighttime settle)* — The male makes a final visit around 19:47. Afterward, the female settles into the nest cup for the night, and from about 20:09 onward, she remains on the nest, occluding the contents in all monochrome, infrared views. ### Notes - **Milestone:** Hatching was observed for the first time today. The first clip showing shapes consistent with chicks was at 06:13. - **Anomaly:** Clips of the unattended nest throughout the day show varying numbers of eggs and chicks (e.g., 07:06 shows two eggs and two chicks; 16:49 shows one egg and three chicks). - **Anomaly:** Some simultaneous clips from different cameras show conflicting contents (e.g., at 19:33-19:34, one camera shows an egg and a chick-like shape, while another shows two oval objects). - **Anomaly:** The nest was briefly seen empty at 01:51, a departure from the otherwise continuous overnight incubation. ## 2026-05-08 (Friday) — *A day of transition from eggs to chicks.* The day began with steady incubation by the female through the overnight hours. The first chicks became visible mid-morning, marking a significant shift in nest activity. For the remainder of the day, the female brooded the young, with frequent visits from the male for feeding events. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:13** *(overnight incubation)* — The female remains settled in the nest cup, incubating through the early morning hours. All clips are in monochrome infrared and show her consistently present. - **06:06** *(pre-dawn shift)* — The female continues to incubate, though she departs briefly around 06:19, revealing eggs in the nest. One clip at 06:11 shows the nest as empty, conflicting with others that show her present. - **06:25** *(dawn feeding)* — The male visits the nest area while the female is incubating. Clips show him on the adjacent bookshelf and at the nest rim, interacting with the female. - **06:36** *(early morning incubation)* — The female is mostly on the nest, though several clips show the nest is empty, with one or two pale, oval objects visible inside. - **07:40** *(hatching period)* — This period marks the first visible sign of chicks. At 07:48, a clip shows two small, downy chicks in the nest, and subsequent clips show them being brooded. However, other clips from different cameras during this time show only eggs, an empty nest, or the female completely obscuring the contents, making the exact status unclear. - **08:54** *(mid-morning brooding)* — The female continues to attend the nest, with clips alternating between showing her incubating/brooding and revealing the contents. A key clip at 11:14 shows one pinkish chick and one pale, oval egg, confirming that hatching is in progress. The male also visits the nest. - **11:20** *(midday brooding)* — The nest contains a mix of chicks and at least one egg. The female spends much of the time on the nest, while the male visits around 11:35 for a feeding event where chicks are seen gaping. - **12:53** *(afternoon brooding and feeding)* — The female continues to brood the chicks. The male visits multiple times, and both adults are seen at the nest together. Chicks are frequently visible when the female shifts, and at least one egg is still seen in the nest at 13:01. - **15:12** *(late afternoon activity)* — Both the male and female are seen attending to the chicks. Multiple clips show the chicks gaping, and by 16:12, at least three chicks are visible when the female leaves the nest. By 16:51, three chicks are clearly visible in the unoccupied nest. - **17:50** *(human visit)* — A human is observed holding a phone near the nest. During this time, the female is on the nest in some frames, while in others, the nest is occupied only by several pinkish chicks with open mouths. - **17:58** *(dusk settle)* — The female settles on the nest, brooding the chicks. The male visits for feeding events, with chicks seen gaping as late as 18:32. - **20:07** *(overnight brooding)* — The female is settled in the nest for the night. All clips show her present, covering the nest contents. ### Notes - Hatching occurred today. The first clear view of chicks was at 07:48. - Throughout the day, clips showed a mix of eggs and chicks, indicating hatching was a prolonged process. At times, camera views conflicted; for example, one camera would show chicks while another showed only an egg or an empty nest. - The male was an active participant, visiting frequently throughout the day to feed the female and the chicks. - A human was observed with a phone near the nest around 17:50. ## 2026-05-10 (Sunday) — A busy Sunday of brooding, feedings, and many chick sightings. The day was marked by constant activity centered on the newly visible chicks. After a quiet start, the morning revealed the presence of at least one chick, with more becoming visible as the day progressed. Both adults were frequently observed at the nest, with the male visiting often to feed the female and the chicks, who were seen gaping for food throughout the afternoon. The female spent the majority of her time brooding, though she occasionally left the chicks unattended for short periods. ### Scene-by-scene - **02:00** *(overnight brooding)* — The female is brooding on the nest in the pre-dawn hours. - **06:17** *(dawn relief)* — The female departs the nest, leaving it empty. It remains unoccupied for over an hour, with adults seen only perching nearby. - **08:20** *(first chick sightings)* — The female returns to brood. A male visit at 08:37 coincides with the first clear view of a single pinkish chick. By 09:55, several small, pinkish chicks are visible during another male visit. - **10:32** *(morning feeding)* — The male visits the nest, and a subsequent interaction between the adults at 11:06 reveals a chick's gape, suggesting a feeding. The female then resumes brooding. - **11:11** *(extended brooding & chick reveal)* — The female broods for a long stretch, with chicks becoming visible when she shifts. She departs at 11:38, clearly revealing several pinkish, naked chicks in the cup before another adult returns to brood. - **12:00** *(midday feeding cluster)* — Activity increases with multiple chick sightings. The male visits to feed the chicks around 12:33, and both adults are seen in the nest area. - **12:47** *(afternoon brooding)* — The female settles in for a long period of brooding, with chicks occasionally visible at the edge of the nest. - **13:07** *(feeding and brooding)* — A brief period of activity shows several chicks visible in the nest. Both adults are present for a feeding around 13:15 before the female settles back down. - **13:36** *(chicks alone)* — A feeding reveals two gaping chicks. Shortly after, the nest is seen with multiple featherless chicks and no adult present. - **13:49** *(afternoon brooding)* — The female returns and broods for an extended period, with chicks occasionally visible. A male visit around 14:16 shows him feeding several gaping chicks. - **14:25** *(mid-afternoon quiet)* — A long, uninterrupted session of the female brooding on the nest. - **14:55** *(major feeding event)* — A flurry of activity involves both adults at the nest. After they depart around 15:00, a clip clearly shows four pinkish chicks with open mouths in the cup. - **15:14** *(afternoon quiet)* — Following the feeding, the nest is quiet with either an adult brooding or the chicks alone. A clip at 16:00 shows an empty nest, though this conflicts with other clips showing an adult present. - **16:08** *(afternoon feeding cluster)* — Another active period begins with both parents visiting to feed the chicks, who are frequently seen gaping. - **16:39** *(chicks alone)* — The chicks are visible alone in the nest. An adult departs at 17:09, revealing multiple gaping chicks. - **17:18** *(late afternoon brooding)* — An adult, likely the female, settles on the nest. A feeding by the male is observed around 17:26. - **18:03** *(evening chick reveal)* — During a brooding session, the female departs at 18:20, revealing at least three small, pinkish chicks in the cup. - **18:28** *(dusk settle with conflicting views)* — Chicks are seen alone, but several clips from one camera report the nest as empty. Other clips from a different camera during the same period show the female brooding. - **19:28** *(final activity)* — The female is brooding on the nest. A final feeding visit occurs around 19:48, with both adults present, before the female settles in for the night. - **20:01** *(night)* — An adult is settled on the nest. Later clips become too dark to discern detail, though a final clip at 22:21 shows a faint shape consistent with a brooding bird. ### Notes - **Chick Count:** Chicks were frequently visible throughout the day. While most clips showed one or "several" chicks, specific counts were occasionally possible. A clip at 15:00:37 provided the clearest view, showing four chicks. Other clips confirmed at least two or three at different times. - **Parental Activity:** Both the male and female were actively involved in caring for the chicks, with numerous feeding visits recorded. - **Camera Discrepancy:** A recurring anomaly was noted where clips from the `sunroom` camera reported the nest as "empty," while simultaneous or near-simultaneous clips from the `tapo` camera clearly showed chicks or a brooding adult. This suggests the `sunroom` camera has an obstructed or less clear view of the nest cup's contents. ## 2026-05-11 (Monday) — A busy morning of brooding and feeding new chicks. The day begins with the first clear views of several small, naked chicks in the nest. The morning is a steady rhythm of activity, with the female brooding the young for long stretches. These quiet periods are punctuated by feeding visits from the male and brief moments when the chicks are left alone in the cup. