A Grand Season Finale…
Following the departure of our last two Ospreys a few days ago the quietness in Manton Bay sadly marks the end of the season. The last six months have been truly amazing. All that we have achieved this year just wouldn’t be possible without our many volunteers, who have dedicated over 8500 hours of their valuable time to monitor nests and talk to visitors about Ospreys, particularly the antics of the Manton Bay family. This is incredible and we thank you!
On Sunday evening we held our end of season party so we could all get together and celebrate the achievements of the 2011 season. The fish and chip van made it’s annual appearance and the turnout was fantastic! Everyone enjoyed listening to Tim as he recaptured the events of the season, the highs and the lows, and the exciting journeys of the satellite tagged Ospreys.
A brilliant evening! We all enjoyed the entertainment and when it was time to leave no one felt an end of season sadness, instead we are all excited for the coming months. We will follow the every move of our two satellite tagged males on their wintering grounds as we begin the long wait for the return of the Rutland Ospreys next spring.
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……….
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!
A different family fun day
As I began to write this report I learned that the Site B female had not been seen for over a week and that 33(11) has rarely been returning to Site B and is therefore probably catching his own fish – how wonderful if he is, it will stand him in good stead to hone his fishing skills before he departs on migration. It made me realise how lucky I had been last week to see all of the Manton Bay Ospreys, here’s my report.
I was pleased to be going to Manton Bay, as not only would I see the Osprey family in the bay but I had heard that Moira was going to be doing the shift before me. I hadn’t seen her since the day she’d had her cycle accident and apart from suffering nasty injuries to hand and chin, she had also missed 52(11) fledging.
I arrived at the hide and was delighted to hear from her that she had seen all five Ospreys and at that moment only one juvenile was out of sight. She showed me a photo that she’d taken earlier of a kingfisher, it had been darting about landing on reed stems and had quite distracted her. She had also spotted a green woodpecker in the trees behind the nest. We chatted away but soon realised that we needed our wits about to us to keep track of the Osprey family. Once she had left the hide, I set about heading up the report sheets, however, I began to have a minor panic as so much was going on, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to write it all down. As I rummaged through my bag for a pen, I came across a small digital voice recorder that my husband had given me at the beginning of the season, thinking that it might come in handy one day if the hide was busy and I didn’t have time to write. It was just what I needed. This is what I hastily dictated:
Absolute manic morning, one on fallen branch, one on the nest, one on the near perch, 5R on the far perch. One juvenile missing on my arrival. Then the other juvenile arrives, Mrs. is eating a fish, 5R flies off to catch a fish right in front of our eyes, brings it back to eat it, as he’s the only one that hasn’t eaten yet this morning, then drops it, goes off to fish again – not successful, quite funny, comes over to the nest to see what’s left that the juvenile has been eating. And they’re just dispersing all over the place right in front of my eyes; to the left fallen tree, to the fallen tree to the right, to the shore, one’s been pecking at mud, 5R’s had a bath, it’s very choppy, very windy, very cool and they’re just flying all over the place, all five of them are here and it’s wonderful! And now a juvenile comes back to the French perch and he’s eating a fish and 5R’s on the near perch eating a fish. Where they came from, goodness only knows.
(Later) Not forgetting one juvenile who’s pecking on the shore – was he eating grubs I wonder?
At 09.50, once I’d stopped panicking, one of the juveniles took his fish to the shoreline. Every season, I see different behaviour – last year at Site B, again in a panic, I’d telephoned Tim to report that the two juveniles were on the ground in the ploughed field, one actually down low in the earth, but I was reassured that they’d been doing it on a regular basis. Today was the first time that I’d seen a Rutland Osprey, let alone a juvenile, actually eating on the shoreline. After fifteen minutes he was getting seriously hassled by a magpie and flew with his fish to the right-hand fallen poplar. 5R immediately dipped down to the shore and sorted out the magpie.
At 10.20 the female took after a heron and there ensued an almighty and prolonged battle. It was right in front of the hide and I was able to get some very close shots of them both. The female won and the heron retreated towards Deep Water Hide. 5R then had another spat with a magpie and the two juveniles flew up, one returning to the nest. 52(11) meanwhile was still eating his fish on the fallen poplar. A few minutes later 32(11) flew over the bund wall, followed by the female, who attempted to fish. They both returned low over the water, dipping their feet in flight. As they approached the nest, 32 swung at the female, as if trying to beat her to the nest and she decided to join 5R on the near perch.
The weather took a distinct turn for the worse with light rain sweeping across in front of me, almost like drifting fog. 5R and the female hunkered down against the strong wind on the near perch, one juvenile retreated to the shore and the other to a low branch of the left-hand fallen poplar. Meanwhile 52(11) was still eating his fish on the other fallen poplar, which is thickly leaved and he appeared to be very sheltered, quite oblivious almost to the weather and the rest of his family.
