Gone but not Forgotten

 

George, our peacock has been missing Penelope, the peahen for 3 weeks. The first day she "disappeared" he cawed all day and well into the normally caw free night. About four in the morning, he would start calling, then frantically walk around the property once the sun rose. He seems lost without her, no one to eat with, no one to sit in the sun with.

 

Penelope finally showed up to eat, then would be gone in the blink of an eye. She would then show up once every few days, come up to the feeding area via the gravel road from the large stand of trees down at the bottom of the slope of our property.

 

We figured she was nesting and went in what we thought would be a futile search of her nest. However we found it up along the fence line in tall grass, between the fence and the first row of Christmas trees. Not a seemingly perfect place for a nest, no cover, no camouflage, no safety, but her nest, where she sat on her brood.

 

Poor Penelope. She sat on her eggs for 3 weeks. 21 days. Then sometime in the last day or two some animal(s) - probably coyotes, decided they needed the eggs more than Penelope. So they attacked her, 3 eggs eaten, don't know if more were taken away. Penelope feathers in big clumps spewed around the nesting area. Large, outer feathers that we see, pulled out by the roots. Fluffy, underside feathers caught on foxglove stems float from flower to tree, lost without their owner.

 

Penelope, poor thing. Is she alive and nursing her wounds in a haven somewhere close? Was she dinner for the den? We shall see, waiting for her to show up at feeding time, waiting along with George for his love to come home.