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:09 - 05:19** *(overnight)* — The nest is obscured by darkness in most overnight clips. A bird is visible brooding in the nest around 01:27, but otherwise, the contents are not discernible. - **05:35 - 05:53** *(first light)* — The nest is seen empty at first light. Shortly after, a female is brooding, followed by the first clear view of the day showing several small, pinkish chicks alone in the cup. - **06:06 - 06:32** *(morning feeding rounds)* — The male visits the nest, followed by the female brooding with a chick visible beside her. The chicks are then seen alone before the male returns for a feeding, with several chick gapes visible. - **06:37 - 07:45** *(brooding and feeding cycle)* — The female settles in to brood for an extended period, with chicks occasionally visible. A male feeding visit occurs around 06:57. The chicks are then left alone, with one clip noting at least four are visible, before the female returns. - **07:51 - 08:04** *(coordinated feeding)* — A significant feeding event occurs with both the male and female present at the nest as chicks gape for food. This is followed by a long brooding session by the female, with chicks frequently visible around her. - **08:10 - 09:19** *(mid-morning routine)* — The pattern of brooding and feeding continues. The chicks are left alone several times, with clips noting three or more are visible. The male makes two separate feeding visits during this period. - **09:28 - 10:30** *(extended brooding and feeding)* — This long period begins with the female brooding, with chicks peeking out or gaping intermittently. A major feeding event with both adults present occurs around 09:50, followed by a lengthy brooding session. The period ends with the chicks alone in the nest. ### Notes - First clear view of multiple chicks for the day is at 05:53:09. - Both adults are observed at the nest together during feeding events (e.g., 07:51, 09:50). - Clips note varying numbers of visible chicks at different times, including "at least four" at 07:02 and "at least three" at 08:26 and 09:13. ## 2026-05-11 (Monday) — A constant cycle of brooding and feeding new chicks. The day begins with the first clear views of several small, pinkish chicks in the nest. Both adults are active throughout the day; the female spends long periods brooding the young, while both she and the male are seen bringing food. In the afternoon, several clips confirm for the first time that unhatched eggs remain in the nest cup alongside the chicks. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:09–05:35** *(overnight)* — The nest is obscured by darkness in most overnight clips. A single IR clip at 01:27 confirms a bird is brooding. Just before dawn, the nest is seen empty. - **05:50–05:53** *(dawn shift)* — The female is seen brooding at first. Shortly after, a clip shows the nest empty of adults, revealing several small, pinkish, naked chicks. - **06:06–06:32** *(morning feeding cluster)* — The male arrives for a feeding, followed by the female brooding. The chicks are seen alone in the nest between adult visits, and the male returns for another feeding. - **06:37–07:45** *(brooding session)* — The female spends an extended period brooding the chicks. They are occasionally visible beside her, sometimes with open mouths. - **07:51–08:04** *(coordinated feeding)* — Both the male and female are present at the nest together, feeding the chicks. This is followed by a long brooding session by the female, with chicks visible intermittently. - **08:10–09:19** *(chicks alone & male feeding)* — The chicks are left unattended for several stretches. The male arrives for two separate feeding visits during this period. - **09:28–10:30** *(mid-morning activity)* — The female broods for over an hour. This session begins with a coordinated feeding visit from both parents. Chicks are frequently visible beside the female, often with open gapes. The period ends with the nest empty, showing the chicks alone. - **11:52** *(human visit)* — A human head is visible in clips near the nest. A bird is seen brooding during the visit, and the nest also appears empty in one clip. - **12:22–13:09** *(midday brooding)* — The female broods the chicks. There are some conflicting clips around 12:53 and 13:09 where one camera shows the female brooding while another shows the nest is empty. - **13:22–14:14** *(afternoon feeding cluster)* — Both adults are seen at the nest for feedings. The male also makes solo visits to feed the chicks, who are seen gaping. In between feedings, the female broods. - **14:20–15:06** *(chicks alone)* — The chicks are seen alone in the nest for an extended period, with some gaping observed. There are conflicting clips around 14:57, with one camera showing an empty nest while another shows the female brooding. - **15:11–15:52** *(extended brooding & feeding)* — The female returns and broods for a long stretch. Both parents arrive for a feeding around 15:16. Chicks are frequently seen with open mouths next to the brooding female before she departs again. - **15:58–16:11** *(male feeding & nest check)* — The chicks are alone and gaping before the male arrives for a feeding. A clip at 16:11 provides the first clear view of at least three yellowish-white eggs among the chicks. - **16:15–17:22** *(late afternoon activity)* — The nest alternates between being empty with chicks and being occupied by the brooding female. A clear view at 16:51 shows multiple chicks and two pale eggs. The male arrives for a solo feeding visit around 17:17. - **17:26–18:19** *(pre-dusk feedings)* — After a long period of the chicks being alone, the female returns to brood. The male arrives for a feeding around 18:18. - **18:29–19:26** *(dusk settle)* — The nest is seen empty with chicks several times, but the female returns to brood for increasingly long periods. A final feeding from the male is noted around 19:43, after which the female settles in. - **19:32–22:28** *(overnight brooding)* — The female broods continuously through the night, seen in IR footage. Chicks are occasionally visible tucked beside her. ### Notes - **Milestone:** Unhatched eggs were clearly identified in the nest alongside the chicks for the first time at 16:11. Clips at 16:11 and 16:51 show at least two or three eggs remain. - **Behavior:** Both parents were observed feeding the chicks throughout the day, sometimes arriving at the nest together. - **Anomaly:** A human was visible near the nest at 11:52. - **Data Integrity:** There were several instances of conflicting data between the `tapo` and `sunroom` cameras at the same timestamp (e.g., 12:53, 14:57, 17:48), where one showed the nest was empty while the other showed an adult brooding. ## 2026-05-12 (Tuesday) — A day of feedings and new arrivals The day began with the female brooding through the night, but early morning infrared clips revealed the first clear views of chicks in the nest. Throughout the day, both adults were active, with the male making numerous feeding visits and the female alternating between brooding the young and leaving them unattended. The nest was a hub of activity, with frequent sightings of chicks gaping for food. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00** *(overnight brooding)* — The female remains settled on the nest through the early hours of the morning. In all infrared clips, she completely occludes the contents of the nest cup. - **02:51** *(first chick sightings)* — While the female continues to brood, a chick is first seen beside her at 02:51. Over the next couple of hours, various clips intermittently show small, pale shapes consistent with one or more chicks, though many other clips still show the female completely covering the nest contents. - **05:37** *(dawn transition)* — As dawn approaches, the chicks are seen more clearly. At 05:41, they are visible alone in the nest for the first time. The nest is subsequently seen both empty with chicks visible and with the female brooding. - **05:50** *(morning ambiguity)* — Several clips show chicks alone in the nest, but others from a different camera angle around the same time show the nest as empty. The female is also seen brooding, sometimes revealing a gaping chick. - **06:24** *(first morning feedings)* — The male is seen at the nest for the first time, interacting with the female and the chicks. Multiple clips show chicks with open mouths, and both adults are present for a feeding around 06:27. A conflicting clip at 07:01 shows a single egg in the nest after numerous chick sightings. - **07:13** *(morning brooding and feeding)* — The female spends much of the morning brooding the chicks, who are frequently visible beside her. Both adults visit to feed the gaping chicks, with visits observed around 07:33 and 08:07. - **08:15** *(mid-morning activity)* — The chicks are left alone in the nest multiple times. The male visits to feed them around 08:34 and 09:29. The female continues to brood between these periods. - **10:51** *(hatching in progress)* — A key observation at 10:51 shows two small, pinkish chicks and three pale, speckled eggs together in the unattended nest. This is followed by a period of brooding and feeding visits from both adults. - **11:13** *(midday brooding)* — The female broods the chicks consistently, with the young often visible beside her. A male visit is noted around 11:57. - **12:24** *(chicks alone)* — For over an hour, the chicks are frequently seen alone in the nest, sometimes gaping. The female returns to brood intermittently, and feeding visits from both parents resume around 13:04. - **13:26** *(afternoon activity)* — The pattern of the female brooding, chicks being left alone, and feeding visits from the male continues through the afternoon. The male is seen at the nest around 14:02 and 17:17. - **18:06** *(dusk settle)* — As evening arrives, the female settles in to brood more consistently. Feedings are still observed, with the male visiting around 19:27. - **20:22** *(night brooding)* — The female is settled on the nest for the night. Numerous infrared clips show her brooding, with the pale shapes of chicks often visible tucked in beside and underneath her. ### Notes - **First chick visible:** The first unambiguous sighting of a chick occurred at 02:51:31. - **Hatching incomplete:** A clip at 10:51:48 clearly showed two chicks alongside three eggs, confirming that not all eggs had hatched at that point. - **Conflicting observations:** There were several instances of conflicting data. At 07:01:00, one camera showed a single egg in the nest, despite many prior clips showing chicks. Additionally, there were recurring discrepancies where one camera would show chicks in an unattended nest while another camera, at nearly the same time, recorded the nest as completely empty. This is likely due to slight timing differences, camera angles, or processing variations. ## 2026-05-13 (Wednesday) — A busy day of feedings for both parents. The day was characterized by constant activity, with both the male and female actively participating in feeding the chicks. After a quiet night of brooding by the female, the morning began with the first feeding from the male. Throughout the day, the chicks were frequently left alone in the nest, often seen gaping, and were attended to by both adults in a series of feeding visits. The female settled back on the nest after dusk to brood the chicks for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:01** *(overnight brooding)* — The female remains settled on the nest through the early morning hours. In numerous infrared clips, small shapes consistent with chicks are visible nestled beside or beneath her. - **05:56** *(dawn feeding)* — For the first time of the day, chicks are seen alone in the nest, with one observed gaping. At 06:19, the male arrives for the first recorded feeding of the day, with several chicks seen gaping in response. - **06:58** *(morning feeding cluster)* — A very active period begins with another