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03(97)
and 05(00) breeding in 2004
Below is the unfolding story of the
breeding at the Rutland Osprey nest in 2004.
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Sunday 28 March: 03(97) returns... and gets caught
up.
During the afternoon
a male Osprey appeared back at the nest site
that had been occupied for the previous 3
summers. Field Officer, John Wright had visited
the site at 1 o'clock and found it still vacant.
But by 5 o'clock a male with a white ring on the
left leg had taken up occupation. Both plumage
and behaviour suggested that this was 03(97) and
this was later confirmed when John read his ring
number.
03(97) immediately began
repairing the nest, bringing in grass and sticks
and, most alarmingly, a long piece of very
frayed baler twine - a very hazardous choice.
John Wright and Tricia Galpin were horrified as
they saw the twine around the bird's right leg,
trailing behind it as it flew backwards and
forwards to the nest and clearly impeding its
movements.
After a few minutes the
inevitable happened and the other end of the
twine snagged on the nest itself. The bird
attempted to fly away but as the twine tightened
with a jerk, he fell downwards and hung for a
few seconds that seemed like years. Despair
turned to relief as the Osprey's spinning motion
must have enabled the twine around its leg to be
released. A very shaken Osprey flew up and away
towards the reservoir leaving the twine dangling
from the nest rim.
Later in the evening
03(97) returned with a fish, possibly a pike. He
seemed none the worse for his hazardous
experiment with nest decoration.
He had arrived three days
earlier than last year and was the first Osprey
to be seen at Rutland Water in 2004.
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03(97) during his second
day back at Rutland Water.
The infamous baler twine can be seen hanging from
the nest rim.
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Monday 29 March: 03(97) continues with nest
repair
Early this morning,
03(97) was again hard at work repairing the
nest. He began by clearing out last year's
nest-lining, pieces of which could be seen
flying through the air behind him as he
scratched away with his talons. Next he brought
in dry grass, swooping down to collect small
bundles from the ground. From first light to
mid-day, he also brought in 18 sticks of varying
sizes, flying away a short distance to break
them from trees or, occasionally, to pick them
up from the ground. The picture above right was
taken at about 8am and shows one of the sticks
arriving.
Defending the nest from
other birds is also a priority at this stage.
Today he very effectively saw off four species
who were interested in his sudden arrival -
Common Buzzard, Red Kite, Carrion Crow and
Magpie were all driven away very efficiently.
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The male 03(97) standing and female 05(00)
sitting on 30 April, the first full day of
incubation.
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Thursday 15 April. Female 05(00)
arrives
On exactly the same
date as last year, 05(00) returned. This is the
young female with a green ring who, with 03(97),
successfully raised 3 chicks last year.
Just as last year, she
touched down first at the other breeding nest
site and the resident male there, 03(98), became
extremely excited. However. very soon, she was
back at her 'home' site, with her mate making
her very welcome and presenting her with the the
fish that he had caught previously. If last year
is anything to go by, she won't need to go
fishing again until August. Having satisfied her
hunger the pair began doing what comes naturally
- every 15 minutes or so this afternoon!
Friday 30 April: incubation begins
03(97) and
05(00), who had 3 chicks last year have now
settled down to steady incubation. A large team
of project volunteers and staff will be watching
their every move, day and night from now until
the young hatch in 40 days time. The picture on
the right shows the female sitting on the eggs
and 03(97) in close attendance. It is
interesting to compare this picture with one of
the same pair taken a year ago. (Click
here) |
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Incubation continues throughout May
At the nest where 3
chicks were successfully raised last year,
incubation continued throughout the month. The
adults shared incubation duties during the day
with the female 05(00) doing most of the
night-time cover.
The male 03(97) brought in
a good supply of fish with mainly roach recorded
as well as perch, trout and bream. As well as
recording the fish deliveries, the monitoring
team noted the amount of time the adults had to
deal with other intruding birds. These included
Red Kites, Common Buzzards, Greylag Geese and
other Ospreys.
