Liz
And then there were two…
We are now well into September and it feels distinctly autumnal, so it’s quite a surprise to still have two ospreys left in Manton Bay. In fact, the only two left in Rutland and perhaps even England. Every year we seem to have a lingering juvenile and this year is no exception, with 32(11) still hanging around the nest, her two brothers having departed last week. But who is the adult? Experience would tell us that it is the male that is still here, dutifully providing fish for his last remaining offspring. And yet again we learn something new. It seems that two of the males of Rutland have neglected their parenting duties, firstly by AW(06) who left his nest 11 days ago where the female and chicks remained. As I write, he is now making his way down through Senegal, as we eagerly wait to see where he will spend the winter. 5R was last seen at the Manton Bay nest on Tuesday afternoon, not a great day to start migrating, but as an experienced male he should be able to cope with the unsettled weather just fine, leaving the female and 32 behind. This is certainly a different situation to last year, as 5R stayed at the nest for some time longer than the female. Perhaps the drawing below by Field Officer John Wright show why; 5R has been getting a great deal of hassle by all the youngsters and even the female has been joining in lately, so maybe he took the opportunity to make a swift exit on Tuesday.
So all that now remains is the female and 32. With some better weather coming tomorrow, surely it won’t be long till they head south too? Who knows, we’ve been wrong before…
An irresistable call to depart…
Here is the latest diary entry from Ken, brilliantly summing up the last shift of the season. Enjoy!
Sunday September 4th, Manton Bay: Keeping up with AW(06)’s amazing progress through Southern Morocco and Western Sahara has kept me occupied for most of the morning, until suddenly I realise it’s time to leave the house and make my way to Lyndon for what is possibly my final shift of the season in the Bay. I drive comfortably and calmly through leafy lanes and sleepy villages, avoiding major routes wherever possible. My mind is still on that incredible journey being undertaken at this very moment by AW, that sturdy male I watched as a juvenile at Site B in the summer of 2006. He was known as AA(06) then, with a maroon colour ring, and I was lucky enough to be around when he took his first flight during the morning of 14th July. He had two sisters, 7T(06) and silver-ringed AA(06), both of whom flew during the next few days. Just a week or so later, 7T disappeared, and despite extensive searching over the whole area, no trace was ever found of her. The two surviving juveniles stayed around with their parents, 03(97) and 05(00), but all four had departed on migration before the end of August 2006. My next meeting with AW(06) ~ as we’ll call him from now on ~ was on the evening of May 15th 2009, when I was reporting for night-duty at the cottage on the Hambleton road. As I drove in I noticed an Osprey sitting on the T-perch on the new lagoon (Lagoon 4), but at that stage I had no idea which one it was. As I left the car and started transferring my gear into the vehicle Lucy and I were going to use for our night-watch at Site B, I noticed another Osprey in the dead tree in the creek behind the cottage. I did manage to identify this one ~ it was 32(05), a four year old which had been around for a while. So who was the one on Lagoon 4? We were at a loss ~ but then John arrived. He had seen the new bird earlier on, but had not given it much attention as he was sure it would be one of the ‘regulars’. But then he looked more closely ~ no colour ring, metal ring on left leg, strangely familiar feather markings…….We left him preparing to go through his folders of flight photographs to find a match. In the fading light at Site B, and again in the early morning, we saw two intruding Ospreys, one of which could possibly have been the new arrival. During the following day, the exciting news arrived that it was in fact AW(06), minus his maroon colour ring, but with identical underwing feather markings to the bird first photographed in 2006, and now back again in 2009! The following year, 2010, he settled with a female at Site O, and returned there again in 2011, breeding successfully both times! And now, with a new designation and a newly fitted satellite transmitter, he is somewhere in Western Sahara, and sending us fantastic information every day. Long may it continue!
