photo #8984633

🦉 I haven't left this branch in 19 days. It's 4°F. The wind is 25 mph. The wind chill is -15°F. I am a Great Horned Owl, and I am incubating three eggs that cannot survive one hour without my body heat. - I cannot leave to hunt. My mate brings me food, when he can find it. - I've lost 15% of my body weight since I started sitting. - My feathers are caked with ice. I cannot preen. - I rotate my eggs every 30 minutes, even at 3 AM. - I have 9 more days of this before they hatch. Beneath me, three heartbeats depend on my stillness. If I leave for 20 minutes, they die. If I shift wrong, they freeze on one side. If a predator comes, I must fight without abandoning the nest. Motherhood is not a feeling. It is a 28-day siege. Incredible! 😍