Shortly before 11am 5R flew over to the far perch and a juvenile followed him to the far shore, landing in the water. He began to lift out of the water, hover a couple of seconds and then land in the water again, until he landed on the fallen poplar. Some 20 minutes later, those of us in the hide were treated to a wonderful sight of two juveniles attempting to fish immediately in front of us near the dead tree. They didn’t push their feet forward at all, but most certainly hovered, feet dangling and swooped down to the water, pulling out at the last minute, like fighter pilots. They practiced several times and then one of them drifted out of sight towards the Lyndon Centre. In the years that I have been volunteering, I had never seen such advanced behaviour from juveniles. On the far shore, to the right of the fallen poplar, a young buzzard was sitting on top of the camera transmitter box, I wondered how long he’d been watching this family at play.
The other juvenile flew to the shore behind the nest, landing on a very small branch sticking out of the mud and was joined on the shore by the third juvenile who began to peck at green shoots growing in the mud. In the grey murk I saw four or five wagtails approaching him, but with just one glance from the Osprey, they sensibly made a hasty diversion. Watching these two birds on the muddy shoreline was so evocative of what we had observed in Africa – Ospreys on the beach or marsh, either on the mud or sand, or perched on branches protruding from the ground. The only difference from today for this family when they reach their wintering ground, is that each of them will be alone. Today though, to have watched the whole family was truly wonderful and totally unexpected – another lucky shift; they will be few and far between until the end of the season.
When I played the recordings back, to write this report, I discovered that I had left it switched on inside my pocket for 10 minutes – there was much rustling of paper as I hastily recorded events, but there was also the sound of one of the juveniles food-begging, loudly, it is so very clear – I can’t bring myself to delete it, although I’m not sure whether it will cheer me up or send me into a deep depression when I play it back in the dead of winter and think of them all on the muddy sand in Africa. I hope that they will be as well fed as they have been today.
Autumn in the air
Project volunteer Linda Jones is back from her recent trip to Scotland and had two contrasting shifts at Site B and Manton Bay last week. Here’s her account…
I really enjoyed my holiday in Scotland last week. But, I really missed our Rutland Ospreys and so it was with great excitement and anticipation that I approached my usual duties at Site B and Manton Bay.
I was at the Site B nest as usual about 6am on Monday. I had kept up to date with events the previous week through the Rutland Osprey website, so I wasn’t sure what I would see. All of the Ospreys had been spending so much time away from the nest, with 33 being particularly adventurous! As I approached the shed, I could see 03 sitting on the small oak eating a fish. No sign of the female or 33. 03 left about 20 minutes later. An hour later 33 appeared, sat on the nest calling loudly for food. Having got no response, he left. At 8.10am, 03 returned, again to an empty nest! He had brought a large twig and spent 10 minutes tidying the nest, before he too left. I had not seen the female whilst I was there. I know that the Ospreys will spend increasing amounts of time away from the nest now that 33 is fledged but it seemed rather sad that the various members of this special family kept missing each other! It was not all a sad morning though. As always at Site B, there was a lot to keep me occupied. 2 young Wrens played on the oak tree, I could hear the raucous squawking of a Jay and later it flew from the clump of trees nearby into the wood. There were also the usual visitors of Blue and Great Tits and lots of rabbits! I was not disappointed.
On Friday, it was my duty at Manton Bay. Wow, was I looking forward to it! I arrived at the Lyndon reserve at 5.30am, collected the telescopes and monitoring books and proceeded to Waderscrape hide. It was a rather drizzly, dank morning, but not cold. The first thing that struck me was how different the atmosphere was. It had been 2 weeks since I had been there and there is no doubt that Autumn is on the way. Last time I was on duty, there was a cacophony of noise – with the harsh grating of Sedge Warblers and the pretty chirps of Reed Buntings. Today, it was – almost – silent. The most strident sounds were of a hungry Osprey chick: pew-pew-pew, across the Bay. There were only the occasional Sedge Warbler flitting about, I didn’t see any Reed Buntings but I did get a glimpse of a Reed Warbler. The Autumnal atmosphere continued with over 150 Black Headed Gulls roosting beside the water and swathes of Canada and Greylag Geese flying overhead.