I’m immersed in all these thoughts as I arrive at Lyndon ~ a strangely quiet Lyndon, with hardly a car in the car-park and very few people in the Visitor Centre. Tim is there, of course, in front of his computer screen, studying the incoming data regarding AW’s latest position and migration, which is proceeding at an incredible pace ~ he is covering vast distances each day, barely pausing to rest and eat. He will soon be in the unforgiving desert country of Mauritania……..and only eight days ago, he was still here. A few of us crowd around as Tim goes over his route again ~ this jet-setting Osprey has really hit the hot-spots…..Paris, Madrid, Malaga and Marbella, then over into Morocco, following the northern side of the Atlas Mountains, then Marrakech, and a river valley through into Western Sahara. Another thought strikes us: his female is still here in Rutland, feeding one of the juveniles at the nest! This is not what the books say should happen!
I’d almost forgotten! I’m here for a shift down in Wader Scrape hide. Barrie and I collect the kit and make our way down, where, incredibly, we find the hide completely empty, all flaps closed, no-one in sight. There are Ospreys here! 5R sits on his perch, with the female and one juvenile (32(11)) still present. It’s great to see them ~ even though it’s slightly unreal somehow…….5R’s younger brother is in Western Sahara, all the other Ospreys, apart from the three here and the two at Site O, have left, and there are no visitors! A very strange atmosphere pervades the Bay, the hide…..and us. We don’t speak much. It’s all very ‘end of season’……..
David Gessner in ‘Soaring with Fidel’ frequently quotes from the 19th Century American poet Walt Whitman, and in one section he refers to a line which seems so right for today:
‘……you are call’d by an irresistible call to depart……’
All the birds today appear to have received the call. Clouds of House Martins and Swallows are dashing around, skittering after insects, chasing one another in intricate patterns of flight. Common Terns are high in the air, circling, calling, preparing to leave. Nervous flocks of waders ~ already part-way through their migrations from the North ~ alight momentarily on the muddy edges but then are off again, glinting in the light, turning and twisting, destined for who-knows-where before they can settle properly. Primrose Yellow Wagtails dance in the air, floppy Lapwings are buffeted by the breeze, a single Sedge Warbler climbs a reed and descends again rapidly. All of them are tense, uneasy, wary, on edge. Only the three Ospreys remain calm: 5R on his post, the female on the perch above the nest, and the one remaining juvenile hunched on the rim. Surely they’ve had the call too, but they are impassive, napping, preparing mentally and physically…….
There is an evocative single German word ~ again found in Soaring with Fidel ~ which perfectly defines Whitman’s ‘irresistible call to depart’. It is Zugunruhe, literally ‘journey unrest’, but better described by Gessner as ‘the restlessness birds feel before they migrate……..the general unease, the bristling, of a creature about to embark on a journey.’ Wildebeest in the Serengeti, Caribou in Northern Canada, even the great Whales in the oceans and the clouds of Monarch butterflies in the United States ~ Zugunruhe touches them all. We humans feel it too. Today it is almost palpable: every migratory creature in the Bay before us is sensing the approaching great journey ahead.
Judging by the almost total lack of visitors this afternoon, people have assumed the few remaining Ospreys have already gone. We are almost resigned to the first-ever visitorless shift, when the door slides open and a few come in. An Australian woman and her elderly mother are thrilled to see Ospreys, and their enthusiasm warms us up: we wax lyrical and try to counteract Zugunruhe! Another couple arrive, having just left the Burghley Horse Trials which are now in their final day. They are refreshing themselves before driving back to North Yorkshire. And so it continues…..a trickle of people on this, the final Sunday of our season. The juvenile has been holding part of a fish all afternoon, and occasionally he takes a rather desultory peck at it. 5R flies over from time to time, just checking if he still has any of it left, as if thinking ‘I’m not fishing again for you until you’ve finished that’. He is finally roused into action by the loud food-begging of both female and juvenile and lifts himself off the perch to fly over the bund. Scattering the gulls, Lapwings and Cormorants, he makes just the one dive…..and with all the skills of an accomplished parent and consummate fisherman, he emerges with a pike, which he takes back to his perch. At this point, we have no visitors at all. We train all four telescopes onto him as he eats. Their lenses peer forlornly out across the water, but with only the two of us watching. About half the pike is left when he dutifully delivers it to the juvenile on the nest, and the caterwauling ceases at last.