Unlike last year, the
female spent some short periods of time away
from the nest while the male was incubating. She
sometimes returned looking wet suggesting that
she has visited the reservoir to
bathe. |
The female 05(00) sitting and male 03(97)
in close attendance during day 17 of their
incubation.
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The female bending towards the chick or chicks
while the male looks on.
18:00 on 6 June 2004
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Sunday 6 June
. . . . Hatching
! !
Yesterday real
changes in adult behaviour began to occur. In
the morning the male 03(97), rather than flying
up to shepherd the intruding male Osprey away as
it flew over the nest site, flew onto the nest
and spread his wings, "mantling" defensively
over the incubating female, 05(00) . Something
was definitely up!
During the day both adults
were seen obviously peering down into the nest
cup, heads cocked from side to side. During the
night, the night-vision equipment that has been
used so effectively during the previous 37
nights, revealed the female was doing all the
incubation but was very, very
restless.
Just before 5am this
morning , Field Officer John Wright and
volunteer John Tipler saw the male fly up to
stand beside the female on the nest rim and look
down with what seemed like real interest. He
took off and flew purposefully away towards
Rutland Water. Less than 10 minutes later the
two Johns heard the distinctive call of a
displaying male high above them. He was carrying
a fish and repeatedly diving and soaring closer
and closer to the nest. Was it one of the
unpaired males?
Soon the bird descended
and they were able to see the white ring and
distinctive clean-cut plumage. It was 03(97)
returning to the nest with a perch but, very
unusually, he was displaying first overhead. It
was just as if he was punching the air and
saying "YESSS!!" said John Wright, convinced at
that point, that there was definitely some new
life hidden deep in the nest cup.
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During the next ten
hours the adult behaviour was not exceptional.
Perhaps we had claimed hatching too soon? True,
for the first time for several weeks the female
spent all the time on the nest rather than
letting the male take over incubation duties.
And also there were several occasions when
Osprey intruders floated in quite close and
again the male joined the female on the nest
adopting a very defensive attitude.
Then at 3:30pm the
clincher came. The male brought in another fish
- a roach this time. Having eaten some of the
head he delivered the rest to the female who
began to eat it standing on the rim of the nest.
Then she delicately tore off a small piece of
fish and bent forward with it down into the nest
cup, clearly offering a chick its first meal.
The action was repeated seven or eight times.
Often the piece of fish was still in the
female's bill as her head came up and she would
toss it into her mouth before tearing and
offering the next tiny fragment. All the while
the male was sitting close by, watching the
process with interest.
At least one new Rutland
Osprey chick has most definitely
hatched!. |
The two adults on the nest on 8
June. |
Thursday 10 June. How many chicks?
The breeding pair
have re-established the parenting roles that we
observed last year. The male (on the right in
the picture) has already upped the fish supply
and the female now remains on the nest for
almost all the time. During incubation she would
fly to a nearby branch to eat and the male took
over incubation duties. This week she eats on
the nest itself and increasingly we see her
tearing off fragments which she presents to
whatever is down out of sight within the nest
cup.
Watching very carefully we
try to work out whether she is presenting the
fish in more than one location, but this is an
uncertain way of determining how many chicks
there may be: you can't really count your chicks
until they show their heads above the rim of the
nest.
Wednesday 16 June.
It's
two!
Yesterday afternoon
came confirmation of the news that we had
suspected for the last couple of days - there
are two (at least ) Osprey chicks in the nest.
Several volunteer monitors
had ben convinced that the female had been
presenting food into two positions in the nest
cup, but the first sighting of the tops of two
small white heads was by Jan and Alan Taylor,
followed soon afterwards by Richard Foers.
Otherwise life on the tree
top has been fairly quiet this week, with the
male bringing in a good supply of large fish and
very few intrusions made of the nest by avian
intruders. |
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Sunday 20 June:
Changes
at the nest
We are still often
seeing one and sometimes two heads of chicks,
but for much of the last few days the chicks and
the adult female have kept well down inside the
nest cup, probably sheltering from the gusting
winds and cooler weather.