feeding visit from the male. Both adults are seen at the nest around 07:35, with multiple chicks gaping for food. For the next two hours, the female alternates between brooding and leaving the nest, with both parents visiting again around 09:07 to feed the begging chicks. - **09:19** *(mid-morning activity)* — The female departs, leaving the chicks alone in the nest. They remain unattended for over an hour, with occasional gaping observed. The male returns for a feeding visit around 11:12 before the chicks are left alone again. - **11:47** *(midday feeding cluster)* — The female returns to brood, and chicks are seen begging. The male visits to feed the chicks around 11:58. This is followed by another period of the chicks alone in the nest, and then a coordinated feeding visit from both parents around 12:50. - **13:18** *(afternoon activity)* — The afternoon sees several feeding visits from the male. The chicks are left alone for long stretches, during which they are seen huddling and occasionally gaping. The female is also seen brooding and attending to the chicks. - **18:00** *(dusk feeding and settle)* — The male makes another feeding visit. The female returns to brood, and both parents are present for a final feeding around 18:40. Afterward, the nest is left empty for over an hour. - **19:26** *(night brooding)* — The female returns to the nest and settles over the chicks. For the remainder of the night, she broods them, with many infrared clips showing the chicks huddled beside her. ### Notes - Both parents were observed feeding the chicks throughout the day, often visiting together. - One clip at 21:27:38 was described as showing "a single pale, oval object, consistent with an egg" next to the brooding female. This contrasts with all other clips from the day that showed only chicks in the nest. ## 2026-05-14 (Thursday) — A busy day of brooding and feeding the chicks. The day was characterized by a consistent cycle of activity at the nest. The female brooded the chicks through the night, and beginning at dawn, both adults were seen making feeding visits. Throughout the day, the chicks were frequently left unattended, often seen gaping, before an adult would return to brood or feed them. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00** *(overnight brooding)* — The female is settled in the nest for the night, brooding. In many of the infrared clips, small, pale shapes consistent with chicks are visible nestled beside her. - **05:46** *(dawn transition)* — The female departs the nest, leaving the chicks exposed for the first time in daylight. They are visible as small, fuzzy shapes in the nest cup. - **06:06** *(first daylight feedings)* — The day's feeding activity begins. The female is seen with chicks that have open mouths. Shortly after, a male with red plumage visits the nest where chicks are again seen gaping. - **06:33** *(daytime cycle)* — A steady rhythm of activity continues through the morning and afternoon. The female spends long periods brooding, sometimes revealing the chicks as she shifts. Both the male and female make numerous feeding visits, at times appearing at the nest together. In between these visits, the chicks are often left alone in the cup and are frequently observed gaping. - **20:29** *(evening settle)* — In the evening, the chicks are left unattended for a long period. Clips from this time show conflicting nest contents; some show only chicks, some show only pale, rounded objects resembling eggs, and a few show both chicks and eggs present simultaneously. The female eventually returns to brood the chicks, settling in for the night. - **22:18** *(late night)* — After a brief period of the chicks being alone again, the female returns to the nest and is seen brooding them as the night continues. ### Notes - This is the first day with extensive footage of both the male and female actively feeding the chicks. - A significant data anomaly occurred between 20:36 and 20:41, where multiple clips reported eggs being visible in the nest, sometimes alongside chicks and sometimes alone. This conflicts with the vast majority of clips from the day, which show only chicks. ## 2026-05-15 (Friday) — A bustling day of feeding and brooding The day was marked by constant activity at the nest, with both the male and female adults making numerous visits to feed the chicks. The chicks were frequently seen gaping in anticipation of food. Between feedings, the female spent considerable time brooding, though there were also long stretches, particularly overnight, where the chicks were left alone in the nest cup. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00** *(overnight)* — In the first hours of the morning, the nest is empty of adults. Multiple small, fuzzy chicks are visible huddled together in the nest cup, occasionally moving or gaping. - **00:13** *(overnight)* — The chicks remain alone for an extended period. A female arrives to brood briefly around 00:32 before departing again. Some camera views show an empty nest while others show the chicks or the brooding adult. - **00:44** *(overnight brooding)* — The pattern of intermittent brooding continues. The female is present for several periods, often with chicks visible around her, alternating with times when the chicks are left alone. - **04:05** *(pre-dawn)* — In the hour before dawn, the female continues to brood off and on. The chicks are frequently visible alone in the nest. - **05:10** *(dawn)* — As dawn approaches, the chicks are mostly seen alone. A clip at 05:44 described the nest as containing "several pale, rounded objects resembling eggs," which conflicts with surrounding observations of chicks. An adult is seen with four gaping chicks at 05:57. - **06:08** *(dawn feeding)* — A significant feeding event occurs at 06:12, with two adults present and five chicks seen gaping. The male is seen feeding the chicks again at 06:33. - **06:39** *(brooding and feeding)* — An adult broods the chicks, who are sometimes seen gaping. The male returns for another feeding visit around 06:44. - **07:06** *(feeding cluster)* — The male is seen feeding the chicks around 07:16. Following the feeding, the female settles in to brood for an extended period, with chicks often visible and gaping beside her. - **07:53** *(male feeding visit)* — The male arrives to feed the gaping chicks around 07:54. - **08:01** *(midday quiet)* — The chicks are left alone for a stretch, with a brief brooding session by the female at the beginning of the hour. She is seen departing at 08:22, revealing four chicks. - **08:34** *(brooding and feeding)* — The morning continues with a mix of the female brooding, the chicks being left alone, and another feeding visit from the male at 09:01. - **09:05** *(brooding and departure)* — The female is present with gaping chicks before she departs at 09:07, revealing five chicks in the cup. - **09:15** *(midday quiet)* — The chicks are alone in the nest for over an hour, with several feeding visits from both the male (e.g., 09:30, 10:18, 10:45) and female (e.g., 09:47). - **10:58** *(extended brooding)* — The female settles in for a long brooding session, with chicks and their gapes often visible beside her. - **11:15** *(feeding cluster)* — After a period of quiet, the male visits to feed the chicks between 11:18 and 11:20. The female broods for most of the noon hour, with chicks frequently seen gaping. - **12:17** *(co-parenting visit)* — Both adults are present at the nest around 12:21 and again at 13:04, with chicks actively begging. - **13:14** *(afternoon quiet)* — The chicks are left alone for much of the early afternoon, often seen gaping. The male returns to feed around 13:43. - **13:50** *(extended brooding)* — The female returns and broods for a long stretch, with chicks and gapes frequently visible at her side. She departs around 14:20. - **14:28** *(afternoon feeding)* — The chicks are alone until the male arrives for a series of feeding visits between 14:40 and 14:43. The female is seen brooding afterward. - **15:03** *(chicks alone)* — The chicks are left unattended for nearly an hour. The male returns to feed around 15:26. - **15:35** *(brooding and co-parenting)* — The female broods the chicks. Both adults are seen at the nest between 16:12 and 16:13. - **16:17** *(afternoon settle)* — The chicks are alone for much of the hour. A co-parenting visit is noted around 17:06, with the male present while the female broods. - **17:25** *(dusk approach)* — Activity continues with the chicks alone, a female brooding, and a male feeding visit around 17:42. A clip at 17:27 shows both chicks and a pale, oval object resembling an egg. - **18:02** *(dusk feeding)* — The female broods, departing at 18:08. Both adults are seen at the nest with gaping chicks between 19:05 and 19:06, followed by another male feeding visit at 19:43. - **20:02** *(overnight brooding)* — The female is seen settled for the night, though a clip at 20:18 shows the nest empty. From 20:29 onward, the pattern of the female brooding intermittently while the chicks are often left alone resumes. - **21:29** *(overnight)* — During a period when the chicks are alone, a clip describes seeing both "sparsely-downed chicks" and "several pale, oval-shaped eggs" in the nest. The female continues to alternate between brooding and being absent for the rest of the night. ### Notes - **Conflicting Nest Contents:** Two clips today reported seeing egg-like objects in the nest along with chicks. A clip at 05:44 described "several pale, rounded objects resembling eggs," and another at 21:29 noted both chicks and "several pale, oval-shaped eggs." This conflicts with the vast majority of clips, which show only chicks. - **Anomalous Observations:** A few clips during the day (e.g., 04:39, 14:31, 17:46) described the nest as completely empty, which contradicts all surrounding clips showing chicks. - **Camera Discrepancies:** The sunroom camera frequently showed an empty nest when the tapo camera, at the same time, showed a brooding adult or visible chicks (e.g., 00:17, 00:32, 01:35). - **Visible Chick Counts:** When a number could be discerned, clips noted seeing three, four, or five chicks at various times (e.g., five at 06:12 and 09:07). ## 2026-05-16 (Saturday) — A busy day of feedings and conflicting observations The day was marked by constant activity, with both male and female adults making frequent visits to feed the chicks. The chicks were often seen gaping in anticipation or response to these visits, and were otherwise left unattended for long stretches. A significant number of clips throughout the day presented conflicting information, showing eggs or an entirely empty nest, while the majority of footage confirmed the presence of multiple chicks. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00 - 01:33** *(overnight restlessness)* — The early hours show a pattern of the female brooding, interspersed with periods where she is absent and the chicks are visible alone in the nest. One clip at 00:34 anomalously shows four eggs instead of chicks. - **01:37 - 03:17** *(overnight activity and conflicting views)* — This long period continues the mix of brooding and the chicks being left alone. Several clips contradict the presence of chicks, showing eggs (01:59, 02:09) or a completely empty nest (02:59, 03:06). - **03:20 - 05:41** *(pre-dawn activity)* — The female continues to alternate between brooding and leaving the chicks unattended in the dark. The first signs of begging behavior are noted, with chick gapes visible in a few clips. - **05:46 - 06:33** *(dawn feeding cluster)* — As dawn breaks, the first clear feeding events of the day occur. The female is seen with gaping chicks, and the first confirmed male visit of the day is recorded at 06:33. - **06:38 - 07:56** *(morning feeding rotation)* — The parents alternate visits, with the female feeding around 06:46, followed by the male at 06:59. The female returns for another feeding at 07:40, and the male again at 07:50, followed by a period of brooding by the female. - **08:07 - 08:59** *(mid-morning feeding flurry)* — A very active hour involves multiple feeding visits from both the female (08:09) and the male (08:23, 08:45). In between feedings, the chicks are left alone for extended periods. - **09:03 - 09:29** *(mid-morning brooding)* — The female settles in for a longer period of brooding, eventually departing around 09:29 to reveal the chicks. - **09:48 - 10:37** *(late morning feedings)* — Activity resumes with the female arriving to feed, followed by a male visit at 10:02. The chicks are often seen gaping while unattended. Another male feeding occurs around 10:34. - **10:43 - 11:19** *(midday brooding and feeding)* — After a quiet spell with the female brooding, she attends to the chicks around 11:01. She departs after another feeding at 11:11, leaving the chicks alone. - **11:25 - 12:20** *(midday quiet and male visit)* — The chicks are unattended for a long stretch before a male arrives to feed them around 12:14. - **12:25 - 12:59** *(afternoon feeding cluster)* — The chicks are left alone until a female feeding at 12:35. This is followed by a quick succession of visits, with the male arriving at 12:55 and the female again at 12:58. - **13:06 - 13:53** *(afternoon feedings and brooding)* — After another quiet period, the male visits to feed at 13:33. The female returns later to brood and feed the chicks around 13:49. - **14:00 - 14:39** *(afternoon activity)* — The chicks are seen alone before a male feeding visit at 14:20. The female then returns to brood, departing around 14:36 to reveal the chicks. - **14:47 - 15:41** *(conflicting views and a dual parent visit)* — This period contains several anomalous clips showing an empty nest. A notable event occurs at 15:37, when both the male and female are present at the nest during a feeding. Another clip at 15:57 contradicts the presence of chicks by showing three eggs. - **15:57 - 17:35** *(late afternoon activity)* — Amidst more contradictory clips showing an empty nest, both parents continue to make feeding visits. A male is present at 16:21 and 17:23, and a female at 17:31. At 16:21, the male is perched nearby while the female is in the cup with the chicks. - **17:45 - 19:21** *(dusk feeding cluster)* — As evening approaches, the chicks are seen gaping frequently. A major feeding cluster includes visits from the male (18:20, 19:17) and the female (18:22, 19:13). - **19:31 - 20:48** *(dusk settle and more anomalies)* — The female broods intermittently. This period is also marked by numerous clips that anomalously report the nest as completely empty. - **20:51 - 23:59** *(overnight brooding)* — For the remainder of the night, the female settles in to brood the chicks. She is mostly stationary, with a few brief periods where she leaves the chicks unattended. ### Notes - **Contradictory Observations:** Numerous clips throughout the day conflict with the primary observation of live chicks. Clips at 00:34, 01:59, 02:09, and 15:57 reported seeing only eggs in the nest. - **Anomalous "Empty Nest" Clips:** A significant number of clips (e.g., 02:59, 03:06, 14:47, 15:15, 17:06, 17:35, 19:34, and others) reported the nest as completely empty of any contents, immediately preceding or following clips that clearly showed chicks. - **Dual Parent Visit:** A notable event occurred at 15:37 when both the male and female were observed at the nest at the same time during a feeding. ## 2026-05-17 (Sunday) — A busy day of feedings and chick observations The day began with the female brooding overnight, with the chicks visible during her brief absences. Throughout the daylight hours, both the male and female were observed making frequent feeding visits to the nest. The chicks were often left unattended and could be seen gaping for food, indicating begging behavior. As evening fell, the female returned to brood the chicks for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00** *(Overnight and pre-dawn brooding)* — The female broods the chicks through the early morning hours. She frequently leaves the nest for short periods, revealing multiple small, fuzzy chicks huddled in the cup. This pattern of brooding, punctuated by brief absences, continues until dawn. - **05:52** *(Dawn feeding cluster)* — The day's activity begins around first light as the female departs, revealing gaping chicks. The first feeding visit from the male is recorded at 06:20. For the next two hours, both parents make several trips to the nest to feed the chicks, who are often seen alone and begging between visits. - **08:19** *(Mid-morning activity)* — The rhythm of feeding visits and periods of an empty nest continues. Both the male and female bring food. The female is also seen brooding for short intervals. Numerous clips show the chicks alone in the cup, sometimes gaping and sometimes resting. - **11:27** *(Midday feedings and rest)* — Activity continues with more feeding visits from both parents. At 12:38, the male visits while the female is already in the nest with the chicks. There are also periods of brooding by the female and times when the chicks are left alone. - **13:51** *(Afternoon feeding flurry)* — Another active period with multiple feeding visits from both adults. The chicks are frequently seen alone in the nest, sometimes with open mouths. The female is seen brooding the chicks between some of the feeding events. - **16:15** *(Late afternoon and dusk activity)* — The pattern of feeding visits from both parents continues into the evening. Both the male and female are seen at the nest together around 19:33. As dusk approaches, the female is seen brooding more often. - **19:52** *(Dusk settle and overnight brooding)* — After a few final glimpses of the chicks, the female settles on the nest for the night around 20:32. She remains there consistently, with only a few brief interruptions noted. ### Notes - Several clips provided conflicting information about the nest contents. At 11:13:50, a clip was labeled as showing three eggs. At 15:47:20, a clip was described as containing both chicks and pale, oval objects resembling eggs. At 16:09:12, a clip was labeled as showing two eggs. These observations are inconsistent with the numerous other clips from the same periods showing only chicks. - Both the male and female were observed at the nest around 19:33. ## 2026-05-18 (Monday) — A bustling day of feedings for the new chicks The day was characterized by constant activity, with both male and female adults making numerous feeding visits. The chicks were frequently seen with open mouths, begging for food, both during parental visits and while left alone in the nest. Between feedings, the female spent considerable time brooding the young, who were also often seen huddled together while the nest was unattended. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00** *(Overnight brooding)* — The female is settled in the nest for the first few hours of the morning, seen in monochrome infrared clips. The nest contents are consistently occluded, though she briefly leaves the nest around 00:17 before returning. - **00:24** *(Pre-dawn activity)* — Brooding continues, but at 00:30, the female shifts to briefly reveal at least one visible chick. The nest is also seen empty of adults on a few occasions. - **01:00** *(Pre-dawn brooding)* — The female continues to brood. A shape resembling a chick is seen at 01:01, and several fuzzy chicks are clearly visible when the nest is left unattended at 01:18 and 01:33. - **01:45** *(Overnight brooding)* — For over an hour, the female is seen settled on the nest, with the chicks consistently covered. At 02:08, at least three chicks are visible alone in the cup. This pattern of brooding interspersed with brief views of the unattended chicks continues for the next few hours. - **05:13** *(Dawn transition)* — As night gives way to morning, the female continues to brood. Several chicks are visible beneath her just before she departs the nest around 05:32, leaving the chicks alone. - **05:41** *(First light and feedings)* — Following a period of brooding, the first feeding of the day is recorded at 06:01, with multiple chicks gaping. A male with red plumage is seen feeding the chicks for the first time at 06:15. - **06:25** *(Morning feeding cluster)* — A long period of high activity begins, with numerous clips showing the chicks alone in the nest, often with open mouths. Both the male and female are observed in separate feeding visits. A few clips during this time show an empty nest with no chicks visible. - **07:21** *(Morning feeding cluster)* — The active feeding pattern continues, with both the male and female making visits to the nest. In between, the chicks are left alone or the female broods them briefly. - **07:43** *(Morning activity and feedings)* — The day's longest scene starts with a male feeding visit. This is followed by an extended period where the nest is frequently empty, sometimes with chicks visible and sometimes not. More feedings from both adults occur around 08:25 and 08:36. - **09:10** *(Mid-morning feedings)* — The nest is seen with chicks alone, empty, and with the female brooding. Feeding visits from both adults are noted around 09:29 and 09:45. - **10:26** *(Late morning feeding cluster)* — Another active period with chicks seen alone, often gaping. The female feeds them at 10:28, and the male visits at 10:43. One clip at 10:38 describes the nest as containing objects resembling eggs, which is inconsistent with other observations. - **11:02** *(Midday feeding cluster)* — Feedings from both the female and male occur in quick succession. The chicks are frequently seen alone, sometimes gaping, and the nest is occasionally empty. - **12:08** *(Lunchtime feeding)* — After a period of brooding and the chicks