Michelle
Roving reporter Wilby…
Our trip to West Africa earlier this year gave us the opportunity to get our West Africa education project underway. We visited three schools – Tanji, Kartong and Tendaba – where we spoke to the pupils about migration and the importance of conservation. We also gave the children at Tanji letters and football shirts from pupils at Whissendine and St Nicholas primary schools in Rutland. As part of the link between the schools, we asked the children to describe where they live and tell us about the Ospreys that live near them. Wilby is from Whissendine Primary School and here he is telling us all about the Rutland Ospreys. We think he’s a future Springwatch presenter in the making!
For more information about the West Africa Project click here.
Who’s who and who lives where?…An update
Do you ever have trouble working out who is who, how all the birds are related or who lives where? Then read on. All your questions will be answered!
03(97)
A male translocated to Rutland Water from Scotland in 1997. Returned to Rutland for the first time in 1999 and successfully bred in 2001 at Site B, a nest on private land. The first Osprey to breed in Central England for 150 years. He has produced 24 chicks over the last 10 years with three different females. This year, he arrived on March 19th, exactly the same date as the previous two years. 03 has been breeding with an unringed Scottish female since 2009.
03(97)
08(97)
A male translocated to Rutland Water from Scotland in 1997. He was the first translocated Osprey to return to Rutland in May 1999. Despite attracting at least eight different females to his nest in Manton Bay, he didn’t breed until 2007 when he raised two chicks with 5N(04) (see below). After their nest failed in 2008 the pair moved to a site on private land, Site N, and raised two chicks in 2009 and 2010. Sadly 08 disappeared in May 2011.
08(97) and 5N(04)
09(98)
A male translocated to Rutland Water from Scotland in 1998. He returned to Rutland for the first time in 2000 but he is yet to breed. After 08(97) disappeared in May 2011, he paired up with 5N(04) (see below) and spent the rest of the Summer at Site N. Before the end of the season he was fitted with a satellite transmitter so we have been able to track his Autumn and Spring migrations.
09(98) with his satellite transmitter
AW(06)
AW fledged from Site B in 2006 and he is one of 03(97)’s chicks. He returned to Rutland in 2008 and bred for the first time in 2010, at a site on private land with a Scottish female from Argyll. He has raised six chicks in two years. AW was also fitted with a satellite transmitter last season and we were able to follow his Autumn migration. Unfortunately we stopped receiving data from his transmitter in mid-February.
AW(06)
5R(04)
5R fledged from Site B in 2004 and he is one of 03(97)’s chicks. In 2010, 5R bred in Manton Bay with an unringed Scottish female and this was the first pair in Rutland not to include a translocated bird. In two years this pair have produced six chicks. 5R is the male Osprey you can watch on the webcam since he arrived on March 19, a week earlier than in 2011. His mate returned on April 1st and they are currently incubating three eggs.
5R(04) and unringed Scottish female
5N(04)
5N fledged from Site B in 2004. She is one of 03(97)’s chicks and 5R’s sister from the same year. 5N paired up with 08(97) in 2007 and she was the first Rutland-fledged chick to breed and has successfully raised six chicks. After 08(97)’s disappearance in May 2011 she paired up with 09(98) and spent the rest of the Summer at her nest, Site N. 5N returned this year on March 25th and has spent her first few days in Manton Bay. She is now settled at Site N with 09(98).
00(09)
00 fledged from Site B in 2009. She is one of 03(97)’s chicks and 5R’s half-sister. She returned to Rutland for the first time on May 4th 2011 and spent very little time in Rutland. This year she returned on March 23rd and spent most of her time with 5R until the Manton Bay female returned on April 1st. Her early arrival suggests that she is ready to breed and is looking for a mate. The video below shows 00 with 5R on the Manton Bay nest after she arrived on March 23rd.
03(09)
03 fledged from Site N in 2009 and he is one of 08(97)’s chicks. He returned for the first time on June 15th 2011. 03 returned in early May and as a three year old, he his unlikely to breed this year.
03(09)
06(09)
06 fledged from a nest on private land in 2009. He returned for the first time on June 11th 2011. 06 returned in early May and as a three year old, he his unlikely to breed this year.
06(09)
01(09)
01 fledged from Site B in 2009. He is one of 03(97)’s chicks, 5R’s half-brother and 00(09)’s brother. He returned for the first time on May 20th 2011. 01 returned in early May and as a three year old, he his unlikely to breed this year.
01(09) arrived back in Rutland on 11th May 2012
03(08)
03(08) fledged from Site B in 2008 and she is one of 03(97)’s chicks. She is the sister of 5R and 5N from a different year. On April 12th 2011, 03(08) was seen on the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust’s Cors Dyfi reserve in mid-Wales. She stayed there for the whole season and raised three chicks with the resident male and was nicknamed Nora. They were the first Ospreys to breed in the Dyfi valley for 400 years. Since then she has become a celebrity on Springwatch and Autumnwatch. This year she returned to Dyfi on March 24th.