It's worth noting how the
nest itself is changing colour and shape. The
two picture on the right, compared with the one
at the top of this page, shows how the nest has
changed in the three months since the male first
arrived back .
Notice in
particular:
the levels of the top of the nest
compared with the branches of the
tree;
what has happened to the orange baler
twine that the male bought in on his first
day, almost with very dire
consequences
the fresh green leaves decorating the
right hand side of the nest - the adults have
started to bring in more lining material,
including leaves snatched from nearby
trees;
the nest seems to be beginning to be
painted white - every now and then a squirt
of white can be seen fired enthusiastically
upwards by the chicks inside the nest
cup! |
Female 05(00) on the much enlarged and decorated
nest this week
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Monday 28 June: Rapid growth
It is now clear that
here are just two chicks in the nest and that
they are growing very rapidly. Their heads and
sometimes their unfeathered wings can be seen
stretching above the rim of the nest - we hope
to have pictures of this very soon. The
torrential rain and strong winds of the last few
days certainly do not appear to have caused a
problem for adults or chicks.
Thursday 1st July: Two heads on
camera
At last! Yesterday
we finally managed to get a picture of the two
chicks. They have been very adept at taking
turns at poking their heads above the rim of the
nest but finally the camera was ready on the end
of the telescope at the right moment and the
result is shown on the left. Even at this age of
three and a half weeks it would be difficult to
mistake the chicks for any other species. The
bill is already beginning to have a hook for
tearing fish and the distinctive "highwayman's
mask" is showing well.
Volunteers monitoring
progress this week have repeatedly seen an
unfeathered wing apparently waving at them over
the rim of the nest, with the rest of the chick
out of sight.
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On the left you can see mum,
the green-ringed 05(00) taking off to stretch her
wings and on the right the very handsome father,
03(97) sitting perched in a nearby tree. |
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Saturday 10 July: struggling against the weather
There was very severe weather
on the night of Wednesday 7 July. Members of the team
spent an anxious miserable night at the monitoring post
as gales brought down branches and trees. Four and a half
inches of rain were recorded ar nearby Wittering. But the
nest and the Ospreys survived.
Since then the weather has
continued to be very unsettled, with very heavy showers
and mainly overcast skies. But the chicks continued to
thrive and to grow as the picture on the right below
shows. The adult female is sitting on a low branch, while
above, the two chicks are stretching their wings that are
rapidly becoming feathered. These pictures were taken in
poor light this afternoon.
The deep nest cup, which served the
chicks so well during the worst of the bad weather, is
beginning to be fillled. Below on the left you can see
the male bringing in clods of grass to fill the cup. The
chicks are keeping well out of the way, hidden deep down
in the nest.
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Notice that the male has a
gap in both wings - he has recently moulted
"primary 8", while the female's flight feathers are
still intact. (For more about the subject of moult,
please click
here.)
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Tuesday 13 July: 03(97) has a day
out
The two chicks on
the nest in Rutland are still growing very fast
and looking very healthy. There has been a lot
of intruder activity this week from other
Ospreys with up to 5 at a time present around
the nest site. This has kept the adult male
03(97) very busy indeed.
Volunteers realised that
on Tuesday he was absent from the nest site from
mid-morning until very late in the evening. The
female 05(00) was becoming agitated and there
may have been little or no fish in the nest.
When he eventually did return he brought a peace
offering to placate the female - a large trout
which she and the chicks quickly
devoured.
Friday 16 July: the chicks are
ringed
Dodging the heavy
showers has been quite tricky, but this morning
the weather allowed us to make the usual visit
to the nest in order to bring the chicks to the
ground for ringing. This year we had been
provided with green Darvic rings and rings 5R
and 5N were fitted to the right legs of the two
chicks and metal BTO rings to their left
legs.