being alone, the female arrives for a feeding. A male feeding visit follows shortly after at 12:17. - **12:38** *(Afternoon brooding and feeding)* — The female settles in for a long brooding session, during which chicks are often visible around her, many with open mouths. - **13:32** *(Afternoon feedings)* — A series of feeding visits from both the male and female are interspersed with periods where the chicks are left alone in the cup. - **14:21** *(Afternoon feeding frenzy)* — A very active period with a male feeding visit, followed by the female brooding, and then more feedings by both adults. The chicks are often seen alone and gaping. - **17:16** *(Evening feeding cluster)* — As evening approaches, the female is seen with gaping chicks before she departs. A male feeding visit follows soon after. - **17:57** *(Dusk feeding and settle)* — A male visits to feed the chicks, after which the female returns to brood, with chicks visible around her. - **18:48** *(Dusk feeding)* — After a brief period of brooding, the male arrives for another feeding visit before the female returns to settle on the nest. - **19:21** *(Dusk settle)* — The female is seen brooding the chicks, who are occasionally seen gaping from beneath her. The nest is left unattended a few times before another feeding by the male at 19:53. - **20:40** *(Nightfall brooding)* — The female settles on the nest for the night. The chicks are visible beneath her at times, but she remains brooding for the majority of the time as darkness falls. - **21:09** *(Overnight brooding)* — The female continues to brood the chicks through the late evening, occasionally shifting. The chicks are seen alone in the nest a few times between her brooding sessions. ### Notes - Both the male (identified by red plumage) and female were observed making numerous feeding visits throughout the day. - Chicks were frequently seen with open mouths (gaping), indicating begging behavior, both when adults were present and when they were alone in the nest. - One clip at 10:38:05 was described as showing "pale, oval-shaped objects resembling eggs," which is inconsistent with the numerous other clips from throughout the day showing multiple chicks. ## 2026-05-19 (Tuesday) — A relentless pace of feedings from both parents The day began with the female brooding overnight, with occasional glimpses of the chicks alone in the nest. As daylight arrived, the pace quickened dramatically, with both male and female adults making frequent feeding visits throughout the day. In between feedings, the feathered chicks were often left unattended, seen huddling, shifting, and gaping in anticipation. The evening concluded with the female settling back onto the nest for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00 - 05:45** *(overnight brooding)* — The female broods the chicks through the night, shifting occasionally. In several brief intervals when she is away, multiple feathered chicks are visible huddled in the nest cup. - **05:45 - 06:42** *(dawn activity and first feedings)* — As dawn breaks, the chicks are seen alone more frequently, often with open mouths. An adult female is seen feeding them around 06:04, and a male with red plumage brings food at 06:13. Some clips during this period anomalously show the nest as completely empty. - **06:53 - 07:20** *(morning feeding cluster and anomaly)* — The morning continues with a mix of brooding and periods where the chicks are alone. A male is seen feeding the chicks around 07:13. A highly unusual clip at 07:20 shows the nest containing four eggs and no chicks, directly contradicting all other clips from the day. - **07:27 - 09:55** *(sustained morning feedings)* — This long period is marked by constant activity. Both the male and female are documented making multiple feeding visits. When the adults are away, the chicks are visible huddling and frequently gaping. - **10:06 - 11:11** *(midday feedings)* — After a brief quiet period, feeding visits from both parents resume. The chicks are left alone between visits. - **11:20 - 12:14** *(midday feeding frenzy)* — Activity intensifies with numerous clips showing the chicks alone and gaping. Both male and female adults are recorded making feeding visits during this busy hour. - **12:26 - 13:57** *(afternoon feeding cluster)* — The pattern of parental visits continues through the early afternoon. Male and female birds bring food to the begging chicks, interspersed with periods of brooding or the chicks being left alone. - **14:01 - 15:55** *(late afternoon feeding frenzy)* — Another very active period with frequent feedings from both adults. The chicks are often seen alone, huddling or gaping. Several clips during this time show the nest as completely empty, which is inconsistent with surrounding observations. - **16:05 - 17:23** *(evening feeding cluster)* — Feedings continue into the evening. Both the male and female are observed bringing food to the chicks, who are frequently seen with open mouths. - **17:34 - 19:43** *(dusk feedings and settle)* — The last feeding visits of the day occur, with both parents making appearances. Afterward, the female begins to spend more time on the nest, brooding the chicks as darkness falls. - **19:58 - 22:28** *(overnight brooding)* — After a few periods where the nest appears empty, an adult arrives around 20:45 to settle for the night. For the remainder of the evening, the female is seen brooding, though there are still many intervals where she is absent and the chicks are visible alone in the nest. ### Notes - A significant data anomaly occurred at 07:20:02, where a clip described the nest as containing four eggs and no chicks. This is in direct conflict with the vast majority of clips from the day, which show multiple feathered chicks. - Several other clips throughout the day (e.g., 04:25:39, 05:58:07, 06:42:25, and others in the afternoon) also anomalously reported the nest as completely empty, when surrounding clips clearly showed chicks. - Multiple clips note the increasing presence of droppings and debris on the nest rim. - Both the male (with red plumage) and the female (brown, streaky) were documented actively feeding the chicks throughout the day. ## 2026-05-20 (Wednesday) — A day of constant feedings and hungry chicks The day was characterized by frequent feeding visits from both the male and female throughout the daylight hours. The well-feathered chicks were often left alone and were frequently seen gaping in anticipation of food. Overnight, the female alternated between brooding the chicks and leaving them unattended for extended periods. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00 - 05:37** *(overnight activity)* — The night is a mix of the female brooding and leaving the nest for long stretches. During her absences, multiple feathered chicks are visible huddled together in the infrared view, sometimes for over an hour at a time. - **05:40 - 06:11** *(dawn transition)* — As dawn approaches, the nest continues to alternate between being occupied by the brooding female and showing the chicks alone. Towards the end of this period, some chicks are seen gaping. - **06:16 - 07:08** *(early morning feedings)* — The first feeding visits of the day occur, with both a brown adult and a red-plumaged male seen at the nest. The chicks are actively gaping for food. During one feeding by the male, clips show as many as five chicks in the nest. - **07:17 - 09:10** *(mid-morning activity)* — The chicks are mostly alone, occasionally gaping. Both the male and female make several feeding visits. Multiple clips note that the area around the nest is becoming messy with seed debris and husks. - **09:18 - 11:14** *(late morning feedings)* — This period includes brooding, long stretches of the chicks alone, and a cluster of feeding visits from both adults. A few clips during this time anomalously describe the nest as empty of chicks, though they are visible in surrounding clips. - **11:23 - 13:54** *(lunchtime feedings)* — The chicks are left alone for long periods, with several feeding visits from both the male and female. The pattern of quiet periods followed by feeding clusters continues through the early afternoon. - **14:01 - 15:57** *(afternoon feeding frenzy)* — The chicks are very active, frequently seen gaping even when no adult is present. Both the male and female make numerous feeding visits throughout this busy period. - **16:08 - 17:57** *(evening feedings)* — The high frequency of feeding visits continues into the evening, with both adults attending to the constantly gaping chicks. The female begins to settle in for brooding towards the end of the period. - **18:04 - 19:57** *(dusk settle)* — The female alternates between brooding, feeding, and leaving the chicks alone. Male feeding visits also occur. As darkness falls, the female settles in for longer brooding sessions. - **20:01 - 22:28** *(night brooding)* — The female spends the night brooding the chicks, though she still leaves them unattended for multiple periods. At 21:19, a second adult bird is seen at the nest rim while she is brooding. ### Notes - **Variable Chick Count:** The number of visible chicks reported in clips varies, with counts of two, three, four, and five all noted at different times (e.g., five chicks seen at 07:08 and 13:50). - **Nest Condition:** Multiple clips throughout the day describe the nest and surrounding area as messy, with a significant accumulation of seed debris, husks, and droppings. - **Anomalous "Empty Nest" Clips:** On a few occasions (09:33, 10:42, 11:13, 11:57), clips describe the nest as empty of chicks, despite them being visible in clips immediately before and after. - **Unusual Night Visit:** At 21:19, a second adult was observed at the nest rim while the female was brooding, an unusual interaction for the nighttime hours. ## 2026-05-21 (Thursday) — A busy day of feedings for growing chicks. The day was characterized by constant activity, with the well-feathered chicks left alone in the nest for long periods, both overnight and during the day. Both male and female adults made numerous visits to the nest to feed the chicks, who were frequently seen gaping in anticipation. The nest area has become noticeably messy with debris and droppings. