.
Thread for April 2024
All pictures and videos ©️RSPBLochGarten&WildlifeWindows
Please read Korky's comprehensive March 2024 intro
Asha & