Breeding at Site B in 2007

Below is the story in words and pictures of the breeding at the Site B Osprey nest in 2007. The nest is on private land with no public access.
Almost all the pictures on this page were taken by John Wright.

The Adult Birds

The male 03(97) was translocated to Rutland Water in 1997, returned first in 1999 and he has bred at Site B every year since 2001.
The female 05(00) is three years younger than her mate having been translocated in 2000. She first bred at this site as a three-year old in 2003.

26th March Shortly after mid-day Field Officer John Wright visited Site B hoping to see the first Osprey of the summer. Sure enough 03(97) was there to greet him, having probably arrived just minutes before. 03 immediately added a stick to the nest, which had undergone a major face-lift the previous autumn (click here for more information).
	Although clearly tired after the long migration from West Africa, 03 wasted no time in making his first fishing trip of the summer. After returning with a good-sized Perch, he spent most of the afternoon resting.
3rd April At 15:40 the adult female 05(00) arrived back at the nest site. Her arrival was three days later than 2006, which may have been caused by unsettled weather in southern Europe. She was greeted with a spectacular display from 03 who then headed off and caught a fish which he presented to his mate. The photo on the right clearly shows the difference in size between the female (on the left) and the male. 05 has always appeared much paler and worn than her mate, and this year was no exception.
	11th April After 05's arrival a week before, the regular breeding pair got on with what they do best... as these photos show! The birds often mate on the nest. Here, 05 has just landed and 03 is approaching fast.

After landing on the female's back, the male has to rest on his legs with his talons closed, to prevent injury to his mate.
23rd April As the photo below shows, 03 and 05 had now settled down to incubation. While 05 typically does about three-quarters of the incubation, 03 does all of the fishing. He was now catching one or two per day. Usually he brings the fish back to the nest, eats the head and then present the remainder to his mate. However on Saturday, the female was very hungry and snatched a whole roach from the male when he arrived back at the nest. Unusually she then carried the fish in her bill to a favoured perch, to eat it.


03 (above right) has had to be on his toes recently. Over the weekend, a younger adult male, 08(01) (above left), made several aggressive intrusions at the nest and then on Monday 03's son, 5R(04), was also seen at his parents' nest. Intrusions at this time of year can make life very difficult for the breeding pair, and in Scotland eggs have been known to be smashed during such instances. At one point 08 actually chased the female 05, prompting the incubating male to leave the nest unattended while he saw the intruder off.

24th May

At 8am 03(97) brought the tail end of a roach to the nest. A fish delivery usually signals a change-over in incubation duty, but instead, volunteers Christine Nelson and Barrie Galpin watched as the female delicately offered tiny pieces of fish down into the nest cup; a sure sign that the first chick has hatched. This pattern of behaviour continued every half hour for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon; the female would stand up, inch round the nest - obviously careful not to tread on her new arrival and the remaining eggs - and then present a dozen or so tiny morsels to the chick. At this stage the chick was too small to be seen over the rim of the nest, but with a regular supply of fish it should grow quickly; by the time ospreys are 30 days old, their body weight will be around 70-80% of that of their parents.

Interestingly hatching was right on cue; 37 days after incubation began, which is exactly the same as in 2006. Although we did not know how many eggs are in the nest, if previous years are anything to go by, the youngster would be joined by two more siblings in the next few days.

29th May

By Saturday afternoon it was clear that 05 was feeding at least two chicks in the nest. Osprey chicks hatch in the order they were laid - usually two days apart - and so if the second youngster had indeed arrived, the timing was spot on. 05 has raised three chicks in three of the past four years, and so we suspected a third chick may have hatched on Monday. However, we would not know for sure until the youngsters were large enough to be seen over the rim of the nest.

Unfortunately the weather was not on the birds' side; cold, wet conditions over the weekend made conditions very uncomfortable for both adult birds. 05 did her very best not to expose the chicks to the wind and rain for long and we hoped that this, coupled with regular fish deliveries from 03(97), would mean the chicks would be strong enough to survive the difficult conditions.

4th June Thankfully, the weather had improved markedly in the previous few days, making life much easier for the birds. The pictures below show how, the previous afternoon 03, arrived back at the nest with a large roach. As usual he ate the head before taking the remainder to the nest.