03(08) 'Nora'
In the early years of the Project, 64 Osprey chicks were translocated to Rutland Water from Scotland between 1996 and 2001. From the very beginning, the Ospreys were identified by their ring numbers because it was easier than giving them all names. Since the first pair bred in 2001, 53 chicks have fledged from nests in Rutland and the ring numbers continue to be the way they are identified. Thinking of 117 names over the years would have been impossible.
Ospreys have been ringed in the UK for more than 50 years so the combinations of colours, letters and numbers are now fairly random because we are starting to run out and we can’t have two rings the same.
This post will be updated as and when other Ospreys return to Rutland. Hopefully it won’t get too confusing… A family tree will be on the way soon!
Panic over!
We’ve all been worried today because we thought there were only two eggs in the Manton Bay nest and we didn’t know what had happened to the third. The female must have read my recent post because as soon as I put it on the website, she stood up and revealed three eggs! What a relief!
A cause for concern?
If you’ve had a look at the videos in the previous post you may have noticed that the third egg in the Manton Bay nest was difficult to see. It appeared to be lower down in the nest cup than the other two eggs. Whenever the pair have left the eggs uncovered today we’ve only been able to see two, as you can see in the video below. We’re not really sure what’s happened but we’ll keep an eye on the camera and post a full update tomorrow.
A clumsy fisherman and a couple of visitors…
A sunny Bank Holiday Sunday has brought many people to the reserve and the nest in Manton Bay has kept us all entertained. A bit of sunshine has obviously made it look more attractive than usual and it has played host to a couple of visitors…
5R’s mate seems to have enjoyed a day off from the wet and windy weather as she’s been having regular breaks to have a stretch and a preen.
In between stretching and preening, the female has been doing plenty of food begging. By the afternoon the breeze had died down and 5R eventually decided it was time to go fishing. He managed to catch a roach in front of Waderscrape hide and took it to a nearby perch. After eating part of the fish 5R took the remainder to the nest and what followed proved to be a fairly clumsy changeover. It’s a good job that he’ll only have to carry out incubation duties for another two weeks and then he’ll be able to concentrate on doing what he does best.
The story so far…
It’s hard to believe that 5R has been back in Rutland for 44 days now and after all the drama with 5N and 00(09) at the beginning of the season the resident pair have been incubating their full clutch for 12 days. The video below shows what has happened in Manton Bay so far this season. Rutland Water is very lucky to be getting a newly refurbished Rutland Water Visitor Centre (formally the Tourist Information Centre) at Sykes Lane near Empingham and this video will be shown on their big screen. All the more reason to pop down and spend a day at Rutland Water!
Fishing for two…
Now that 24 hour monitoring is well underway we are getting some fantastic information about Osprey fishing habits. We are very lucky to have many dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers and because of all their time spent in Manton Bay we know exactly what 5R was up to over the few weeks before the first egg was laid on April 15th. During the 19 days from the start of monitoring on March 27th, 5R has been away from the nest for 39 hours and 28 minutes. As well as chasing away intruding Ospreys, 5R spent much of his time fishing and brought in 28 fish. I should imagine the female is relieved that they haven’t all been as small as this one…
Fish delivery
There are 17 species of fish in Rutland Water but Ospreys like to target surface-feeding fish so there are only a handful of species you are likely to see being brought back to the nest. Here are a few of 5R’s favourites between March 27th and April 15th.
5R's Favourite Fish
Watch out…00 is about!
It feels like an age since the Manton Bay saga had us all gripped at the beginning of the season and after her visit last week, it would appear that 00(09) still has her eye on 5R’s nest. 00 has rarely been seen this week but she decided to pay us a visit this afternoon. She flew high over the nest and was quickly chased off by the resident male but he couldn’t have been very convincing. 00 soon returned to Manton Bay and even had the cheek to land on the nest next to the incubating female. 5R’s mate didn’t hesitate to give the young Osprey her marching orders and 00 left the pair in peace. Unless a young male returns in the next few days and is ready to breed, it looks as though 00 will become a regular visitor in Manton Bay. For the who’s who of Rutland Ospreys, click here. The video below shows 5R and his mate mantling as they defend their nest from 00(09).
A Manton Bay hat trick
For the third year running the Manton Bay pair have produced three eggs. As the next phase of the Osprey season begins, 5R is taking it in his stride and is already doing his fair share of incubating. Our first really good look at all three eggs was during a changeover when 5R took over to give his mate a well deserved break.
Another egg!
After all the excitement in Manton Bay on Sunday, we have been eagerly watching the nest hoping to catch a glimpse of a second egg. Today our patience was rewarded! The weather hasn’t made it very easy, with a brisk easterly breeze and persistent showers, the female has been reluctant to leave the nest cup uncovered. However, just after 11am three days after laying her first, the female stood up long enough for us to see the second egg. Hopefully, a third egg will be on its way in the next few days!