What did not disappoint, though, was my 3 hours of Osprey watching. It was an eventful morning. When I arrived in the hide at 5.45am, despite the murky conditions, I could see the female sitting on the near perch and 1 large chick in the nest – how it had grown in 2 weeks! The chick was calling loudly for food but to little effect. Over the next hour and a half, the other 2 chicks arrived back, spending time flying around, on the perches, nest and the large poplars; the female went off. There was no sign of 5R. At last, at 7.15am, the female brought in a large trout. She took it to the perch and started to eat. But after only a couple of minutes – perhaps she could cope no longer with the plaintive calls of her offspring – she took it to the nest. One of the chicks, presumably 22, immediately purloined it, the others not getting a look in. The loud protests continued to resound across the bay. 20 minutes later, the female swooped down from the near perch, hit the water just in front of the nest, rising with another fish which she took straight to the nest and proceeded to feed the “starving” chicks. It was not until 8am that 5R returned, without a fish, and was immediately banished to the far perch!
There was another, rather amusing, drama during the morning – the saga of the Magpie. It started when one of the Osprey chicks sat on the far perch. A Magpie joined it, sitting on the opposite end. They spent some time eyeing each other up, before the Magpie decided to move in closer. It reached the middle of the perch, before suddenly making a lunge at the chick, which “jumped” in surprise, before they resumed their cautious eyeballing and eventually the Magpie left, probably fed up with the game! Later, I would like to think the same Magpie decided to sit on the near perch, next to the adult female. She didn’t take a lot of notice, occasionally giving the Magpie a rather supercilious glance. But the Magpie made a tactical error! It decided to go to the Osprey nest. It first landed on the French perch attached to the nest, with 2 nervous but curious chicks watching it, and then decided to land on the nest. The female had had enough with this intruder and soon chased it off. I wonder if the saga continued later?
I left the hide just after 9am. I had, as always, had a special time. How fortunate are we to have the opportunity to watch the Ospreys so clearly at Rutland Water. This morning reminded me that Autumn is certainly on the way and the Ospreys will shortly be facing the new challenge of their journey to Africa. I’ll miss them – but there’s still a few weeks to enjoy their company and antics!
A trip to see Ospreys in Scotland…
One of the most famous sites for Ospreys in the UK has to be Loch Garten in Scotland and Osprey volunteer Linda Jones managed to squeeze in a visit during a recent bird watching holiday. Here is Linda’s report…
Last week, I enjoyed a wonderful time in the highlands and west coast of Scotland with Heatherlea, bird and wildlife watching. We saw 21 species of animals and over 100 of birds! There were so many highlights, with minke whale breaching right next to the boat, pine martin and otter. The birds were fantastic: 5 Golden Eagles, 2 White Tailed Eagles, and, up on the mountains, Ptarmigan and Dotterel!
But I couldn’t go to Scotland without visiting the Ospreys! There are about 200 breeding pairs in the country. On Wednesday, we called into Loch Insh to see a nest. There was one chick present, no sign of the male or female or the second chick, but it was great to see. Later that day, it was reported that the male from that nest had been found caught up in fishing line, fortunately after drying out he was fine.
On Thursday, after a lot of encouragement from me, we visited Loch Garten. In Abernethey and run by the RSPB, there is a good Osprey visitor centre, and an Osprey nest clearly visible from it. Like at Lyndon, there are live webcams of the nest, but they also have other monitors showing the movements of the birds that are GPS tagged. This year they have also GPS tagged the two chicks.
In Scotland, they name their Ospreys. The male at Loch Garten is Odin and the female is called EJ. They have had two chicks this year, Bynack and Tore; both are thriving. Whilst I was there both adults were present but I didn’t see the chicks. Like our Ospreys at Rutland Water, all of the birds are spending increasing amounts of time away from the nest, in preparation for their migration. It was good to see this established pair, with friendly attempts at copulation to aid bonding – just as I have witnessed at Manton Bay by 5R and his mate. Apparently, these Ospreys arrived early in April and EJ is expected to head south any day now.
As the chicks have GPS tracking, they have been monitoring their movements:
Between August 5th to early on the 8th – Tore flew from the nest to the moors north of Carrbridge and Grantown-on-Spey, before returning to the nest area. Total distance approximately 30 miles.
Initially, less far ranging, Bynack, between August 5th August to early on the August 8th, flew from the nest area to Loch Garten itself, before returning. However, he has since flown up to the moors above Carrbridge, similar to Tore and perhaps with her, but then returned to the nest area.
It will be really good to follow the movements of the Ospreys the staff have tagged at Rutland Water.
The Scottish Ospreys, like ours, have to cope with intruders. Bynack was sitting on the camera tree the other day, minding his own business, when an unknown Osprey appeared from nowhere and tried dive-bombing him! Bynack was unperturbed by this and saw off the interloper without too much trouble. It apparently takes more than that to disturb the Loch Garten Ospreys!
I spent an excellent 2 hours at Loch Garten, speaking with one of the staff, John Ingham, and the volunteers. It was great to hear about what they were doing and they were equally interested to catch up on the news from Rutland Water. It was lovely to see the Scottish Ospreys – but I can’t wait for my next sessions at Site B and Manton Bay.
