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:
IMAGICAT
A beautiful morning at LG. No fish yet
(c) RSPB Loch Garten
I think we both heard a single Cuckoo call just then:
Either this site is seizing up or my system is - please don't make me reboot :'(
scylla said:Either this site is seizing up or my system is - please don't make me reboot
It was my system and I had to shut everything down and reboot
I wish I could work out what went wrong but I never can.
Birdie's DU Summaries 2018 https://www.imagicat.com/
Thank you very much for the heads up, Trevor! It saves a lot of searching. I have to say that Mistle taking the fish from Axel and flying was done in the blink of an eye, and certainly a lot quicker than it too Axel to settle.
#1 FISH
10.17.23 She was aware Axel was coming
10.18.15 landing
10.18.22 Grab
10.18.27 and fly
and then Axel gingerly goes down to the cup, talons firmly clenched, spends time moving twigs, goes down, gets up, moves more twigs and lichen...
10.20.48 finally settled
© RSPB - Loch Garten & WildlifeWindows
It was a great fish - headless Rainbow Trout ??? ??? ???
The wind is glitching the cam something awful and it looked as tho Mistle was blown about in the sky somewhat - but she's used to that, in all her travels. She brought back a good portion for Axel:
If it was a rainbow trout, I guess he had visited the fish farm, or a sourced pond rather than from the river.
11.18 Axel gets restless and calls as he changes position and checks the nest below.
11.54 Mistle returns. Contact chipping probably from Axel. He has difficulty getting the fish from Mistle's grasp, and the wind wasn't making life easy for either of them.
He pulled once but failed, and again
I don't think she was being awkward, she just had her reactive grasp on the fish.
Axel flew off
The wind wasn't helping her to gently lower to the cup!
But she did
12.35.57 She leaves for a comfort break
12.36.36 Axel returns with the fish and looked around for her - what does a chap do, fly away, abandon the fish and incubate, or fly away with the fish. He does the latter!
12.38 she lands gently, carrying a small stick. She pushes her beak in the cup and lifts bedding up, moves a stick of two and incubates.
12.40 Axel returns with the fish, which Mistle takes - a good tail size - and flies off with it 12.41
12.42 Axel incubates
12.55 INTRUDER? Axel stood up and gave a brief intruder call. No idea what that was all about. The VC might have seen something? He settles almost immediately
13.02 Mistle returns with a branch covered in lichen. Axel gets up checks for intruders and flies. Mistle incubates
13.35 Mistle gets up and lifts off straight away. No call. ENS
13.39 Mistle returns with a long sticky stick - she doesn't spend much time with it and soon incubates
14.01 Mistle starts calling loudly, and lifts off the eggs and the nest. ENS So what was that about Mistle!
14.02 Axel returns to incubate
14.03 Mistle returns with another long stick - lovely contact calls. She swings hwer tail over him as she sorts sticks. He gets up. Mistle has a natter/moan
14.04 Axel has flown and Mistle immediately settles on the eggs
14.12 Axel swoops in with another sticky stick.
14.12 Mistle flies off, Axel watches then heads for the nest, picking up a bit of nesting material or a stick or two on the way.
14.17 Mistle returns with another stick!! Axel gets up and stands on one leg while she moves sticks around.
14.17 Axel leaves. Mistle incubates.
In out in out shake it all about!! Mistle is incubating at the moment.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Mistle started to call Axel as soon as he left
14.52 She got up and flew off. ENS
14.55 Mistle flies in with another stick. She doesn't exactly places it as dump it. She walks across the side of the nest, tripping on another stick and puts the new one down on the side, before picking up another places it and incubates.
She called on an off for the next hour, often looking towards the dead tree, the old nest, the camtower and the sticky stick, but the for the life of me I can't see Axel! Perhaps he's just out of view, as she can clearly see him.
15.21 With an angry cry she took off, bottom right. I didn't see her swing into sight.
15.22 But Axel returns, looking around for her, then slowly and gently down on to the eggs.
15.23 Mistle returns and does the usual ploy of bashing him from the rear when he moved a stick, and an even larger stick at the back of the nest. No, that's not right, but I do think it was the stick she brought in a couple of hours ago, stick with large clump of lichen on the end. Worthy of a short vid!
15.24 Axel leaves her to it.
She's building up the barriers again
15.30 Axel lands on the dead tree on the left. She calls until..
15.47 When she took off. Axel is still on the dead tree.
15.48 Axel flies to the nest and incubates. Mistle is out of sight.
16.07 Axel keeps looking back towards the dead tree – is Mistle there but out of sight?
16.08 Mistle returns, chatters to Axel and moves sticks, sidles up to him and chatters some more.
He doesn't move so she picks up a stick and drops it on his, then stands on his tail as she reaches for a stick and places it on the rim. Chatter chatter, up the other side of Axel, more yelling, but he's staying put!
16.10 She pauses to attend to a feather and resumes. He ignores her again, shutting his eyes, LOL. She preens a bit, and resumes
16.12 She gives up and flies off.
16.23 Mistle returns with a bundle of twigs a a bit like a loose witches broom!
16.24 Axel leaves her to it.