It is difficult to sex the
chicks with certainty at this stage but we were
confident that the one shown on the right is a
female. She will be known as 5N(04). The sex of
the other chick, 5R(04), was less certain but we
think that it is probably male.
Both chicks were in
excellent condition. After ringing, some simple
measurements were made and they were returned
quickly to the nest. While we had access
to the nest we took the opportunity to remove
the last tangled remains of the baler twine that
was still clinging to some of the low sticks. We
were most grateful to BT for providing a
"cherry-picker" to allow easier access to the
top of the nest tree.
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Tim Appleton, the Reserve Manager at Rutland
Water, carried out the ringing of the chicks and is
holding the bird. Field Officer, Tim Mackrill is on
the left. |
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Tuesday 20 July: we have lift-off
The chicks are
nearly fully grown now and can be seen
prominently above the nest rim for much of the
time,
The picture on the left
shows some of the wing-flapping that goes on,
with the chicks occasionally just lifting into
the air above the nest. The adult female is
watching approvingly from the right hand
branch. |
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Sometimes she leaves them to
feed themselves now, as the picture on the right
shows. She is not far away, will camouflaged on the
branch below the nest.
First flights will probably
occur in about 10 days time but there will be an
awful lot of wing flapping and energetic activity
on the nest before then.
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Tuesday 28 July: 5N takes to the air
A little earlier
than we anticipated, the female chick took her
first flights at mid-day. Volunteer Alan Martin
was on duty and witnessed the crucial moment
when the young bird spread its wings, plucked up
courage and became airborne for the first time.
After about 90 seconds she landed with
confidence back on the nest. Two further short
flights were recorded later that
afternoon.
It is amazing to think
that it is just over 7 weeks since this bird
emerged from an egg, roughly the size of a hen's
egg. She must now have a wingspan of about 5
feet.
The male chick, 5R, has
been much less active on the nest and when
intruder Ospreys or Red Kites fly overhead he
still crouches low, whereas his sister will now
often stand on the nest rim and join her parents
in alarm calling.
Thursday 30 July: 5R follows suit
The smaller male
chick followed the example of his sister today
and took his first flights too.
The picture below shows
one of the juveniles taking off with the mother
standing on the right.
How can you tell them
apart? Notice that the juveniles have light
fringing on the edges of each of the feathers on
their backs.
Notice too that now that
the young have fledged we call them juveniles,
rather than chicks. |
5N(04) landing back on the nest. The large lump
in the nest is her brother, 5R, who is taking
cover. She landed in front of him, not on top as
the picture suggests!
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Wednesday 4 August: a sad visitor
An interesting
development this week has been the way that a
non-breeding adult male has been allowed close
access to the nest by the adult pair. The
picture on the right shows him sitting in the
top of the conifer in the background. (He's
actually more than 100m from the nest
tree.)
He is orange-ringed
03(98), the male that bred nearby last year
(details
here) but
whose mate did not return this spring. We wonder
whether his frustration is showing itself in
wanting to be as close as possible to the
fledged young. Certainly the parents do not seem
to perceive him as a threat and tolerate him
sitting quietly watching the goings on. He has
even brought a few short twigs and pieces of
straw to the top of the conifer. |
One juvenile takes off with 05(00) on the right
and watching its technique |
Meanwhile the juveniles and
adult female spend much of their time food-begging
- a repeated high-pitched call urging 03(97) to go
and get yet another fish for them from the
reservoir. The female really doesn't have much of a
role now and perhaps in the next week or two she
will leave the nest to catch her own fish or even
start her migration .
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infir.jpg)
"Uncle" 03(98) in the conifer - he is no threat to
the nest now.
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Thursday 12 August: mum has taken up
fishing
The adult female
05(00) has adopted a new role, helping to
provide fish for the family. With the high level
of intrusions at the nest site from other
non-breeding males and with the very unseasonal
weather, 03(97) seemed to be finding it quite
hard to statisfy the food-begging calls of his
family. Eventually, late last week, 05(00) took
action by going fishing herself - for the first
time since she arrived back at the nest four
months ago. And she has continued doing so
regularly simce then.