Linda Jones
All Alone at Site B….
Tuesday 2nd August : Week 20 : 8.00 – 12.00 at Site B : Warm, 19 degrees C, calm and sunny.
I’m still on a high after the amazing events in Manton Bay on Sunday afternoon, so there’s a real spring in my step as I walk down to the watch-point, breezily greeting the bullocks and the horses on my way. Tom and Ann report a busy two hours since they arrived at 6.00am, with a fish delivery and a lot of action around the nest. We chat for a while, and out of the corner of my eye I spot 33 slide off his perch and fly purposefully south. The time is 7.59 : my shift has not even started yet, and he has left! We know where he is likely to be heading, don’t we? Of course, he’s had his fishy breakfast and now he’s off to spend the day with his new chums in the Bay! And there’s a Family Fun Day there today too! No doubt he will join in with the fun! That could be the last I see of him today!
Oh, well, at least his Mum and Dad are here…..but not for long. Time : 8.05 : 03 leaves his perch and flies strongly east. Is it a fishing trip, or another day excursion to see ‘the boys’ at the other nests? Five minutes into the shift, and I’m down to one Osprey. Time : 8.14 : the female launches into the air and flies along the front of the wood and then south-east. Where is she off to? Goodness only knows. So, 15 minutes gone, three and three quarters hours of shift remaining. No ospreys. Every few minutes, I scan the empty nest and all the favourite perches, and forlornly search the skies for a familiar shape returning. Nothing. This has the feel of early September, not early August. It could be a long morning……
So, what does an Osprey watcher do when there are no Ospreys to watch? Well, if you’ve got a companion with you, you chat, you set the world to rights, you generally pass the time with light congenial conversation. But if, like me today, you’re a lone worker, you have to invent some more ingenious strategies to prevent the onset of delirium. For a start, I pretend the wooden shed is in fact a charming beach-hut like the one I used to love at Frinton-on-Sea. I take a canvas chair outside, set it up under the oak-tree, and take my boots off ~ wonderful! I pour a coffee and eat a sandwich. I take out my note-book and make a list of ‘things-to-do’ in the next 225 minutes :
- watch and study in minute detail the behaviour of every living thing I can see (birds, butterflies, insects, mammals). If desperate, extend the list to include inanimate things like clouds and aeroplanes.
- make list of jobs I’ve got to do when I get home.
- write a story for children about Ospreys, for use when we start going to schools again in September
- listen to other people’s conversations on the radio link with Lyndon and Manton Bay (This one fails badly as soon as I hear John say ‘Yes, all five birds present in the Bay’)
- contemplate the season with all its comings and goings, ups and downs, thrills and spills.
- think about all the new people I’ve met this year, the old friendships strengthened, the new experiences, the exciting times to come.
It’s 9.50 now. No Ospreys maybe, but my sweep across the blue sky with the binoculars produces just a few migrating Swifts at a terrific height, and ~ up there with them ~ a single Hobby~ my second in three days~ circling, soaring, drifting, darting ~ its body full of curves, arrow-sharp, aerial perfection. Maybe a local breeder, or a migrant, who knows? Today is all the better for seeing that.
Tim phones and says I needn’t stay if I don’t want to in view of the lack of Ospreys. Actually I’m enjoying it. The Ospreys may be away, but this is still their home and I’m almost ‘house-sitting’ for them ~ except that I’m not doing a very good job and those dratted Magpies are all over the nest, searching for little fishy morsels that might be in there. And Buzzards are sailing around without fear of dive-bombers from above today ~ are they still intruders even though no-one is at home? Anyway, I couldn’t possibly leave. What if they come back? What if my relief team (Bob and Norman) reached the hut and found it all locked up and deserted? Not good form at all.
I look back in the notes. ‘No Ospreys all shift’ someone had written on Sunday, and ‘Ditto’ was written underneath for Monday. Well at least it’s not been that bad today. I did have them for 14 minutes!
11.00am : No change : From my low position in the canvas chair, I survey the clouds (Desperate Measure No.1). I’ve got a fabulous book called ‘The Cloud Spotter’s Guide’, but I wish I’d paid more attention to it because I’m still having trouble sorting out my ‘cumulus mediocris’ from my ‘cumulus humilis’. Tiring of that, I spot a row of five ladybirds walking along a strand of barbed wire in front of me (Desperate Measure No.2). Different sizes, different number of spots. Four are red with black spots, one tiny one is yellow with black spots. The front one comes to a barb in the wire and stops. The others line up behind him, but then grow impatient and try and climb over him. Two fall off, one flies, the front one turns round and goes back. I am attempting something Darwinian to explain this, when my mobile rings. It’s my car dealer. My vehicle is being recalled for an urgent safety check and could they have it as soon as possible? Great. Is it going to explode? Or fall to pieces? Oh no, Sir, nothing like that, we just need to check it over for you….So that’s tomorrow sorted.
