Poole Harbour Osprey Project 2021 Season

Thank you Alison, let’s hope we see at least one return this year.

Nice to learn there is now an egg. Looked in earlier and managed to capture an osprey on the nest on my phone.

Unknown said:

CJ7 has just laid an egg.

I've not been following this nest closely. Is this an unfertilised egg (do they lay them if no male around?). Or a fertile egg that is sadly doomed to fail as there's no resident male to help brood/feed once hatched?

EDIT. yes I forgot, Lady from Loch of the Lowes laid a phantom egg in 2012

Unknown said:

Is this an unfertilised egg (do they lay them if no male around?).

She laid 3 last season, KORKY  

I wasn't surprised to see ALISON's announcement, given CJ7's behaviour recently - spending more time in the nestcup and even nestcupping.  Poor CJ7.  Let's face it, if the egg had been fertilised by an unseen male elsewhere it would still be bad news - even worse news!

Thanks, Alison--hope whichever male shows up in the next few weeks is ready to breed this year. Poor CJ7 has waited more than long enough and it would be heart-breaking if this was yet another year of bonding but no chicks. It was sheer bad luck that the conditions in 2018 had such an unfortunate effect on so many of that year's translocated chicks--had it been a more normal year we would have had a higher chance of those males returning to Poole last year and things might have been so different. However, I suppose one or two of those might still surprise us; fingers crossed we see a 3-year old very soon, ready to breed!

27 April 19:48 CJ7 laid her egg.  She didn't incubate it for long, she went up to the campost and left it exposed to the rain - but later she came down maybe alerted to an unseen, unheard threat.

scylla said:

She laid 3 last season, KORKY

Oh no. Poor girl. 

I have to keep reminding myself that this is a long term project and results will come but patience is needed. I'm amazed that CJ7 has not left the nest to find a male elsewhere in the UK, part of me wishes she would but the other says stay.

You are right, Jane, that patience is needed. From the point of view of the project, the fact that CJ7 has established herself in the harbour is a massive positive. It is still early days for the translocation.