Ospreys hatch in France...
We heard in May from our friend Rolf Wahl who for many years has monitored the Osprey population in the Orleans Forest in Central France. Rolf said:
I get up very early these days to be at several Ospreys’ nests to watch the first meal of the day and to see which pairs have now hatched. 14 pairs this year in the Orleans forest sitting on eggs, of which 4 have already hatched. There were another two “young pairs” but they “divorced” after a short while. This is a very common thing in younger birds trying a first breeding. We are now starting to get Ospreys interested in building nests on power pylons. I am not too keen on that for different reasons, but they build nests where they like to and I will probably not be able to ring those birds. Tonight, I sat in my car a hundred meters from a nest and, in between some showers and hail, I took a few pictures of an old male with a new young female. (Right and below) Four of the good old females in this forest did not come back this year and were quickly replaced by other, younger females, so we will have to see how many young will fledge this year. |
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The nest shown here is built on a man-made platform and has a long branch attached to it. When we visited Rolf in 2004 we saw how popular these perches were with Ospreys, really encouraging them to adopt the platform for nest building. As in this picture, one bird often uses the perch while the other is on duty on the nest. We began to add perches like this to the artificial nests that are built in Rutland, and we now use the term "French Perch". For example, last year and at the beginning of this season you could see the French Perch on the Manton Bay nest. However, recent serious construction work by 08 has completely buried the French Perch in the fabric of the nest. Perhaps we should have made it as long as the one shown on the left, or would that have simply spurred 08 on to even more nest building? |
Vols Obs (1): A dive-bombing gull
The Great Black-Backed Gull is a formidable bird. It can have as large a wingspan as an Osprey. It is heavily built with a fearsome bill. Imagine one of these dive bombing while you're occupied with the serious business of egg incubation.
Tricia Galpin is on the 6-9 am shift at Manton Bay and has already written several notes recording 08(97) bringing in new sticks for the nest as well as huge clods of earth for the lining. The nest is still not quite big enough yet! 08 is a short distance away trying to break yet another stick from the branches of a hapless ash tree. The female 5N(04) is concentrating hard on her eggs. Then suddenly out of a clear grey sky comes a macho Great Black-backed Gull diving with increasing speed straight at the nest and 5N's head. 5N ducks. The gull pulls out of its dive. Meanwhile 08 has managed to break the stick from the tree and is carrying it back, oblivious and pre-occupied. |
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08 lands and an Osprey domestic ensues about where best the stick should go, with male and female pulling in different directions. The stick falls into the water. The Great Black-backed Gull, not used to being ignored, flies off to seek other, more impressionable, targets.
08 goes off for another stick.
Osprey news from around the UK
With two pairs of Rutland Ospreys settling down to incubate (we hope!) it seems a suitable time to catch up with what other UK Osprey news can be found on the web.
The Lake District Osprey Project
Bassenthwaite is the home of England's only other breeding pair and the both birds arrived back on 10 April. However, for some unknown reason, they rejected their nest on a platform on the west side of the lake, crossed the lake and moved onto another artificial nest on the opposite side of the lake. Although the birds are doing well this has caused all sorts of problems for the project team. You can read a daily diary on the project's website: www.ospreywatch.co.uk
North Wales: Glaslyn Ospreys
At the only other Osprey nest south of the Scottish Border, the pair arrived back on 26 and 27 March. The male emerged from an egg in Scotland in 1998, was translocated to Rutland taking his first flights here and has made his home in Wales since 2004. (More details on this page.) His mate has laid 3 eggs and incubation began about 17 April. There is a weekly blog and web-cam images on the RSPB website.
Wigtown in Galloway
This is the most southerly Scottish nest, some 200 miles south of their starting point in Abernethy. The Osprey nest here is at the centre of the local community with live pictures from the nest being displayed in the town hall and bells rung from the County Buildings to signal the birds' return. The male was back on 31 March this year but the female, like many Scottish Ospreys was delayed by bad weather further south. Latest news is here
Loch of the Lowes, Perthshire
The pair of Ospreys on this nature reserve near Dunkeld in Perthshire are being cared for by our colleagues in the Scottish Wildlife Trust. This is a very experienced pair... the female laid her 50th egg this year! They arrived on 30 and 31 March and are now half way through their incubation. Superb video images (and sound), together with regular diary entries can be found on their website.
Tweed Valley Osprey Project
This Forestry Commission project is near Peebles in the Scottish Borders where Ospreys have nested for 10 years. Both birds had returned by 3rd April and by 21st three eggs had been laid. There are web cam images and a regular blog here.
Last but by no means least - Loch Garten
At the most famous Osprey nest the resident female was, as usual, back at her nest very early. So far "Henry", the male who caused so much heartache in previous years has not returned and the female is incubating 3 eggs, fathered by what appears to be a new mate. Video streaming and a regular blog are on the RSPB website.
However, the UK's most famous Osprey this spring has been Logie, the Scottish female satellite tracked by Roy Dennis and featuring on BBC Radio 4's fascinating series "World on the Move". After a nail-bitingly lengthy migration (43 days and 5803km) Logie is finally back home and has reclaimed her nest and regular mate. All the details are on Roy's website.
Is this England's biggest nest?08 and 5N's nest in Manton Bay has gone on growing and so has the speculation that they are trying to get into the record books. It has been suggested that this is now probably England's biggest bird's nest - please let us know if you know of a bigger one somewhere! But could it be the biggest nest in the whole of Britain? - there are now hundreds of Osprey nests in Scotland and these increase in size year after year. What about other species?... eagles...? Certainly 08 will have to do a lot more building before he breaks the world record. See for example Ruud Kampf's website which has pictures of an Osprey nest in the Mexican desert in Baja California. And some Americans claim that their Bald Eagles can make even bigger nests than that. (Well they would, of course!) |
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The rules of the Biggest Nest competition might not allow the Manton Bay nest to enter, because the bottom part was made by man. The base is about 1.5 m (or 5ft) wide and there is a layer of very substantial sticks that are firmly attached to the base. This gives 08 and 5N a great advantage in having a very firm foundation - unlike the much more precarious nests that are pictured below. There are pictures of the Manton Bay nest in previous years on the web page documenting 08's life from 1997 to 2006, before he took on the responsibilities of family life: " the trials and tribulations of life as a single Osprey".
Vols Obs 2: A White-backed Osprey
19th May and another peaceful night at Manton Bay. A nearly-full moon, so the night-watchmen had hardly needed their night-vision equipment. The telescope had provided beautiful views of a planet (Jupiter?) and three of its moons. A Barn Owl had floated noiselessly by. The nearby Dexter cattle had dozed, unconcerned by the fox that weaved its way through the motionless herd.
There was just one problem - the cold! Even six layers of clothing were scarcely enough. Breath condensed as in mid-winter. A layer of frost formed over the vehicle's windscreen. Eddies of mist twirled slowly upwards from the water.
All through the night, just the top of an Osprey's head had shown above the rim of the nest. Once the dawn arrived George and Neil were able to identify its head pattern - it was the female 5N who had been sitting tight on the eggs in her exposed position above the water. Then she gently stood up and bent forwards, presumably to turn the eggs. But don't Ospreys have dark brown feathers on their back? This one was all white! A layer of frost had transformed her into a white bird.
The sun rose over the water. White grass turned green. White feathers turned brown.The nightwatchmen headed back to their beds leaving other volunteers to watch as the Ospreys started day 29 of their incubation.