After the previous very wet weatherwe were concerned that not all of the chicks might have survived the dreadful conditions. However when 03 took the roach to the nest, John Wright and Tim Mackrill were able to see three tiny heads tussling to be fed. All three chicks already looked decidedly Osprey-like, with the distinctive highway man's mask obvious, even at this early stage. Although one chick was noticeably smaller, 05 ensured that all three siblings received their fair share of fish. With the weather set fair for the next few days we hoped the chicks would continue to prosper. Earlier in the morning another of 03 and 05's chicks had paid a visit to the nest. 5R spent ten minutes flying low around the nest, while 03 was away fishing. His green ring is just visible in the photo on the right.

	When 03 eventually returned he wasted no time in giving 5R his marching orders. 5R may be his son, but with three small chicks in the nest, this was no time for pleasantries! This photo shows the two birds in the air together. Whereas 03 (left) has moulted several flight feathers, giving him a rather tatty appearance, 5R is much cleaner, with just a slight nick at the right hand end of his tail.

11th June

As the photo on the right shows, the three chicks continued to thrive. 05 was careful that all three youngsters received their fair share of fish, ensuring that even the smallest of the brood (centre in photo) did not go hungry.

05 with chick

18th June

Being ten days older than their counterparts in Manton Bay, the Site B chicks were much larger and more well-developed and all three appeared to be thriving. Here, one of the chicks was looking expectantly at its mother. The orange eye, so characteristic of juvenile Ospreys, was very evident.

2nd July

This morning, with the help of Mark Ashman and his cherry picker, the three chicks at Site B were ringed. Tree surgeon, Garry Jones, used the cherry picker to reach the nest and collect the three chicks which were ringed under the supervision of Reserve Manager, Tim Appleton. Before lowering the chicks to the ground, Garry took this photo which shows the three youngsters lying together in the nest.

The bird on the left, later ringed as YL, was larger than its two siblings, suggesting it was a female. At six weeks of age females can be identified by their larger size, thicker legs and heavier bill. Although YL was certainly larger than its two male siblings, its bill and legs were on the cusp of male/female, meaning we were still a little undecided as to its sex.

The middle bird, YH was the smallest of the three and clearly a male. It was smaller than any chick we had ringed at Site B in the past, suggesting that the recent poor weather may have impeded its development. Despite its small size, it did appear to be in good condition, and we hoped it would take to the air with its two siblings in about two weeks' time.

9th July

The previous week the chicks had been repeatedly drenched by extremely heavy showers. Although 05 did her best to keep her offspring dry, their large size and the incessant nature of the rain rendered it a rather fruitless task.

The chicks had now reached the age where they readily tore up fish and fed themselves, although the youngest of the three still often waited to be fed, as the photo on the left shows. Field Officer, John Wright, took the photo shortly after a dramatic thunderstorm; the evening sunlight lighting up the nest beautifully.

Even once the worst of the rain had passed, gusty winds made fishing difficult on Saturday, and 03 spent long periods away from the nest in an effort to catch enough fish to satisfy the hungry appetites of his growing family. During one such absence, one of the non-breeding males, 08(01), saw an opportunity and displayed spectacularly above the nest for more than ten minutes. Osprey display flights are spectacular; males dangle their legs and give a high pitched cry before folding their wings and plummeting towards the ground at high speed. They then rise up again almost as quickly, and repeat the whole process. In the photo on the right, it is just possible to see 08's red ring on his right leg, while he displayed above 05.
	05 tolerated 08's displaying for a while, but eventually left the nest to chase off the potential suitor. The photo on the right shows her spotted underwing coverts, breast band and heavy body; all features that are characteristic of female Ospreys. Her rather scruffy tail was also obvious. 13th July By now the chick were very close to making their first flights, but as the photo below right shows, they had already achieved lift-off!

18th July

	In the previous few days the chicks had been getting closer and closer to making their maiden flight; lifting off the nest, 'helicoptering' above it, but then failing to muster up the courage to actually leave. It seemed just a matter of time before one of the youngsters finally took the plunge, and sure enough, at midday, YL made a short, but competent flight before landing rather clumsily back on the nest. The sequence of photos left and below show the juvenile bird landing back on the nest. We had originally thought that YL was a female, but now the chicks were fully grown, there was no obvious size difference between them, suggesting all three were, in fact, males.

