Fishing in the wind

The weather was somewhat less than desirable last night, and the poor Ospreys had a rough time keeping their chicks out of the wind and rain. Of course, they were all absolutely fine this morning. The wind did have one benefit – it got rid of that very annoying stick that was in the way! Unfortunately, another stick replaced it later…

Stupid stick

However, that too has now been laid aside. This morning, at about 8 o’clock, the scene on the nest was one of perfect normality. All three chicks were sitting in a row in front of Maya, who was feeding them all in turn from a huge trout.

Maya feeding the chicks

Maya feeding the chicks

This trout, and yesterday’s, look suspiciously like they may have come from the River Gwash Trout Farm at Ryhall! It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that 33 went there, as the wind has been making fishing from the reservoir rather difficult. Other Ospreys are also using Ryhall, here are some photos of 28(10) that Geoff Harries took at the end of May.

33 brought today’s fish straight to the nest again, head intact. He came back for it later, and looked as though he was going to fly off with it, but in the end he left without it.

33 with the fish

Because 33 didn’t take the trout, Maya decided to give the chicks another feed from it. 33 watched her closely.

Feeding the chicks again

Feeding the chicks again

Later still, 33 came back for the trout again. This time he did take it away to the T-perch to eat his share. Before he did, though, it looked like he might have been thinking about feeding one of the chicks… as he stood with his foot on the trout, one chick turned towards him, and for just a second I thought that he was going to do it, but in the end he moved away.

33 grabs the fish and flies off with it

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if 33 fed the chicks one day. Males don’t usually, but the instinct is there, and it has been known for a male to feed a chick when presented with a gape. 33 is very interested in the chicks, he likes to be on the nest with them and Maya, and he has watched her feed them several times. I don’t think it will be long before he has a go at feeding them!

33 took the fish off and ate part of it on the T-perch.

He didn’t eat all of it, though, and he brought it back again later. This large trout has kept all five Ospreys going almost all day, and 33 won’t need to go fishing again until later on. He’s doing an absolutely fabulous job of keeping his family fed. Even though he occasionally uses the trout farm, he tends to prefer to fish in the reservoir whenever possible. We have seen him out fishing on every Osprey cruise we have done so far this season! Yes there have only been two, but we know that he heads out to fish at that time in the evening, so we hope to see him on many more cruises in the future… Yet another one has sold out, but there are plenty more to book onto! Click here for more dates and details.

33(11), photo by John Wright

Tim Mackrill’s evening walk tomorrow night has also sold out, but there is another one in July, so if you missed out this time, click here! There is also a Guided Summer Walk at the Lyndon Reserve on Wednesday 17th June, beginning at 09:30am. More details can be found here.

33 on the nest