In March, the Berta, after spending the winter at sea, returned to the remote nesting sites of the Tremiti Archipelago. A few days ago the female laid her only egg, which will be incubated by adults for just over 50 days; hatching occurs in July, and both parents actively participate in the breeding of the chick, returning to the nest to feed it only overnight. The chick will leave the nest for its first flight into the sea around mid-October, and will return to the colony only after a few years, when it will be ready to reproduce as well.
The individual in the photo is located in a deep cavity on the cliff north of the Island of Capraia, in a site constantly followed in the last two years of Diomedee’s unfolding. What will happen this year?