21st July We suspected that after watching the exploits of YL on Wednesday, YH and YS would soon take to the air for the first time, and sure enough, on Thursday morning, both made their maiden flights. Obviously enjoying their new found freedom, YL and YS were particularly active for the rest of the day, both making at least five short flights to and from the nest. Although the chicks were surprisingly proficient in the air, landing did seem to cause them one or two problems. On one particularly entertaining occasion, YS knocked his father off his perch as he attempted to land next to him on a nearby tree! After this close call, he decided that landing on the nest was a far safer bet, and returned there after each short excursion.
	3rd August Whilst still very much dependent upon their father for food, the three chicks were spending an increasing amount of time away from the nest, sometimes disappearing for hours at a time and only returning when hunger got the better of them. Aside from attempting to satisfy the insatiable appetites of his offspring, 03 had also spent long periods defending the nest against intruders. Foremost among the intruders was 5R, who, of course, was also 03's son! As a three year-old male, 5R was now looking to establish a territory of his own and he had repeatedly been drawn back to his natal site. With 03 in residence he had no chance of actually taking over the nest, but that didn't stop him causing a good deal of mischief!
When 03 is away fishing, the task of defending the nest falls to 05 and the photo on the left shows her chasing off her troublesome son!
	Usually intruders appear over the nest in ones or twos, but on one afternoon, five could be seen circling over the nest together. Soon they were joined by both 03 and 05, thereby creating an incredible spectacle of seven adult Ospreys in the air together. Field Officer, John Wright was there to witness it, and his painting (left) gives a flavour of the action. By looking at the state of each bird's moult, John was able to confirm the identity of at least three of the intruders - 09(98), 08(01) and, unsurprisingly, 5R(04).
14th August Having been on the wing for nearly a month, the chicks were now spending long periods exploring the Rutland countryside and had even started making fishing attempts of their own. Despite the fact that YH was the youngest and probably least developed of the three chicks, he had become extremely adventurous. This photo shows the young male fishing in the North Arm of the reservoir. Although he was unsuccessful, and eventually returned to the nest empty-handed, this sort of behaviour is vital in the development of the chicks. With 03 continuing to provide food for his offspring, the youngsters did not need to catch their own fish, but they certainly needed to start practising; once they embark upon the long journey south, they would be completely alone, and must quickly learn to catch fish if they are to survive.
Having made several unsuccessful dives, YH landed on a dead tree in Burley Fishponds (below left). The post-fledging period is critical in the imprinting of Rutland upon the chicks, and exploratory behaviour such as this, is absolutely vital in aiding the process. Following his excursion away from the nest, YH eventually returned home and joined another juvenile sitting close to the nest (below right).Food-begging is a very familiar sound at Osprey nests at this time of year, as the chicks remind the male that they still have very strong appetites. Of the three chicks YH was certainly the most vociferous when it comes to food-begging, and he soon flew to the nest and demanded his next meal.

21st August
With the nights beginning to draw in, the Site B family had clearly sensed that the time had come to begin the long journey south. In 2006 05 headed south on 16th August, so we were surprised that she was still present. A strong northerly wind, and overcast skies in the morning were hardly ideal migration conditions, but 05 obviously felt the urge to begin her journey, and was not seen subsequently. Somewhat surprisingly YH also left the same day. When we ringed the chicks YH was the smallest and least-developed of the three youngsters, but he had become increasingly adventurous and perhaps inspired by the departure of his mother, he too headed south.
	That evening, seeming to know his mate had gone, 03 perched close to the two remaining youngsters and ensured they were safe, in much the same way 05 had done all summer. 22nd August The day dawned almost as gloomily as the previous morning, but YL was not seen at the nest after 9am, suggesting he too had began the marathon journey to the West African coast. We suspected that YS would soon follow suit, but he remained at the nest for over a week and continued to food-beg for long periods. Ever the attentive father, 03 continued to catch fish for the youngster until YS mustered up the courage to depart.
31st August
We suspected that it was only a matter of time before YS set out on his maiden migration, and sure enough on the Wednesday the 29th he left the nest site just before 9am and was not seen again. It was amazing to think that, after two days flying, the young malecould be somewhere in continental Europe - perhaps northern France. With the whole family heading south, there was nothing to keep 03 at the nest site, and although he returned there on Wednesday evening - no doubt just to check that YS had not returned - he too began the long journey south, on Thursday morning. All we could do now is keep our fingers crossed that the birds survive the perils of the 2500 mile migration to West Africa.