It has been a difficult week for us all here at Loch Garten and yesterday was the hardest day as we helplessly watched the new male kick out two of the three eggs. The mood in the Osprey Centre today is a sombre one after we arrived to the news that EJ and Odin’s third and final egg has also been kicked out by the young pretender.
Since Odin left, EJ has sat firm on her eggs for as long as she could until hunger and the lure of a fish persuaded her to leave the nest to feed yesterday. Since Odin’s disappearance on Tuesday the only fish she has had was the one Odin left her, and the tale end of a fish she managed to snatch from the new male on Wednesday evening, throwing him off the nest to quickly eat the remains before getting back on the eggs. So, when this new male showed up at 10am on Friday morning, with a large fish, which he paraded over the nest before erupting into an aerial display, EJ was more than hungry. He continued to tease her as he perched nearby and ate the fish whilst she loudly food solicited to him. He eventually took it to the nest but before she could snatch it, he flew off with it again and continued to torment her a little longer. At around 14.30 he finally brought her the fish and we watched in silence as she flew off with the fish and he was left alone and unsupervised with the eggs.
There was absolute silence, bar the hum of the microphone, as we watched him clumsily fall in and out of the egg cup, knocking the eggs about as he awkwardly tried to find his footing. Many of us watched through our fingers as we waited for his next move, unable to do anything but observe. We couldn’t find where EJ had taken her fish, we couldn’t see how quickly she was eating it and we didn’t know if she would be back before the new boy made his move.
His intentions soon became apparent as he pecked at an egg and then our fears unfolded before our eyes as he dropped to his chest and started scraping at the egg cup, doing his best to kick out the eggs. The first egg was successfully kicked to the edge of the nest and the second egg was pierced open with his beak before the shell was kicked out alongside the first egg. Egg number three remained and EJ finally returned, urging her new admirer off the nest before she got back down on her surviving egg.
Egg number three lasted until this morning when the new boy finished the job he started yesterday and destroyed the last egg.
Nature is cruel at times and hard to watch but these birds are only following their instincts, and are fighting for their own survival. With the good comes the bad and there could be good yet. If this new boy can continue to bring fish in for EJ, there is a good chance that she will accept and mate with him and we could see her re-lay. The season is not yet lost.