11.50 : My relief approaches! I hastily put my boots on and return the beach hut to its former identity as a shed. As always, we talk for a while, about the Ospreys (or lack of them), about cricket, the public school system, and other vital topics. As I walk back, I conclude that this has been a very enjoyable morning which I would not have missed for the world. It’s all part of the Osprey Experience, and the knowledge that this pair and their juvenile are now acting independently away from the nest for much of the time is yet another useful piece of the jigsaw.
Back at Lyndon, the Family Fun Day is in full swing. Paul is making loads of bug boxes for eager youngsters, and Tim and Michelle are being interviewed by a reporter from Radio Rutland. Later Michelle introduces me to a super Osprey puppet called Peter, specially created for the grand Puppet Show. How strange! Only an hour ago I was at Site B writing an Osprey story for children and wondering what to call the hero of the tale. Now I know : ‘This is the story of an Osprey called Peter….’ Watch this space for the first instalment!
I drive home (very carefully in view of that phone call!). I wonder if the Ospreys came back for Bob and Norman…….
Four’s a crowd
If you were watching the webcam yesterday afternoon, you might have thought your eyes were deceiving you. Not three, but four juveniles on the nest. So what was going on? Volunteer Ken Davies takes up the story…
Sunday, 31st July, 6.15pm : Just back after the usual Sunday afternoon shift at the Manton Bay nest. Did I say ‘usual’ ? Well, delete that, and start again……Just back after an incredible and amazing experience at the Manton Bay nest, shared by ‘hidefuls’ of people with crowds all afternoon in the Visitor Centre watching the action on the big screen…..
No indication at first of what is to come. All three juveniles are at various points in the Bay, taking occasional flights and changing positions regularly. Nice chat in the hide, plenty of families with keen and enthusiastic children happy to see the Osprey family. A typical late July Sunday afternoon in Manton Bay….Barrie and I anticipate a busy but fairly routine afternoon.
Oh, wait a minute, there’s another Osprey coming in ~ probably one of the adults back from a fly-around visiting the other nests. Wait while it gets closer and we can find out who it is. Hang on, there’s another one with it….and a third one not far behind! Our three juveniles are still where they were, so that’s six in view at the same time. Right, now who’s who? Well ~ and this where we take our reputation and credibility into our own hands ~ one is definitely an adult, large and familiar-looking. That’s right, she’s the Manton Bay female, who has been away for two hours. Surprisingly though, she doesn’t stop, but goes right over the nest and disappears to the south! Doubts creep in, but we stick with our original ID ~ it was our female for sure. The second stranger is a juvenile ~ in flight the speckled plumage and pale fringing on each feather is clearly visible ~ but who? As for the third visitor, he (we think he is a he) disappears before we can really get to grips with him. So let’s concentrate on this juvenile : blue ring ~ not helpful : they’ve all got blue rings! Vital that we get a number if he lands. Unfortunately he heads back out over the main reservoir, circles and soars for a while with another larger Osprey (our female again) before alighting on a perch near Goldeneye hide, opposite the Visitor Centre. Too far away for us down here in the hide, but maybe someone in the centre can get a number on that ring?
Minutes pass. Our three juveniles have relaxed again after the multiple intrusion into their tranquil bay. Then the two distant Ospreys are in the air again, coming our way, vaguely interacting, but nothing too distinct or aggressive. Closer and closer. The juveniles are tense again. The intruding juvenile is right over the nest now, hovering, looking down, surely not considering a landing? The adult female has almost seemed to have escorted him back, rather than drive him away. What is going on here? She flies over the nest, and out of sight to the south again, while the juvenile, incredibly, lands on the perch close to the nest containing two of the ‘legal’ tenants. At last we can read his blue ring : 33 ~ the Site B juvenile! Missing for over 24 hours earlier in the week, now obviously away from home again (as the watchers at Site B confirm). His nest is away from the reservoir, so he has not had the same experience of water as the others have ~ and he is not used to other young Ospreys! But here he is, bold and fearless, just a few metres away from another nest and three young Ospreys a few days older than himself! His father (03(97)) is the grandfather of the other three ~ which makes him their uncle, doesn’t it? Get the family tree out!
But we’ve barely time to take all this in before he takes a quick flight and is actually on the nest itself! The radio sputters into life as the Visitor Centre sees him on their screen ~ ‘33 is on the nest, please confirm’. This is unprecedented. Not so much ‘unusual’ ( see previous diary entry) as unheard of! A juvenile lands on another pair’s nest and is tolerated by the occupants. Admittedly his posture is different ~ he knows he is somewhere he shouldn’t be and looks slightly ill at ease, but that’s all. There are no moves to oust him.
