LOCH GARTEN June 2022

Intruder 15.07. Mistle defending. Someone flew onto dead tree to left. They flew towards and over nest, she defended again.

Gota go. SYAL.

Unknown said:

I was wondering after the first one hatched whether it was in fact egg 2, as it was a couple of days after first due date,

According to the Stripey One, the first due date was the 10th, and we had not used the correct calculation method  

Yes, CRINGER, I meant to comment that maybe Axel was incubating rather than brooding.

First FISH!

Itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny...  Both osplets got something.

06:06 - another mini feed.

Axel was in 'n out several times early on, eg:

Another tiddler:

During feed Axel stood by preening then flew - both chicks got bites:

08:19 Another feed.

08:57 Axel arrived with indeterminate tiny luggage and pottered a bit.

Mistle with stick:

She put this bark on the outer fence, well out of our way:

Flew off, back with a forked stick:

Then she flew over the campost and away, then right to left past the old nest area, and brought a short stick which you can imagine ;)

Then she did nestorising, both standing and sitting.

Meal time here.

Hoppy Hank said:

It was the latest blog from Fergus that mentions salmon, he expressed his surprise too

I see no photographic evidence of salmon. There were 2 salmon recorded by the volunteers in 1958, 1 in 1961, 1 in 1995 and 2 in 1996. I have always put this down to mid-identification and will treat other reports with the same sceptism. An Osprey weighs c. 1.5 kg  - how could it lift a salmon - minimum weight found in The Spey 3.8 kg???? When Fergus provfides scientific evidence disproving  Empirical analyses of the length, weight, and condition of adult Atlantic salmon on return to the Scottish coast between 1963 and 2006, Bacon et al. (2009) Journal of Marine. Science, Volume 66, Issue 5, June 2009, Pages 844–859 then I will listen. 

Roy's book 'A life of Ospreys' is interesting.....'Ospreys .......... prefer those in the 150 - 300 g, weight range,,,,,,,, and sometimes even up to 1.2 kg.' Also 'Fortunately , for the success of Osprey conservation the birds do not prey upon salmon. It is not a matter of taste but of size.........they are far too big and heavy to life out of the water..'
So don't take MY word for it. Take it from the man who knows more than any other aboiut Scottish Ospreys.

scylla said:

Then she did nestorising, both standing and sitting

Continuing...

Small-medium fish:

14:19 Mistle flew off over the campost again, leaving Axel, who'd been hanging about on the nest for ages, to guard the chicks.  She brought another stick and Axel flew off.

There were more activities but am reporting none up to the afternoon FISH, from which both chicks were fed...

Axel just took the fish away as I'm abot to hit Post.

Fish 17.19 Good sized headless. Both bobs are up for another feed.
(Edit to add: I am SO stupid, just noticed my YT quality can be set to HD. Doh.)

Mistle reaches to feed the bob second in line. Egg still there.

17.44 Axel arrives to take the remains of the fish.

What a day! Three fish so far, large enough to share, sometimes several times. Axel currently has the 16.23 delivery. One unidentified intruder who bothered Mistle, but no damage done and it didn't last for too long. Surely today's gold star goes to Axel who probably incubated, although in practise he brooded! A discussion on brooding v incubating, and was it a salmon!

I'm home now after a lovely time in Scotland. I took a look at Loch Arkaig, spoke to a knowledgeable gentleman about the various nests of Golden Eagles and Osprey, otters, pine martens and even boar that frequent the area. On the way home to stop over with friends near Perth I spent four hours at LotL - no fish were delivered so I didn't see anything of the sibling rivalry, fortunately.

18.07 Axel back with the tail. She's wolfing it down like she hasn't seen fish in days! Bobs are up and she has noticed.