Overnight on Monday /
Tuesday of this week 72mm (3 inches) of rain
fell in 24 hours at nearby Cottesmore and
Rutland was totally awash. The juveniles could
be seen sitting dejectedly near the nest , as
the rain continued unabated through the morning.
In such conditions Ospreys often find it hard to
catch fish, so volunteer Mike Sholl was very
surprised when 05 took off towards the reservoir
and even more surprised to see her back within
30 minutes with a large Roach.
Friday 20 August: longer flights in the
rain
Very heavy showers
and periods of torrential rain have continued
this last week, but the two juveniles 5N(04) and
5R(04) have been growing more and more confident
in the air. They often sit in trees well away
from the nest and have engaged in prolonged
bouts of food-begging calls - this goes on even
when they are sitting with a fish in their
talons. Both adults have continued to provide
fish and the adult female has spent long periods
away from the nest site. |
 Photo:
Danny Green www.dannygreenphotography.com
That's dad in the
air, Mum and young below |
Wednesday 25 August
The adult female is still
present at the nest site today, as are the two young and
adult male. So far the two youngsters have not been
recorded at the reservoir and they are still food begging
to encourage the parents to bring them food.
03(98) and at least two other
unpaired males are still very frequent visitors to the
nest site.
Sunday 29 August
Yesterday the four photos
below were taken of the two juveniles on the nest. The
male, 5R(04), is very much smaller than his sister,
5N(04,) as can be clearly seen in the picture below left
where the pair are practising their wing beats
together.
It is usually very difficult to
tell them apart by plumage, although yesterday the male
had clearly been down on the ground as his white breast
and underparts were tinged with the orange-brown colour
of the nearby soil. This shows well in the photo above
right.
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The adult female, 05(00) is
still present at the nest site, though less
frequently than the male. Yesterday it was she who
provided her son with the roach that he is eagerly
attacking in the picture on the right.
This morning, with the
juveniles food-begging persistently, the adult
male, 03(97), had great difficulty catching fish.
The team of staff and volunteers who were carrying
out a co-ordinated watch around the reservoir
watched him diving repeatedly and failing to catch,
time after time. Eventually, after over 100 minutes
of fruiltless fishing, he returned to the nest site
and sat drying his wings before setting out again.
Then 05(00) suddenly arrived with a fish which,
un-noticed by us, she had caught . |
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Wednesday 1 September
The young female, 5N(04), was
seen to spiral upwards and head south today, starting her
long migration in style. She had not been seen actually
catching a fish before she left, but she certainly had
been near the water, trying to fish for herself. The
adult female, 05(00), was last seen the previous day. She
certainly seems to be a creature of habit ,having arrived
on 15 April and left on 31 August both last year and
this.
Sunday 5 September
5R(04) and his father,
03(97), were seen flying above the nest today but did not
return after that. This young male is still very
dependent on his father and it seems quite possible that
the two began their migration together.
This afternoon "Uncle" 03(98)
arrived at the nest site with a small twig and sat for a
while in a nearby ash tree. He was seen there again
briefly in subsequent days.
Post script: two years later
The male 5R(04) was seen back
in Rutland on 11 June 2006 for the first time, having
been photographed that morning near Coventry. No longer a
juvenile, this young adult male was the first
Rutland-bred Osprey to return.
 
The male 5N
amd female 5R in Rutland in August 2006. Photos John
Wright
A month later the other
juvenile, 5N(04), also returned, first to Lax Hill, then
to the delight of thousands of visitors she settled with
08(97) on the artificial nest in Manton Bay. The details
of the return of the two 2004 chicks are here. Even better, 5N returned to breed with 08 in 2007 (details). She was the first Rutland-born-and-bred Osprey to return to breed. |