Visitors and volunteers alike are full of questions : Why don’t the others drive him away? What would happen if 5R came back with a fish? We don’t know. We have never witnessed this behaviour before? We’ll have to wait and see. We keep the communication channels with the Visitor Centre open, and tell them exactly what happens, as it happens. The centre is packed, with crowds around the screen. Oh, and I nearly forgot…..at some point in all this action, a Marsh Harrier comes over the Bay from the right. It’s a juvenile ~ tawny head and rich brown plumage ~ and it has a good look before spiralling up to a huge height, where it is joined by a Hobby. The two cause a momentary distraction, during which, of course, the juvenile Ospreys move around and we have to start again. ‘Which one is that flying?’ ‘Where has 33 gone?’ ‘I’ve lost 22 now’…..and so on. Thank you to all the visitors who helped out in getting some order back into proceedings! We think we’ve identified all four juveniles again, when two of them decide to practise their developing fishing skills and start flying, hovering and even plunging (I can’t call it ‘diving’) into the water. One of them is 33, who starts circling just to the right of the stone bund before making several splashes into the reservoir. No catches, but it’s only a matter of time. Suddenly he is being chased back to the nest by an adult, and it’s 5R, back after a long absence from the Bay. He doesn’t seem to mind that 33 has gone back to the nest, where he sits food-begging with his new playmates! 5R resumes fishing and soon catches a medium-sized roach just by the bund, where fish are plentiful just now. He takes it to his perch back in the bay, before delivering it to the nest, which now contains FOUR noisy juveniles, and guess who is the first to grab the fish from the adult’s talons? That’s right, it’s the bold and errant 33! He has it for just a few moments before 22 snatches it ~ 22 gives 33 a couple of sharp pecks when he tries to retrieve it! As far as we can see, 22 eats the whole of this fish himself, which leaves three hungry ospreylets still calling for food….and, oh yes, Mother has also arrived back and is on the perch! So SIX Ospreys are in view again….what did I say about a normal late July Sunday afternoon? Check out John Wright’s photos of the action – and also the video link.
We spare a moment for the watchers at Site B, who have not seen an Osprey all afternoon. The juvenile is here, the female has not been seen all day, and 03(97) has obviously gone for a ‘boys day out’ somewhere. Our hide down here empties for a while, but quickly fills again with a new contingent of watchers, who need to be brought up to date with everything.’I thought this family had three young’, says a newly arrived visitor, so we start to explain again. Sandpipers, Sedge Warblers and Sand Martins provide temporary diversion, but then 5R is up and fishing again in the same area just beyond the bund. This time the roach he catches is much larger and he flies right past us with it, to the delight of several photographers, who proudly show us their fantastic action shots. In the nest, four excited juveniles tussle with one another for the fish, and for a while it’s hard to see who is actually eating amid a flurry of wings, heads and beaks. We think 32 is tucking in when his Mother intervenes and takes the now somewhat reduced fish to the perch to enjoy some of it herself. Incredibly, the first juvenile to join her there is not one of her own, but the amazing 33. He stands next to her, hoping for a nibble or a proferred morsel. It was only five days ago, on his home territory at Site B, when I watched him shuffling close to his Father in a very similar manner (see previous entry). This female does not object to him, but just continues feeding. The photos below show the action as it happened.
Time has gone so quickly, and it’s almost time for our relief team to arrive. Barrie tries to bring them up to speed, but where to start? Suffice to say that as we leave at 5.00, 33 is still there, still eating from the remains of the fish, and looking very much at home in his new surroundings. Will his parents expect him home tonight? Is he going to stay the night? Is it a sleepover (thanks for that Laura!)? Only the next few hours will tell. As we are arranging our gear at the end of the track, John Wright (Field Officer) comes along. He has observed the whole afternoon’s action from the next hide down, and agrees that it was a terrific display of Osprey behaviour. Probably, he says, this sort of thing happens regularly at Scottish Osprey nests, and he reminds us how last year juveniles from Site N came visiting here in the Bay. This nest, as Tim has said before, is obviously the ‘des res’ of the region, and the other Ospreys want to come and look and stay for a while. And as our loose ‘colony’ continues to develop, such observations may become more common as territories around the reservoir overlap. Let’s hope so!
Back at the Visitor Centre, Paul, John and Michelle are already going through the video footage, picking out the highlights for future use. I need to go home and get these notes done before they get even more mixed up in my head! Hope John’s photos make things clearer! August 1st tomorrow ~ the last full month of Osprey action. Enjoy every moment…..(Oh, and the Osprey Family Fun Day on Tuesday too) !
