Link to March 2023
All pictures and videos ©Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife
"New season improvements get under way" per ©️BywydGwylltGlaslynWildlife
Aran and his new mate, Elen, both returned last season on 03 April. After a will-they/won't-they start, Elen laid her first egg on 24 April and the second 3 days later. Two male chicks, 0H1 and 0H2, fledged on 20 and 23 July and were last seen on 05 and 04 September, respectively.
Elen with her two boys, courtesy of Cirrus:
Elen was last seen on 24 August, Aran on 08 September.
A happy ending to a season that had started out so sadly.
May our 2024 season turn out so well.
IMAGICAT
.
05 April
A fine breakfish for Elen, but Aran lands it on her back!
She soon took the fish to the perch:
Then back to the nest fence:
While Elen ate, Aran preened on the left side perch:
The Elen took her fish to a tree, but after a frozen poop she got harassed from above:
So she took it back to the perch. All the while, Aran had been on the left perch. now he flew to the nest and busied himself.
Elen finished her fish and flew to join Aran on the nest, he flew around and attempted mating but the picture broke up (on Cam1 we get freezes, on Cam2 break-ups)...
Then Aran got a fish for himself:
Aran flew off and Elen went to a tree:
But changed her mind and came back to th perch, where she still is as I type
All the above snaps entered as per Bobs_Retired 's instructions - it's a work in progress.
I love how you’ve put this sequence altogether with the narration Scylla. Elen didn’t seem to mind having a fish land on her back! She looks like a wee owl with her eyes reflecting round when in the tree! ️
06 April
Aran was in early this morning - 05:10 - after a bit, he tried to mate Elen on the perch but the wind proved superior.
There's been quite a bit of togetherness but I'm not up-to-date now, am packing up, SYAL.
scylla said:am packing up,
Well I was... but after holding on for the pharmacist re my missing meds for over an hour, and getting suddenly told "we can't take your call, please try later", I thought I'd check the cam and see if Elen had had a fish... and she had
06 into 07 April
Elen can be ill-tempered (if a bird can be) but she's brave - she stood her ground vs the Tawny Owl that buzzed her last night:
She's so ungrateful!
Couldn't see anyone else at this stage:
07 April
Elen was more co-operative from the get-go, not that mating was easy:
Elen got a late lunch which she ate in her fave tree:
08 April
Elen spent the night on the perch again. A good start this morning:
Elen and Aran spent a lot of the morning together, both on the perch and on the nest. I saw a couple of good matings whilst speeding thru the footage. Eventually Elen received a headless fish from Aran, she flew with it to the tree where she likes to eat, but was harassed so badly by a Raven that she flew back to eat the fish on the perch:
A shortie:
The fish - I think the Raven was already pestering:
Before or after that (honestly I got totally lost between one cam with an unreadable timeline and the other with none)...
Elen repelled an unseen intruder:
Together "out there":
Elen didn't retire to her perch until about 20:30, but soon afterwards the Tawny Owl started pestering - altho we couldn't see it until the aftermath:
That’s one determined (and speedy) tawny owl. Nice to see the night time action with the bats too. Thanks Scylla.
Glad to see you enjoyed it, Glider - and I forgot my Tawny snap!
09 April
It's a vile morning (make sure you lower your volume because I haven't done it) but despite that, Aran & Elen managed a good mating. Aran disappeared, Elen hung around getting buffeted, gave up and flew off.
From a too-quick run-thru, I'd say that Aran and Elen had another good day...
Rough snaps!
Elen was well settled on her perch when, just before midnight, who should arrive but ???
You've got to watch the last minute or so, cos I've synced the sound to within a bat's heart-beat - and if only the bat had turned up earlier, it might have saved Elen all that stress