We checked the nestbox on Friday and all was well - 4 eggs look great and Joli sure knows her job, but Hart
he really is a very very young dad. No attention to detail. We were only there for a few minutes, hoped to see how many eggs she had but wasn't going to disturb her more than we had to to find out - would be enough to know she was still incubating. Hart almost didn't turn up before we left and when he did, pretty lacklustre performance but it was enough for Joli and that is what matters. We may be being too hard on young Hart, Cowboy was an act nobody in the province, not even Jules in West Winnipeg could match. But heck, even Ivy was more assertive and Ivy was not Trey or T-Rex. Maybe once he has something to wiggly and vocal he will be upping his game, or maybe we just have to wait until next year. On the other hand, if he isn't a Cowboy in defence but an Ivy in "chick-rearing" that would be okay too - Ivy's chicks were fat and happy and for future prospects, that might be a better test of fatherhood. Particularly since Joli can almost her inner Cowboy when she needs to.