And it wasn’t just 5R who was fishing – John managed to capture some great photos of 33 and 32 having a go themselves. As John’s photos show, both juveniles have definitely got the right idea!
32 fishing in Manton Bay
An away day . . .
As the season draws on it’s the luck of the draw as to whether a shift will be exciting with plenty of action from the whole family or whether maybe only one or two will be around the nest area, sitting doing nothing. We approached Site B early this Saturday morning with some trepidation, wondering who we would encounter; the sky was clear, there was a slight breeze, a heavy dew under foot and it was chilly. When Michelle had phoned the previous day to confirm our shift, she had told us that 33(11) had disappeared at 11am on Thursday and had not returned until 1pm on Friday. (See Tim’s report). We closed the gate into the hide field and I instantly spotted an Osprey circling over the nest but with the sun behind the nest, it was merely a silhouette. In the distance I could see another Osprey flying South. We cautiously made our way to the hide and still the bird circled over the nest and then disappeared, dropping down behind the wood. We opened up the hide, set up the telescopes, headed up the report sheets and kept watching. We scanned all the regular perches – empty – and discussed the fact that the next two hours may be very quiet. We had glimpsed one Osprey, but as to who it was, was anyone’s guess.
It was decidedly chilly so an early start was made on the hot chocolate and jam doughnuts. Feeling slightly warmer, I began to scan the wood more thoroughly this time and as I looked towards the far righthand end of the wood, discovered an Osprey sitting in the ash trees. This was a favourite perch of one of the juveniles in 2010, I should have remembered. Initially I thought that it was 03(97) but then doubted this assumption – this bird had a slight colouring across the chest. He then flew up and landed in the nest, food begging very loudly – it was of course 33(11) and he had seen his father flying in with a small trout. He had probably been watching us with envy as we enjoyed our breakfast.
He instantly grabbed the fish from 03 and flew to the small oak with it. A few moments later the female appeared from the wood with a large clump of dried grass and landed at 33’s side. He started food begging very loudly and was definitely making the case that he was not going to swap. She left the grass at his side and perched in a small dead tree close by and watched as her offspring hungrily devoured the trout, every last morsel. It was very amusing to watch at one stage; he was holding the fish just below the head and once he had eaten the head, he tried to move his foot further back along the fish. He could not release the fish however and was swinging it first in front of the branch and then behind, wobbling precariously as he did so – he was extremely lucky not to drop it. We did wonder why, with no siblings to hassle him for the fish, he hadn’t remained at the nest to eat it.
Towards the end of the shift Tim phoned to see what had been happening; having spent a worrying Thursday night and Friday morning searching for 33(11), he was relieved that the whole family were all ‘present and correct’. Apparently even 03(97) and the female had behaved in a manner that would suggest that they too were worried about 33, perching up some distance from the nest, the female hanging on to the fish that she had caught. It must have been a long night for them too.
Having finished the fish, 33 flew to a nearby ash and was soon joined by 03, the female remaining in the dead tree close by. 33 had not left the site since his adventure and his parents were also staying close to him. I wonder, with the absence of any siblings, if he had just got carried away playing with the buzzard and found himself miles away – one of the many questions that will forever remain unanswered.
Lindsay and I too found ourselves miles away on Wednesday and Thursday. We joined the steady stream of Rutland Water ‘pilgrims’ visiting Cors Dyfi Osprey Project to take a look at their new family, the adult female of course being our very own Rutland 03(08). For me it was fairly emotional to see her once again; it is always a joy when a bird returns for the first time when last you saw it as a juvenile. We had both watched over the 2008 family and had seen them all at very close hand when they were ringed. Sadly 01(08) had disappeared ten days after fledging (one of the reasons why everyone was so worried when 33(11) went AWOL on Wednesday).
It was extremely interesting to see another Wildlife Trust project and the enthusiasm and dedication at Cors Dyfi was amazing – Emyr Evans has a wonderful team supporting him. I mentioned earlier ‘luck of the draw’ – we were so lucky to just catch the tail end of the first juvenile fledging. He is named Einion, (Dulas and Leri being his siblings, male and female respectively). They are named after rivers. It was an exceptionally hot day so we made our way to the hide where it was somewhat cooler, with a breeze blowing through. We watched him make several more flights, only once overshooting when he landed on Leri’s back in the nest. Volunteers in the hide and in the centre, Maria, Carol, Tim and John voiced their acknowledgement of Rutland Osprey Project’s contribution to this happy event.