As the afternoon draws to a close, Vikki and Liz arrive, closely followed by Lloyd and Becky. What is this? An end-of-season gathering of Information Officers, Wardens and Co-ordinators? There is a clue: Vikki arrived carrying a big box containing a chocolate cake in the shape of a ‘cheeky monkey’. It’s her birthday, and what better way to celebrate it than with her colleagues and friends over a piece of ‘cheeky monkey’ cake while watching over the Ospreys for this last time? Michelle, Mike and Tim are on the way down too. So we leave 5R and his family eating pike, and Vikki & Co eating cheeky monkey……..
I take one last look back. 5R is back on his perch, calm, unruffled, looking good, contemplating his achievements and watching his mate and one remaining offspring. It’s nearly time for us all to go ~ for me a short journey, for them a mammoth one. Suddenly I don’t want to linger, I need to be away. Zugunruhe has kicked in. I avoid the Burghley traffic by following my beloved rural lanes, and I’m soon home. It’s over for another year. I loved it, every single second.
Oh, I’ll see you at the Party next Sunday! I might even write about it if anyone is interested in seeing what one hundred and fifty Osprey staff and volunteers do to celebrate the end of another great summer season……….
First juvenile leaves Manton Bay
The weather at Rutland Water yesterday was fantastic. So it was no surprise that we all had our binoculars pointed upwards for most of the day expecting at least one of the Manton Bay family to head south. We weren’t disappointed when at 1.30pm, Shelagh radioed from the hide to tell us that 52(11) had started circling high over Manton Bay with a group of buzzards. Would this be the moment that we saw the first juvenile leave? As it turns out, no. From the centre and the hides, we had fantastic views of 52 getting higher and higher, eventually becoming a dot and heading south, pretty textbook when it comes to seeing ospreys migrate. After the excitement settled down, a count of the remaining birds in the Bay – only 1 juvenile and 2 adults. A closer look at the remaining juvenile revealed that it was 32(11), meaning that 22(11) had slipped away unnoticed earlier when the other birds were tucking into a fish brought in by 5R.
The afternoon carried on with the remaining 32 food-begging to 5R, and us thinking that two of the youngsters had migrated. However, at 5.30pm another call from the hide. This time John, saying 52 had returned. Later in the evening, 22 still hadn’t returned despite the arrival of fish to the nest. So we can only assume that he spent the night on the south coast, and perhaps is somewhere in France today. After being the last of the 3 juveniles to fledge on 17th July (have another look at the video below of that day), 22 had always been more aggressive than the other two. Even more so in the last week, not allowing 32 and 52 to land on the nest when there was the chance of food. So perhaps the events of yesterday show why – he was preparing himself for heading south, and he gave himself the best chance he could as he left in great condition. Hopefully, we’ll see him back in two years time.
On the first day of Birdfair…
Here is Ken’s latest diary entry, and as usual, it’s a cracker! He tells the story of the first day at this year’s Birdfair including the Osprey Cruise with Simon King. For me, it was the best cruise of the season. Seeing 09 catch a fish so close to the boat was certainly one of my highlights of the season. But enough from me, enjoy Ken’s account of the day…
‘On the First Day of Birdfair…..’
‘On the first day of Birdfair,
Rutland Water gave to me,
Friends for a-greeting,
Lectures for a-ttending,
Coffees for a-drinking,
Books for a-buying,
And a cruise on the Rutland Belle’
(Sung to the traditional tune)
Friday August 19th: The day dawns fine, a great relief after the rains of yesterday which dampened down the preparations rather. Even though I arrive early, there are still queues of cars awaiting admission. The efficient car-parking attendants wave us briskly into neat rows in the fields, where only a few days ago sheep were grazing peacefully. Rows of blue portaloos are in the corners. ‘You are in Red Car Park B’ says the notice. The kiosks are not open yet to allow public admission to the site, but exhibitors, volunteers and stewards are hurrying about, setting up stands, arranging their starting points, receiving instructions. I locate the Osprey stand in the LRWT tent, where I will be doing a shift later, and find it already buzzing with activity. The big screen is primed to show highlights of the Osprey season, the tables are arrayed with colourful masks and drawings for children to complete, and Andy and Anne are putting the finishing touches to an impressive display of natural history books, which have been donated by generous volunteers. All proceeds from their sale will go towards funds for the Gambian Foundation. I buy a couple of books which immediately catch my eye. Suddenly it’s 9.00am and the crowds are pouring in. The loudspeakers announce the first of the lectures and book-signings, and the carts selling food and drink start to trundle around. The ringing group on the edge of the site have trapped a Nightingale very early on, and people are invited to go and watch it being ringed and released. A group of colourful African musicians and dancers start to perform in the central area. Crowds build up amazingly quickly. The ‘Flyways’ mural outside the Art Marquee already displays several migrating birds on its panels. Excitement and anticipation in the air. This is Birdfair 2011. It’s started.
