Peafowl Crossing

Apparently our front yard was quiet enough during our vacation that a peahen laid her eggs right up next to our house. We have a few flower beds covered in leaves from the ever-constant leaf-shedding tree in our front yard. She built herself a nest and laid 5, large, cream-colored eggs. The mister has been patrolling every once in a while to make sure things are staying clear for her, but we mostly have Ms. Peahen hanging out in our yard, sitting on her eggs.

Here is what she does 23.5 hours of the day and night. I am pretty sure she has to be on there constantly because I was reading that the eggs need to stay at a certain temperature to remain alive. She takes brief walks about once a day to do whatever it is that peahens do.

The mister, letting us know who is boss. He hung out on our roof for a day but I haven't seen him in a few days. I think he feels like the misses has it under control.

Pretty beautiful birds. This male is probably between 3 and 5 years old based on what I was reading because his feathers aren't as long as some males. He is still getting his strut on...

I snagged a quick shot of the eggs when the misses took a brief stroll. I am becoming protective over these eggs too. I hiss away stray cats, which I never used to do, and I keep an eye out for any mean looking passer-bys that could taunt her.  Our neighbors mentioned a few when we weren't home yet, but the hen decided our yard was still a good bet.

Let me conclude this post with a quick word. Here in Monterey peafowl aren't just roaming the streets. In blogs past I think I have mentioned the peacocks on the campus of Daniel's school. We are directly behind the gate of his school so I guess that is why we were christened as a safe nesting area; away from students, yet close-by to home.

We are pretty excited to see what this month holds for the little eggs. It takes 27-30 days for the eggs to hatch and who knows how long for the peachicks to leave the nest. We are trying to be good hosts here and have limited our front door use. She is used to people, otherwise I figure she would have found an even more secluded place. I am glad she nested here. It is neat to be able to watch the peafowl show everyday.

I will keep you posted.