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:01** *(Overnight brooding and chick activity)* — The night began with an adult brooding, but there were frequent periods where the chicks were left alone in the nest. The chicks, described as feathered and fuzzy, were seen huddled together in the infrared view. A notable clip at 00:29 showed two adult birds present at the nest simultaneously. - **03:08** *(Pre-dawn brooding and chick activity)* — The pattern of an adult brooding, then leaving the chicks alone, continued through the pre-dawn hours. In clips where the nest was unattended, between two and four chicks were visible. - **05:34** *(Dawn relief and first feedings)* — As dawn approached, an adult was brooding until departing around 05:50, revealing four chicks. The first feeding events of the day followed shortly after, with chicks seen gaping for food. - **06:16** *(Morning feeding cluster)* — The chicks were left alone for much of this period, often seen gaping. A male was observed interacting with the chicks at 06:20. - **06:31** *(Morning activity and feedings)* — This long stretch was marked by several feeding visits from both the male and female adults. In between visits, the well-feathered chicks huddled together in the nest, with counts ranging from three to five individuals in various clips. - **07:30** *(Mid-morning feeding cluster)* — The chicks were again mostly unattended, with feeding visits from the male around 07:40 and 08:06, and the female at 08:07. - **08:21** *(Mid-morning quiet and feedings)* — The chicks were largely on their own, with an adult brooding only briefly around 08:41. The male visited to feed the gaping chicks twice during this period. - **09:07** *(Late morning feeding flurry)* — A series of feedings occurred, with visits from the female at the start of the hour and multiple visits from the male. When not being fed, the chicks were alone in the nest, frequently gaping. - **10:35** *(Midday quiet)* — The chicks were alone in the nest during these two brief scenes, with some seen gaping in anticipation of a feeding. - **10:54** *(Midday activity and feeding)* — The chicks were mostly alone until a male arrived to feed them around 11:07. One clip noted fledglings outside the nest cup area, and another showed two adult-sized birds in the nest. - **11:32** *(Midday quiet)* — In a very short scene, the feathered chicks were seen huddled alone on the shelf. - **11:41** *(Brief brooding session)* — An adult was seen brooding, briefly leaving the chicks alone before returning to the nest cup. - **11:47** *(Brief brooding session)* — A single clip showed a female brooding on the nest. - **11:51** *(Lunchtime feedings and quiet)* — For nearly an hour, the chicks were mostly alone. A feeding event at 12:01 involved both adults at the nest, and the male returned to feed again around 12:37. - **12:49** *(Early afternoon feeding)* — After a period of gaping, the chicks were fed by the male at 12:50. - **13:05** *(Afternoon feeding cluster)* — The scene began with an adult brooding, followed by several feeding visits from both the male and female. Some young birds were again observed on the shelf below the nest cup. - **13:40** *(Afternoon quiet)* — The chicks were left unattended for this entire period. One clip noted juvenile birds outside the nest cup. - **14:00** *(Long afternoon of feedings and chick activity)* — Over nearly two hours, the chicks were mostly alone, often seen gaping. Both adults made multiple feeding trips, and one clip at 15:51 showed both parents at the nest. - **15:59** *(Late afternoon feeding)* — The chicks were alone, often gaping, until an adult arrived to feed them at 16:10. - **16:19** *(Late afternoon feeding cluster)* — An adult brooded briefly before leaving the chicks alone. The female fed the chicks at 16:29, and the male visited at 16:50. - **17:01** *(Late afternoon quiet)* — The chicks were alone in the nest for a series of short scenes, frequently seen gaping. - **17:34** *(Evening feeding)* — After a period of being alone and gaping, the chicks were fed by the female at 17:55. - **18:05** *(Evening feeding cluster)* — The chicks were again seen alone and gaping until both the female and male arrived for feedings around 18:17-18:19. - **18:57** *(Evening feeding)* — The female was seen feeding and brooding the chicks, who were then left alone and continued to gape for food. - **19:13** *(Evening quiet)* — In a brief scene, the chicks were alone, with one seen gaping. - **19:17** *(Evening settle)* — The chicks were seen alone before an adult returned to brood as evening set in. - **19:26** *(Dusk settle and feeding)* — The evening routine continued with the chicks alone and gaping, a visit from the male, and then the female settling in to brood for longer stretches. - **19:58** *(Dusk settle)* — An adult brooded for most of this period, with the chicks only briefly seen alone. - **20:11** *(Dusk settle)* — The adult continued to brood, with one chick seen gaping beside it at 20:12. - **20:19** *(Dusk settle)* — An adult was settled in the nest, brooding. - **20:35** *(Night brooding and chick activity)* — As night fell, the pattern returned to an adult brooding, interspersed with periods where the feathered chicks were left alone in the nest. - **22:12** *(Late night brooding)* — The final clips of the day showed the adult brooding, occasionally leaving the chicks alone in the nest cup. ### Notes - **Chick Count Variability:** The number of chicks visible in clips varied, with counts of two, three, four, and five being reported at different times. - **Chicks Outside Nest:** Several clips throughout the day (e.g., 08:31, 11:01, 13:28, 13:56) noted feathered young birds on the shelf or in the area outside the nest cup, suggesting some are venturing out. - **Unusual Adult Presence:** Two separate clips noted the presence of two adults at the nest at once: one overnight at 00:29 and another at 11:16 showing "two adult-sized, brown-streaked birds" in the cup. - **Nest Condition:** Multiple observers noted that the nest and surrounding shelf area are messy, with a significant accumulation of seed debris, husks, and droppings. - **Anomaly for Review:** At 14:42, a clip showed three feathered chicks in the nest, but in the final frame, the nest appeared "mostly empty of these larger chicks." This sudden change warrants closer review. ## 2026-05-22 (Friday) — A busy day of feeding well-feathered chicks. The well-feathered chicks are very active today, receiving frequent feeding visits from both the male and female adults. Between feedings, the chicks are often left alone, huddled together in the increasingly crowded nest. The area around the nest is accumulating a noticeable amount of seed debris and droppings. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00** *(overnight brooding and chick activity)* — The night is a mix of the female brooding and periods where the feathered chicks are left alone in a huddle. Chicks are sometimes visible beside the brooding adult. A few clips show a second adult nearby, suggesting partner visits or feedings. - **05:49** *(morning feeding frenzy)* — As dawn breaks, the chicks are mostly seen alone before a period of frequent feeding visits begins. Both the male, identified by his red plumage, and the female are observed attending to the chicks, who respond with vigorous gaping. - **08:59** *(midday quiet with feeding intervals)* — The chicks are left alone for long stretches, huddled in the nest. These quiet periods are punctuated by feeding visits from both adults, prompting immediate begging behavior from the nestlings. - **12:32** *(afternoon activity)* — Another cluster of feeding events occurs, with both parents visiting. The chicks are now large, and some are seen on the shelf next to the nest cup. The nest area is visibly messy with debris. - **14:24** *(late afternoon feedings)* — The pattern of quiet periods followed by intense feeding visits continues. The well-feathered chicks completely fill the nest cup and are very active when a parent arrives. - **17:55** *(dusk and evening feedings)* — As evening approaches, feeding visits continue, and the female is also seen brooding intermittently. One clip at 20:12 shows the nest cup appearing empty of any birds or chicks. - **20:22** *(night settle)* — The evening concludes with the female brooding for long stretches, though there are still periods where the chicks are left alone. The final clip of the day shows two adult-sized birds huddled together in the nest cup. ### Notes - The chicks are well-feathered and appear large, filling the nest cup. Several clips describe them as looking like older nestlings or fledglings. - Chicks were observed on the shelf outside the nest cup at multiple times during the day (e.g., 00:43, 02:24, 14:08, 15:10, 17:08). - A clip at **20:12** describes the nest as "empty," with no birds or chicks visible. This contrasts with clips before and after it. - The final clip at **22:29** shows "two adult-sized birds" huddled in the nest cup. ## 2026-05-23 (Saturday) — Overnight brooding with glimpses of the growing chicks The female brooded almost continuously through the early morning hours, keeping the chicks warm. During her brief absences from the nest, the feathered nestlings were visible huddled together in the cup. The number of chicks seen varied between clips. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00** *(overnight brooding)* — The female brooded through the first half-hour, but left the nest several times. During these moments, chicks were visible, with counts varying between two, three, and four in different clips. A notable clip at 00:13 showed two adults at the nest together. - **00:40** *(overnight brooding)* — A single brief clip showed the female settled in the nest, appearing to be asleep while obscuring the cup's contents. - **00:43** *(overnight brooding)* — The female engaged in a period of uninterrupted brooding, sitting low in the cup and completely covering the chicks. - **00:55** *(overnight brooding)* — The pattern of brooding and brief absences continued. Clips showed the nest empty with three, then two, then "multiple" chicks visible. One clip at 00:57 captured the female brooding with at least three chicks visible beside her. ### Notes - The number of visible chicks was inconsistent across clips, with counts of two, three, and four all recorded when the nest was empty. - Two adult birds were observed at the nest together in one clip at 00:13. ## 2026-05-23 (Saturday) — An active day of feedings and fledgling behavior. The well-feathered chicks were very active, receiving frequent feeding visits from both the male and female adults throughout the day. The chicks were often left alone and were seen huddling outside the nest cup on the shelf on multiple occasions. The day was also marked by two human visits and a concerning early morning clip showing a motionless bird nearby. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00** *(overnight brooding and checks)* — The night begins with alternating periods of an adult brooding in the nest cup and the feathered chicks being left alone, huddled together in the monochrome infrared view. - **00:40** *(overnight brooding)* — A single clip shows an adult settled in the nest, occluding the contents. - **00:43** *(overnight brooding and checks)* — The pattern of an adult brooding, leaving, and returning continues, with the chicks visible in the nest during the adult's absences. - **00:55** *(overnight quiet)* — For a period, only the chicks are visible in the nest, huddled together. One chick is seen briefly opening its mouth. - **01:08** *(overnight brooding and checks)* — Another long stretch of alternating brooding and periods where the chicks are alone. In one clip, a chick is seen with its beak open. - **02:12** *(overnight brooding and checks)* — The night continues with an adult brooding intermittently, leaving the pile of feathered chicks alone in between visits. - **02:44** *(pre-dawn brooding)* — An adult continues to alternate between brooding and leaving the chicks unattended. At one point, chicks are visible huddled to the side of the brooding adult. - **03:19** *(pre-dawn brooding)* — The pattern of an adult brooding and then leaving the chicks alone in the nest continues. - **03:46** *(pre-dawn brooding)* — An adult is seen brooding for most of this period, with short intervals where the chicks are visible alone. - **04:01** *(pre-dawn brooding)* — An adult broods for several minutes before departing, leaving the chicks huddled in the nest. - **04:15** *(pre-dawn restlessness)* — The chicks are mostly alone. In one notable clip, multiple chicks are seen huddled together on the shelf next to the nest cup, not inside it. - **04:22** *(pre-dawn quiet)* — A long, quiet period where the feathered chicks are seen huddled in the nest cup without an adult present. - **04:45** *(pre-dawn activity and disturbance)* — The adult alternates brooding with leaving the chicks alone. A disturbing clip at 05:10 shows a bird lying motionless on its side on a nearby surface. - **05:28** *(pre-dawn brooding)* — An adult is seen brooding in the nest. - **05:33** *(pre-dawn quiet)* — After a brief brooding session, the chicks are left alone. Seed-like material is visible scattered around the nest. - **05:40** *(pre-dawn quiet)* — The feathered chicks are seen huddled in the nest. - **05:45** *(pre-dawn settle)* — The chicks are seen alone before an adult returns to brood. - **05:51** *(pre-dawn brooding)* — An adult is settled in the nest cup. - **05:56** *(dawn activity and feedings)* — As daylight approaches, activity increases significantly. Chicks are frequently seen gaping. A feeding is observed around 06:16. At 06:55, two adults are present near the nest, and another feeding occurs around 07:12. - **07:17** *(post-feeding quiet)* — Following the feedings, an adult broods briefly. In one clip, juvenile birds are seen on the shelf below the nest. - **07:27** *(male feeding visit)* — A male with red plumage is at the nest, interacting with several actively begging chicks. - **07:33** *(morning activity)* — A female interacts with gaping chicks before departing. The chicks are then left alone for a long stretch before the adult returns to brood. The nest area is noted as being covered in droppings. - **08:00** *(morning quiet)* — The chicks are alone in the nest, occasionally gaping. - **08:12** *(morning feeding cluster)* — After a long period of the chicks being alone, a male arrives for a feeding visit around 08:24, followed shortly by a female who settles in to brood. - **08:47** *(mid-morning quiet)* — The feathered chicks are seen alone in the nest. - **08:54** *(mid-morning quiet)* — The well-developed chicks, with open eyes, are seen huddled in the nest, which has a significant amount of debris. - **09:10** *(feeding and human visit)* — Both male and female adults visit to feed the chicks. Starting at 09:16, a human hand, arm, and head are visible near the nest. A clip from another camera at 09:18 shows the nest cup as empty. - **09:22** *(post-human visit activity)* — A male makes a brief visit. The primary camera shows chicks in the nest, while a secondary camera simultaneously shows the nest as empty. - **09:27** *(conflicting views)* — The primary camera continues to show three chicks in the nest, while the secondary camera shows the nest is empty. - **09:31** *(mid-morning quiet)* — The chicks are visible alone in the nest. - **09:38** *(conflicting views)* — The secondary camera again shows an empty nest, while the primary camera shows it occupied by chicks. - **09:43** *(feeding cluster)* — The chicks are seen alone before a female broods briefly. Feedings by both the male and female occur around 09:51-09:52. The secondary camera continues to show an empty nest during this activity. - **10:18** *(feeding cluster)* — More feeding visits occur, with both a male and female observed around 10:19. The secondary camera continues its conflicting view of an empty nest. - **10:35** *(midday quiet)* — The feathered chicks are seen alone in the nest. - **10:39** *(feeding and fledgling behavior)* — Feedings by both the male and female are observed. At 10:53, four chicks are seen huddled on the shelf next to the nest area. - **11:01** *(midday quiet)* — The chicks are alone in the messy nest. - **11:11** *(midday quiet)* — The secondary camera shows an empty nest. - **11:18** *(feeding visit)* — A feeding visit involves both adult birds. - **11:27** *(midday feeding cluster)* — An adult broods for a period, followed by the chicks being alone. Chicks are again seen on the shelf next to the cup. Feedings by both male and female are seen around 11:55 and 12:00. - **12:09** *(fledgling behavior)* — Four feathered birds are seen huddled together on the shelf next to the nest cup. - **12:14** *(midday quiet)* — The secondary camera shows an empty nest. - **12:17** *(fledgling behavior)* — Multiple chicks are again seen on the shelf next to the nest cup. - **12:21** *(midday quiet)* — The chicks are back in the nest cup. For the first time, clips note a count of five chicks huddled together. - **12:40** *(midday quiet)* — Multiple feathered chicks are visible in the nest. - **12:45** *(midday quiet)* — The secondary camera shows an empty nest. - **12:50** *(afternoon feeding and fledgling behavior)* — A feeding cluster involves both adults. Chicks are later seen huddled on the shelf outside the cup. - **13:16** *(afternoon feeding)* — After a period of quiet, a female arrives to feed the gaping chicks. - **13:31** *(afternoon feeding)* — The chicks are alone for a while before a male visits to feed them around 13:42. One clip notes a size difference among the chicks. - **13:50** *(afternoon quiet)* — The chicks are seen huddled in the nest. - **13:57** *(afternoon quiet)* — The chicks are alone, occasionally gaping. - **14:13** *(afternoon quiet)* — The chicks are seen huddled together. - **14:18** *(afternoon quiet)* — The secondary camera shows an empty nest. - **14:24** *(afternoon feeding and fledgling behavior)* — The chicks are alone for a while, then a female feeds them at 14:35. At 14:40, several chicks are seen on the shelf below the nest cup. - **14:48** *(conflicting views)* — The primary camera shows feathered juveniles in the nest area, while the secondary camera shows an empty nest. - **14:55** *(afternoon feeding cluster)* — A long period of activity includes feeding visits from both the male and female. At 15:06, chicks are again seen on the shelf outside the nest. - **15:45** *(afternoon quiet)* — The chicks are seen huddled in the nest cup. - **15:50** *(afternoon feeding)* — After a quiet period, a male visits to feed the chicks at 15:54. - **16:07** *(afternoon quiet)* — The secondary camera shows an empty nest. - **16:17** *(afternoon quiet)* — The well-feathered chicks are seen huddled in the nest. - **16:31** *(afternoon feeding)* — A female arrives to feed the chicks. - **16:45** *(human visit)* — A human is visible reaching towards the bookshelf where the nest is located. - **16:53** *(late afternoon feeding cluster)* — Following the human visit, both female and male adults arrive for separate feeding visits. - **17:09** *(late afternoon quiet)* — The secondary camera shows an empty nest. - **17:17** *(late afternoon quiet)* — The chicks are seen huddled together in the nest, which is surrounded by significant seed debris. - **17:34** *(evening feeding and settle)* — A male visits to feed the chicks. The chicks are then left alone for some time before an adult returns to brood. - **18:06** *(evening brooding)* — A female is settled in the nest. - **18:11** *(evening quiet)* — The secondary camera shows an empty nest. - **18:17** *(evening feeding)* — An adult arrives to feed the begging chicks. - **18:21** *(evening quiet)* — The chicks are seen alone in the nest. - **18:24** *(evening feeding cluster)* — An adult broods, then leaves the chicks alone. Both male and female adults then arrive for feedings around 18:34-18:35. - **18:52** *(dusk settle)* — The chicks are alone for a while before a female feeding visit, after which an adult settles in to brood for an extended period. - **19:22** *(dusk feeding and settle)* — The chicks are seen alone before a male feeding visit, which is followed by a female settling in to brood. - **19:39** *(dusk brooding)* — An adult is settled deep in the nest cup. - **19:44** *(dusk quiet)* — The secondary camera shows an empty nest. - **19:48** *(dusk quiet)* — The chicks are seen alone in the nest. - **19:54** *(dusk quiet)* — The chicks are again seen alone in the nest. - **20:00** *(night quiet)* — In the dark, the chicks are huddled in the nest. - **20:10** *(night brooding)* — An adult is settled in the nest. - **20:15** *(night brooding)* — The chicks are seen alone briefly before an adult returns to brood. - **20:25** *(night brooding)* — An adult is settled in the nest. - **20:29** *(night quiet)* — The secondary camera shows an empty nest. - **20:35** *(night brooding and checks)* — The chicks are seen alone for a period before an adult returns to brood for the remainder of the scene. - **20:52** *(night brooding and checks)* — The chicks are alone for several minutes before a brief clip shows an adult brooding. - **21:01** *(conflicting views)* — The primary camera shows the chicks alone in the nest, while the secondary camera shows an adult brooding. - **21:11** *(overnight quiet)* — For the final long stretch of the day, the chicks are mostly seen alone in the nest, with only a few brief brooding sessions by an adult. ### Notes - **Anomaly:** A clip at **05:10:47** showed a bird "lying motionless on its side on a surface next to some debris," suggesting a possible injury or death near the nest site. - **Human Interaction:** Humans were visible near the nest twice, at **09:16** and again at **16:45**. - **Fledgling Behavior:** Chicks were frequently observed on the shelf outside the nest cup (e.g., **04:18, 10:53, 11:49, 12:09, 14:40**), indicating they are becoming more mobile and may be close to fledging. - **Chick Count:** For the first time, clips at **12:28:39** and **12:29:26** noted a count of five visible chicks. - **Nest Condition:** Multiple clips throughout the day noted that the nest and surrounding shelf are very messy, covered in significant amounts of seed debris and droppings. - **Camera Discrepancy:** There were persistent contradictions between the `tapo` camera, which showed the nest as occupied, and the `sunroom` camera, which often showed the nest as empty during the same time periods. ## 2026-05-24 (Sunday) — Fledge day; nest cup collapses by morning; final chick assisted out at 15:06 The brood fledged from the nest cup over the course of the morning and early afternoon, Day 17 post-hatch. Chicks were observed outside the cup on the bookshelf as early as 07:15, and by 08:05 the cup itself had structurally collapsed under their activity, leaving the chicks gathered on the flat bookshelf surface. Adults continued feeding visits throughout. The count at the nest area decayed steadily: several chicks in the cup at dawn → ~3 by 09:00 → 1 by 10:48 → 1 through 13:39 → 0 by 15:07. The final hold-out needed human encouragement around 15:06; Casey is briefly visible at the window in that clip, and the cup is confirmed empty 47 seconds later. *This entry was Casey-curated from a Gemini 2.5 Pro reclassification of the morning's 329 clips (gemini-2.5-flash had under-reported chick movement and missed the cup collapse + human encouragement). A draft auto-narrative may follow below from tonight's `daily-bird-story.ts` run.