We spent a very pleasant evening at The Black Lion in Derwenlas with Emyr, Janine, his partner and Officer at the Project, Alwyn, also a Project Officer and Gwen, a volunteer. They are having an extremely exciting season with the first breeding pair of Ospreys in the Dyfi valley for over 400 years. And for the second time this season, I was fortunate enough to see the first juvenile fledge from a nest, an auspicious one at that; a first in the Dyfi Valley since the 17th century.
I’m sure there will be many ‘away days’ in future years between Rutland and Montgomeryshire – annual pilgrimages.
Unusual Behaviour at Site B ~ Numbers 1,2 and 3
Tuesday July 26th : Morning 8.00- 12.00 : Week 19 : Cloudy, cold, 13 degrees C.
Barrie and I arrive at the watch point to find Hannah there. She’s just had a close encounter with a fox! We chat for a while before she leaves for a day at Chatsworth. She reports it’s ‘All quiet on the Osprey Front’.
But not for long! The splendid juvenile 33(11) starts calling for food, until his father 03 can stand it no longer and retreats, first to a more distant perch, and then away over our heads, away towards the reservoir. Breakfast is on the way, just be patient! 33 keeps up the noise, even pursuing his mother when she flies off to collect a few twigs and leaves for the nest. He watches in disgust as she drops her bundle in the nest, as if to say : ‘What’s this? I can’t eat that!’ Then something strange happens (‘Unusual Behaviour No. 1′) ~ the juvenile flies over towards us, swoops down low over the field and scoops up in his talons a clump of dried grass, which he delivers to the nest! He repeats this behaviour again just a minute or two later. Is he copying his mother’s actions? Or in the absence of water here, practising skimming and trailing his feet as we have seen the Manton Bay juveniles do? We are still discussing this behaviour when we suddenly realise we have an intruding Osprey in front of us! All three (our female, our juvenile, and the intruder) twist and turn in the air over the wood for a minute or two, before the intruder heads off south. We could not get a ring colour on the intruder, but he had the general look of a male, and we did notice that he had a slight ‘nick’ in his left wing, where one of the feathers had either broken off or was missing. That might help with identification later. Once again, we are in discussion over these events when voices crackle over the radio. It’s John, our colleague on watch in Manton Bay, and he is describing the arrival of an intruding Osprey there too, just minutes after ours and in exactly the same direction as ours was last heading! Could it be the same one? Possibly the nick in the wing will be a helpful identification factor.
Any such musings are interrupted once again by the arrival of 03(97) with the most delicious-looking large rainbow trout, its multi-coloured flanks glinting in the light as he flies around the nest with it before alighting on the perch below. The trout is very much alive and wriggling. The juvenile, who had disappeared following the intrusion, is suddenly back on the nest and loudly demanding that the fish be delivered to him. 03 obliges after a few minutes of feeding, by which time the fish, though still largely intact, has ceased its struggles. Then (and this is ‘Unusual Behaviour No. 2′ of the morning) 03 starts to feed the juvenile with small pieces of fish delicately torn off ~ even though this bird is fully fledged and perfectly capable of feeding itself! Now we know some male Ospreys do occasionally directly feed their young, but this session lasts almost half an hour, and 03 takes hardly any himself! Meanwhile, the female stands nearby on the nest, not taking part, but looking on as if to say ‘Should I be doing that?’ Eventually, she takes interest in the fish and we watch as all three of them start tugging and pulling at it in something approaching a feeding frenzy. 03 soon tires of this, and takes the fish (now about half its original size) to a favourite position on a branch at the top of a small oak tree. We have terrific views through our telescopes. All is quiet for a while, but then 33 decides he’s hungry again and flies to join his father on the oak tree. 03 is not ready to share at this point, so the juvenile assumes a hunched, submissive pose and just sits on the branch next to his father. He gradually relaxes and seems to ‘drop off’ for a while ~ his head droops and we can see the ‘nictating membrane’ flicking over his eye. Then he’s alert again, shuffling closer to his parent, who is still feeding on the fish. At last the older bird relents…and (‘Unusual Behaviour No. 3′) starts to feed his offspring again, on the branch at the top of a tree, well away from the nest! Neither of us has witnessed a juvenile being fed in this manner before, away from the nest.
So much to talk about! We are still deep in discussion when our relief team Bob and Norman arrive. In response to our list of Unusual Behaviours, Norman reminds us that, way back in the translocation days (1996 – 2001), eight or nine week old young Ospreys recently released from their hacking pens on Lax Hill were sometimes observed swooping low over the fields and picking up dried grasses from the ground, just as we saw 33 (11) do today. So not unknown then…..but still interesting and unusual.
As we walk back, we notice our juvenile has moved to a very distant perch, where he sits, well fed and content…..for a while anyway. We close the gate behind us and take one last look : Female on nest, 03 still with fish on oak tree, 33 on distant perch. ‘All quiet on the Osprey Front’……….