I still have plenty of time before my shift, so I begin my tour of the marquees. As always, the diversity is incredible. If I as much as hesitate for a second in front of a stand, an enthusiastic person approaches me to tell me about the attractions of their country as a destination for a birding tour, or offers to demonstrate the latest piece of optical wizardry, clothing to beat even Antarctic extremes, and books and DVD’s which apparently I can’t be without. My own favourites are the conservation stands, and I actively seek out a few which I have been reading about in advance. I particularly want to hear the latest news from the team which has been working in remote parts of Eastern Asia to save the rapidly dwindling population of Spoon-billed Sandpipers, and I meet again dedicated field-workers from Russia and the UK who are leading this project. Then I’m in the Art Marquee, indulging in a ‘Fantasy Wildlife Art’ spending spree, and rapidly ‘acquiring’ wonderful works of art worth well over £10,000! Back to reality, and I buy a brilliant little sculpture ~ a life-sized Treecreeper, delicately carved in wood and climbing up a tree-trunk. Exquisite ~ my one extravagance of the day…….well, apart from that new book on ‘The Norfolk Cranes’ Story’, and that other one, a monograph on ‘The Black Woodpecker’. Birdfair only comes once a year after all!
Familiar faces are everywhere. Ray, my brilliant night-watchman from Site B, is demonstrating hedge-laying to a crowd of onlookers in the central area, and another night-watchman, George, is on the LIPU-UK stand. Rick is on the Leicestershire and Rutland Ornithological Society stand, and then on the track outside I run into Anya, who accompanied us on a school visit earlier in the season. Her exam results went well last week, so she can go on confidently to her final ‘A’ level year next month. I remember to compliment her on her special ‘Osprey Cakes’ ~ I had one last week! Michelle is in one of the optics marquees. We have a quick word and she asks me to deliver a collecting box she has made to the Osprey stand ~ all donations to Tim’s ‘Berlin Marathon’ fund! As I arrive with the box, the LRWT tent is thronged with people ~ some browsing and buying the second-hand books being offered for sale, others ~ especially the children ~ sitting at the tables and making a variety of items with card, crayons and scissors. Still more are gathered around the screen, where Osprey staff and volunteers explain what has been happening with our birds this year.
My shift begins with Norman, part of the Tuesday afternoon Site B team, and we are soon busy with visitors wanting to know everything about the Manton Bay Osprey family, whose 2011 edited highlights are being shown on the screen. Many are incredibly well-informed, and ask detailed questions about the juveniles from all the nests. Others are less well up, and say things like ‘Is this being filmed at a Scottish nest?’ ‘No’, we say, ‘it’s actually less than a mile from where you’re standing, and you can go and see them for yourself if you want to.’ ‘Well, I never knew there were Ospreys in Rutland’ is the response. Several visitors have come from Wales, and one couple expressly thank Tim for sending them Nora, or, as we prefer to call her, 03(08)! Fellow volunteer Moira is here with her son and his friend. The two boys run off and return with a bag of delicious mini-doughnuts, which they generously share around. Lynda is here too and we talk about our latest diary entries. All the while, Andy and Ann are selling books. How well organised they are! The books are disappearing fast : Ken Baker has found a little gem of a picture book by James McCallum, and another chap has ‘put aside for later’ over £50’s worth of books. As he hasn’t returned yet, it is decided I should take them to him on his own stand and collect the money! This works very well, and the cash box is filling up!
