Well, after posting a meticulous, day-by-day thread on my MC pair's first clutch of eggs, only to have them totally ignore the wriggling tads which ultimately died on the leaf, I've kind of let them proceed with their subsequent clutches in privacy...but they have been continuing to lay all along and on Christmas I observed tad transportation for the first time, so I thought I'd post some more recent pics.
Here's their third clutch, 13 eggs I found on 12/11, deposited exactly where the first clutch had been:
(with a flashlight shining on them
On 12/15, they laid this clutch of 5:
Meanwhile, here's the clutch of 13 on 12/16:
And on 12/20:
The clutch of 5 on 12/20--they are developing, and I frequently see a parent tending them, but they are going to eventually slide into the brom axil and be ignored:
On Christmas day, we noticed the female transporting a tad! I was too afraid of disturbing her to get close enough for a good picture, so you'll just have to take my word for it that the black line on her back is a tad:
The next day, I discovered another batch of eggs, 9 this time, that had obviously been laid a few days earlier:
On 12/27 I caught her transporting another tad, which she deposited in the center of the little brom she and the male are poised around:
And meanwhile, the newest clutch develops (12/27):
So much activity! I can see tads in the centers of two broms now--wish me luck.
MCs take it a step further...
Well done!
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