Previous Editions
May 2010
An Afternoon In Waderscrape- Val & Alan Brown write about an enthralling afternoon in Manton Bay
May 2010
05(08) Returns Home- The earlist ever return for a Rutland two year old, photographed by Brian and Liz Nicholls
April 2010
First Shift Of The Year- Ken Davies sees the return of the 5R show in Manton Bay
February 2010
A Mid-Winter Gathering- Walks, works and welsh ospreys at the Osprey Mid-Winter gathering
October 2009
Time To Say Goodbye - Lynda's Summer Diary- Goodbye to Site N, and to another Osprey season
September 2009
Time To Say Goodbye - Lynda's Summer Diary- Goodbye to Site N, and to another Osprey season
July 2009
It Just Gets Better (And Busier!) - Lynda's Summer Diary- A morning of intruders and first flights at Site N
Rush Hour At Site N- Lynda's Summer Diary- Volunteer Lynda Berry has a busy shift at Site N
VOLUNTEER DIARIES-KEN'S SUMMER DIARY- 11th May 2009
Volunteer Ken Davies continues his regular diary about life as an Osprey volunteer!
Thursday 7th May : My first night shift of the season, and it's at Site N, 8.00pm - 6.00am. I arrive at the meeting place in good time. John is there, and invites me to come and look at 32(05), the male who has taken up residence here. He sits on a dead tree on the edge of the water. He looks in fine fettle, 'just like his Dad', says John. His Dad is of course the legendary 03(97), father of nearly twenty Rutland-born ospreys over the years. He has been coming to this spot every evening for a few days now. He also spends time on the new nest platform on Lagoon 4. He has staked out an ideal territory there ~ far enough away from all the others to avoid disputes. Let's hope he finds a mate one of these years.
My night watchman Martin arrives and we take one of the
vehicles to drive to Site N. We leave it a safe distance away and
complete the walk to the shed. 08 and 5N are both present, but 08 flies
off at 9.10, and we lose him in the gathering gloom. I take the first
rest period, so I inspect the famous tent. There are so many zips and
flaps that I find it all a bit confusing at first, but once I'm in it's
quite comfortable. I wriggle into my sleeping bag and lay back. I hear
dogs barking, pheasants calling, the wind blowing, and an ominous
pitter-patter of rain-drops on the sheet above the tent. I must have
dozed off, because suddenly my alarm is beeping and it's time to get up
again. I manage this despite nearly strangling myself and eventually
tumbling out of the tent sideways and rolling into the back of the shed.
In the darkness I kneel on my torch, which goes into 'alarm' mode and
starts flashing and making noises like a car-alarm. I manage to silence
it before it rouses the whole of Rutland. We swap over in the shed, and
Martin disappears to try his luck with the tent. It's his fourth night
this week! I get set up with the night 'scope, and scan around. The nest
pole and the perch show up well, and there is now moonlight, which casts
eerie shadows over the rape field. Scanning closer to the shed, I locate a hare,
bathed in gruesome green in the 'scope, like some fantastical creature
from an old rural legend. I sip water and nibble a little fruit, grazing
like one of the nocturnal creatures out in the field before me. I can
just see 5N's tiny head, low down in the nest. Do ospreys dream? I hope
hers is a good one.
All too soon it's time to change again, and I retreat to the tent for my second rest period. It's colder now, but at least it's dry. I pull on an extra layer or too, squirm into the sleeping bag with some difficulty, put on gloves and hat, and lay there in a semi-mummified state. Did someone say this is a two-person tent? Either they must be of small stature, or accustomed to extreme physical intimacy ~ either way, definitely room for one only if my cocooned body is anything to go by. An owl calls. I drift off into sleep, and before I know it the beeper is going again ~ 3.00am. Back in the shed, I scan over all the fields, seeing small moving shapes which must be rabbits. Apart from them, nothing stirs. Distant lights flicker. At 4.30, a faint but discernible light spreads over the scene, a skylark sings, and barely fifteen minutes later dawn breaks and I can see the female osprey on the nest again. She is alert and looking around ~ but there is no sign of her mate.
Martin rises at 5.00am ~ he has not had a lot of sleep owing to the wind and the blowing flap. At 5.30am we see a shape coming ~ it's 08 arriving with an enormous trout, which is still wriggling as he brings it in. A buzzard briefly tries to pursue him, but soon gives up. 08 lands on a post with his prey, but the fish refuses to lie still. It is taken up into the air again and treated to a few circuits before being brought to the post again. 08 begins to eat. 5N does not look concerned, and does not food-beg. At 6.00am precisely, Tricia arrives to relieve us. She's slightly breathless. It's her first time at Site N, and she had a little local difficulty finding us! We're soon packed, and on our way back. I'm home by 6.45, and sink into bed. I get up again at 10.00, and don't feel too bad. Tim 'phones at 11.00, and I tell him the story of the night. By 8.00pm in the evening, I'm ready for bed again! Certainly a tiring experience, but one not to be missed. When's my next night-shift?
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