3.00pm and I’m feeling the pace. Time for a break. I meet yet more old friends and colleagues on my way back to the car, and finally sit down for a late lunch/early tea. A very satisfying day so far, but it’s not over yet! At 4.00 I’m in the Lecture Marquee hearing all about efforts to save another threatened bird, the Sociable Lapwing, or Sociable Plover as I used to call it back in the days when I managed to see one not far away in Northamptonshire. An excellent presentation and yet more evidence of the valuable work of Birdlife International and the Preventing Extinctions Programme. After a final brief stay on the Osprey stand, I bid farewell and make the short drive around to Whitwell Creek, where my next date is with ‘Rutland Belle’ for the Celebrity Osprey Cruise with Simon King!
Weather : sunny, calm, set fair. Passengers all gathered on the quay by 5.30 ~ an air of quiet excitement pervades the early evening sunshine. Osprey team: Liz, assisted by volunteers Anna, Mick, Ken Baker, and me. Skipper today: Matt. All present and correct then ~ just need the Celebrity Guest now. A large BMW arrives at the quayside. Simon King emerges, in trademark cap, smiling and genial as always, and accompanied by two representatives from Zeiss, one of whom, Nanette, will join us on the cruise. Out on the water, Simon takes the microphone and greets everyone. Many of those on board are old friends of his, having joined him on previous trips or holidays in Shetland. We scour the skies for Ospreys, but find none. Liz takes over the microphone for a while and fills everyone in on the Osprey Project, its history and successes so far. We see many other species, of course ~ terns, egrets, a buzzard, grebes, geese and ducks. Simon suggests we re-name the cruise ‘The Canada Goose Cruise.’ We have spotters in the bow, the stern, port and starboard, and we visit all the well-known bays favoured by the Ospreys. Observers on the shore keep us informed as to which Ospreys are ‘at home’, and which are away from their territories. The atmosphere on board is relaxed and friendly, and Simon and Liz do expert jobs with the commentary. Just as we are beginning to think this might not be an Osprey day, skipper Matt from the wheelhouse calls out ‘Osprey ahead!’ and there it is, circling and soaring high over the water in definite fishing mode. We ensure everyone is ‘on it’ and then proceed to follow it as it passes over us, from side to side, giving tremendous views against the blue sky. A shout goes up ‘It’s fitted with a transmitter!’ and everyone strains to see its back-pack and antenna, fitted just a few weeks ago. So we now know who this is! Liz tells everyone the story of 09(98) ~ his translocation from Scotland thirteen years ago, his regular returns since 2000 and lonely vigils at Site C, his recent liaison with 5N(04) at Site N following her widowhood, and, of course, his most recent fitting with the satellite transmitting apparatus, which has already given us so much valuable information about his flights and fishing trips. Everyone is buzzing when he suddenly goes into a dive and hits the water not far from the boat with a great splash. Nothing this time. But he’s up again, still looking down, crossing in front of us and coming straight towards us when he suddenly banks again and arrows into the water for a second time, much closer to the clicking lenses and sharply focussed binoculars! This time we know he has struck! He flaps in the water, feet strenuously working beneath the surface to secure the fish. Once, twice, he tries to rise. No good. It must be a monster. Matt silences the engine. The Belle idles in the water, the Osprey not far away still struggling with its mammoth catch. At last he rises, a monstrous trout precariously hanging from one talon. He approaches the boat, the fish writhing and twisting vigorously. He makes a massive effort to secure the fish with the other foot, but in so doing he releases his grip for a moment and it falls back into the water. A collective groan rises from the deck. ‘Oh, no!’ calls Simon over the microphone. As always happens in these instances, 09 does not descend to look for the fish, but rises high above the water and flies up one of the arms to the north before disappearing over the hill. We do not see him again.
The rest of the cruise passes in relative calm and tranquillity. Several people have captured the catch and the attempted lift on camera, and are comparing results. Our friend from Zeiss, Nanette, is thrilled: it’s her first English Osprey, and a spectacular one at that. Liz sums it all up brilliantly in her commentary. Simon thanks everyone and hopes they have enjoyed a wonderful cruise. And how could they not? He lingers after the boat has docked to sign autographs and pose for pictures. Everyone is thrilled to have met such a genuine, committed and friendly person, who has made such a contribution to the evening’s success. And Liz was great too. And Matt. Oh, and not forgetting 09(98)……the star of the show! Hope you caught another fish after we lost you. And thanks to Lesley, who took lots of brilliant photos from the boat, including these two!