* ### Scene-by-scene - **06:30** *(pre-fledge baseline)* — Chicks huddled in the cup at dawn; large, well-feathered, eyes open. No adults present. - **07:05** *(first morning feeding)* — Female arrives with food; multiple chicks gape. - **07:15** *(first-out-of-cup)* — Pro classifier observes chicks outside the nest cup on the bookshelf for the first time today. - **07:21–07:49** *(progressive shelf occupation)* — Chicks repeatedly seen on the bookshelf next to the nest cup; clips at 07:30 note them near the window/door track. Pro flags "fledged or about to fledge." - **08:05** *(nest collapse + first wire sighting)* — The nest cup is observed structurally collapsed; chicks are now on the flat bookshelf surface. Adults continue feeding. A small bird is briefly seen hanging from a wire near the window — possible first true room-departure attempt. - **08:42–08:43** *(male feeding visit)* — Male perches on the edge of the (collapsed) nest area to feed several chicks. - **09:02–09:11** *(count down to ~3)* — At least three chicks confirmed at the nest area; both adults visiting. - **09:12–09:25** *(adult interactions)* — Female on bookshelf; second bird perched alongside. Reolink wider view confirms cup empty repeatedly. - **09:40** *(further count drop)* — Female feeding "at least one feathered chick" — significant drop from earlier counts. - **10:48–10:49** *(single chick feeding)* — Adult feeds one chick; count clearly at 1. - **11:00–12:00** *(quiet hour)* — Long stretch of mostly empty/intermittent brooding clips. - **12:38** *(single-chick feeding)* — Female feeds a single large feathered chick. - **13:30–13:39** *(last clear single-chick feedings)* — Female broods one chick; male visits with food; 13:39 captures the last unambiguous feeding event of the single remaining chick. - **13:41–14:00** *(parent visits to brooding female)* — Male brings food to the female who is sitting in the cup; ambiguous chick visibility. - **14:00–15:00** *(quiet hold-out period)* — Nest area mostly empty in interval shots; no clear chick activity. - **15:06:35** *(human encouragement of last chick)* — Casey visible at the window next to the nest; the cup is empty in this clip. - **15:07:22** *(empty confirmed)* — Nest confirmed empty; 47 seconds after Casey's intervention. - **15:14 onward** *(post-fledge)* — All subsequent clips confirm empty nest area; brood fully out. ### Notes - **Fledge confirmed.** All chicks departed by 15:07 PT on Day 17 post-hatch (hatch confirmed 2026-05-07 06:13 PT) — squarely within the House Finch fledge window of 12–19 days. - **Final fledge was human-assisted.** The last chick needed encouragement; Casey is visible on camera at 15:06:35 working near the window next to the nest. The Pro classifier independently tagged this clip as `human` (Flash had tagged it `incubating`). - **Nest cup structural collapse** observed at 08:05; chicks moved from cup interior to the flat bookshelf surface. The cup did not function as a structural unit for the rest of the day. - **Cross-camera disagreement** was easier to reconcile under Pro: Reolink wider view reported "cup empty" repeatedly from 09:12 onward, which was accurate — chicks were on the shelf surface beside (rather than inside) the cup. Earlier (Flash) interpretation conflated these. - **Reolink reposition:** Sometime around 14:00–15:00 PT the Reolink was moved to a new position; SD card has no clips after 13:47 PT through the end of the fledge sequence. - **No fledgling-out-of-room moment captured.** Departures between 07:15 (all on shelf) and 13:39 (single chick remaining) were not individually captured — chicks left the camera view between frames. - **Description quality note:** This day's per-clip descriptions were upgraded to gemini-2.5-pro across 329 clips. Flash backup retained at `descriptions/20260524.backup-pre-pro-reclass-152041/`. ## 2026-05-24 (Sunday) — A confusing day of fledglings, feedings, and eggs. The day began with well-developed chicks, some of whom were seen outside the nest cup for the first time. Both adults were active, bringing food throughout the morning. However, the afternoon brought highly contradictory observations, with some clips showing eggs in the nest, followed by a long period where the nest was empty before an adult returned to settle for the night. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:00** *(overnight)* — For the first six hours of the day, the chicks were overwhelmingly seen alone in the nest, huddled together. An adult was occasionally seen brooding, but these visits were infrequent. The first feeding of the day was observed around 06:05. - **06:45** *(pre-dawn quiet)* — The chicks, described as large and well-feathered, are seen alone in the nest. - **07:05** *(morning feeding)* — A female arrives with what appears to be green food and feeds the gaping chicks before settling beside them briefly. - **07:14** *(fledgling activity and feedings)* — This was a period of high activity, with both male and female adults visiting to feed the chicks. For the first time, chicks are seen outside of the nest cup, huddled on the bookshelf amidst spilled seeds. One clip at 08:05 notes the nest "appears to have collapsed". - **08:26** *(mid-morning quiet)* — The nest is mostly occupied by the large, feathered chicks, who are left alone between feeding visits. - **09:02** *(conflicting observations)* — Feedings by both adults continue. However, a clip at 09:15 describes a female leaving the nest to briefly reveal "several pale, speckled eggs," which contradicts the numerous clips from earlier in the day showing large, feathered chicks. - **09:18** *(midday brooding)* — For the next several hours, an adult female is consistently seen brooding in the nest, obscuring the contents. Feedings are still observed, with a male feeding the female on the nest and chicks occasionally visible gaping or peeking out from under the adult. - **15:06** *(human visit and nest empty)* — A person is visible working near the window. Following this, the nest is seen empty. A clip at 15:18 again shows a contradictory view of the nest containing four pale, speckled eggs. - **15:29** *(afternoon empty)* — For over five hours, the nest is consistently observed to be empty in dozens of clips from multiple cameras. - **20:31** *(dusk settle)* — After a long absence, an adult bird arrives and settles into the nest cup. Through the end of the night, an adult is intermittently seen brooding. ### Notes - **Fledgling behavior:** The first clips showing chicks outside of the nest cup on the bookshelf were recorded starting at 07:15. - **Contradictory observations:** The day's clips present a conflicting record. While most of the morning shows large, feathered chicks being fed, two separate clips at 09:15 and 15:18 describe the nest containing eggs. Another clip at 10:54 shows a female leaving an "empty-looking nest cup". - **Nest condition:** A clip at 08:05 notes that the nest "appears to have collapsed," with chicks seen on the flat bookshelf surface. - **Human activity:** A person was visible working near the nest at 15:06. - **Extended absence:** The nest was documented as empty for a long period, from approximately 15:07 until an adult returned at 20:31. ## 2026-05-25 (Monday) — An overwhelmingly empty nest with fleeting adult visits The nest remained empty for almost the entire day, a significant change in activity. A few very brief brooding sessions were observed overnight, often with conflicting reports between cameras. During the morning, adults were seen flying near the nest on a few occasions, but they did not enter the cup, which appeared empty throughout all daylight hours. ### Scene-by-scene - **00:02** *(overnight quiet)* — The nest is consistently observed as empty in monochrome footage for the first half-hour of the day. - **00:33** *(brief overnight visit)* — An adult is seen brooding in the nest. However, a clip from another camera just three minutes later shows the nest is empty again. - **00:49** *(overnight quiet)* — For nearly two hours, all clips show the nest is empty. - **02:22** *(brief overnight visits)* — Two separate clips show an adult brooding in the nest. In both instances, footage from the other camera taken just minutes later shows the nest is empty. - **02:53** *(pre-dawn and morning quiet)* — For the next several hours, through dawn and into the morning, all clips from both cameras consistently show an empty nest. - **08:45** *(brief adult activity)* — A flurry of motion captures adults near the nest. A bird flies away, a female perches on the window frame below, and a male is seen in flight nearby, all while the nest cup itself remains empty. - **08:50** *(mid-morning quiet)* — The nest is again observed as empty. - **09:16** *(brief adult activity)* — A male with red plumage is seen flying near the empty nest. - **09:21** *(extended daytime absence)* — For the rest of the morning and through the entire afternoon and evening, all clips consistently show the nest is empty. - **21:16** *(brief evening visit)* — The pattern of conflicting reports repeats: one camera shows an adult brooding, while the other camera shows an empty nest just two minutes later. - **21:32** *(dusk settle)* — For the remainder of the evening, all clips show the nest is empty. ### Notes - The nest was observed to be empty for nearly all daylight hours. - Several times overnight and in the evening, one camera recorded an adult brooding while another camera, just minutes later, recorded an empty nest. - Adults were seen flying near the nest on a few occasions during the morning but were not seen entering or settling in the cup.