LOCH GARTEN - May 2022

AX6 Axel and his lovely unringed partner Mistle are bonding well, and Mistle has been threatening to lay an egg - we await developments.

It seems that Mistle has been on the perch & nest all night:

  • Hello!

    Scylla said:  Sheila, I did a video some time ago of the collapse of the front of the nest.

    https://youtu.be/JEBlXOy-AdY

    Thank you Scylla, yes I did see that both live and your vid.  I was actually referring to the stick on the right side which got was moved by the wind.  It got  lower, then waved vertically in the wind before falling away.

    A good round up so far, thank you every one.  I did see one slight aggressive move from Mistle.  She seemed to push him from the rear -  05.12 Mistle flew off, she landed on the stick tree.  05.21 she flew away from the tree and landed on the perch at 05.32.   05.41  Axel had been incubating.  Mistle came down to the nest as Axel got up.  She landed behind him and looked to see if he had a fish.  He didn't, so she seemed to butt him with her head in his rear end - go get a fish?  He walked to the front of the nest to check his newly replaced stick, moving it further to rim, and then flew away.  

    Whilst incubating Axel moved a large stick from the left of the nest - with the lumps of lichen which he removed before and after he first moved it.

    To the front of the nest, and later moved it closer to the rim

    It's fascinating following the evolving nest from the basic flat bed, with its strong man-made structure to a more cosy nest cup.

    Mistle is on incubation duty, the rain clouds have moved on and it's less windy - well it was for a while, but it picked up again, and I turned the volume down.

    © RSPB - Loch Garten & WildlifeWindows

    Birdie's DU Summaries 2018   https://www.imagicat.com/

  • Hello everyone, is there a way of looking at this thread with newest messages first ? It’s taking me ages to catch up all the time, btw I’m up at LG in a couple of weeks how many eggs will I see?
    Cheers dave
  • Hello cakeboy/Dave. One way is to go the the top of the page where you will find

    Loch Garten ospreys > Loch Garten ospreys

    If you click on the right hand one you will get a list of the last post on each thread.

    Otherwise go to the bottom of the page, click on the double arrow to the right and that will take you to the last page.

    It's not always user-friendly!

    Have a wonderful time at LG. Hopefully you will see three eggs being incubated. Please feel free to post any photos you take!!

    Birdie's DU Summaries 2018   https://www.imagicat.com/

  • thanks for the info, and i will post some photos
  • Changeover. Now both off the nest.  Edit: Looks like he had a morsel in his talon that she did not take.

    Imagicat || Tiger's links || 2022 LG Obs

  • 16.03 Mistle is back. They both look well fed. :-)

    Imagicat || Tiger's links || 2022 LG Obs

  • Another changeover with sweet greeting chirps. Axel settling down.

    Imagicat || Tiger's links || 2022 LG Obs

  • Mistle is back. And Axel leaves. Here he is just before he takes off, perched on his good stick.

    Imagicat || Tiger's links || 2022 LG Obs

  • Thank you CC for your updates - I've just been through it too!  I was confused by the fish tail.

    13.47  #2 fish  Axel landed with what must have been another good sized fish, but still a decent meal left.

    14.29  Mistle returned - initially I thought she had a lump of fish in her talon, then decided no, she didn't as she soon settled down to incubate. 

    Edit - she did bring some fish back which Axel took at 15.56.

    15.00 I could actually see the egg for the first time today!

    They did another case of in out in out again!

    15.36 she took off, Axel returned. He moved a couple of sticks before Mistle returned, and it was here I thought 'Oh I've got it wrong, she did have some fish and she has it now in her left talon'  

    15.39 Axel flew off and Mistle incubates.  I was still not sure about the returned fish!

    15.54  Axel returned with a chirrup, and Mistle took flight again.

    15.56  Axel stood on the rim and found the tail end.  He took flight with it  ENS until

    16.03 when Mistle returned and took her time, but incubated.

    Now:  Mistle is still incubating and the sun is out!

    Birdie's DU Summaries 2018   https://www.imagicat.com/

  • All the ins and outs with and without fish exchange are indeed confusing! I guess they are learning about bonding, lol.

    Imagicat || Tiger's links || 2022 LG Obs