- Thanks to Lesley for sending this picture
- Thanks to Lesley for sending this picture
It’s nearly 9.00pm when I get home! That was some special day at Birdfair. Tomorrow and Sunday will find me over at Lyndon, in the hides overlooking the Osprey nest in Manton Bay. All part of the great Birdfair experience!
Early exit at Site B
As September approaches swiftly, the ospreys at Rutland Water are starting to think about the long journey south for the winter. However, it seems the Site B birds have decided to depart earlier than usual, and it seems they have missed the worst of the bad weather we have been having over the last few days.
03(97), the female and 33(11) haven’t been seen regularly at the nest since early August, instead just visiting occasionally. The female was last seen on 9th August – her job effectively done for the season when 33 became independent from the nest. 33, although last seen in Rutland on 18th August, has been visiting other nest sites and seems to have been fending for himself – quite a good start in life if you now have to fly 3500miles to West Africa on your own! 03 probably waited for 33 to start the epic journey before starting his own.
But why so early this year? With only one chick in the nest, 33 had been getting plenty of fish and parental attention, perhaps more so than the chicks at Manton Bay, so it is no surprise that the 33 quickly felt able to leave the nest and become independent from his parents.
So that is Site B over for another year. Let’s hope 03 makes it back to breed again for the 11th time next spring! Place your bets now on his arrival time…
Ospreys at Birdfair!
This year’s Birdfair is fast approaching, and as usual the Osprey Team and Volunteers will be on hand to tell visitors all about the ospreys. Over the last few years we have been showing recordings from the season, but this year will be even bigger and better!
Along with the fantastic footage we have recorded this season, there will be Rutland Osprey post cards, photos, caps, t-shirts and bags for sale, lots of information and a few games to play (even for adults!). We will also have a sale of some great second hand natural history books, the proceeds of which are going to our West African project to set up links with Gambian schools to promote osprey conservation.
Of course there is nothing better than seeing the ospreys for real, so visit Lyndon where there will be volunteers with telescopes in Waderscrape and Shallow Water hides over the whole weekend to help you get the best views possible of the birds. Your Birdfair ticket will get you free enty onto the reserve.
So come and see the ospreys this weekend, at Outdoor Display 2 next to the Birdfair sales tent, and at Lyndon!
A kicking fish and growing chicks
The chicks are still growing at an amazing rate and as this latest video shows, they are quickly catching up with their parents. They are still reliant on the female for food, however over the past few days they have been starting to pick at fish delivered by 5R. A few days ago, the chicks got quite a surprise while being fed by the female when the fish in question suddenly twitched, even giving the female a bit of a shock. Clearly the chicks still have a lot to learn about the world beyond their nest.
We have also been seeing a lot of wing-flapping from the chicks and they are really starting to get the strength needed ready for fledging. In a few weeks time they will be making their first flights around the water in preparation for the long journey to West Africa in the autumn. It’s amazing to think that they will be sunning themselves on a beach somewhere in only 3 months time! We of course, will be hoping to catch up with them in January…
We ringed the three chicks yesterday morning and all looked in fantastic condition. More on that tomorrow morning.
Manton Bay female returns
A wave of excitement descended on Waderscrape Hide yesterday evening as a female osprey appeared. We can now confirm that the female is the same one that spent the summer here last year and raised three chicks with 5R.
Until this morning, 5R had not spent much time on the Manton Bay nest, instead letting a pair of Egyptian Geese continue their stay. With the arrival of the female however, 5R became much more aggressive and finally they both managed to move the geese on from the nest. Since then, both 5R and the female have been bringing sticks and grass to the nest and perhaps more importantly, lots of copulation has taken place. Hopefully, we will have eggs in around 2 weeks time.
A full update and John’s photos of the last 24 hours will follow in the next few days, and maybe even more news of returning ospreys to Rutland Water.
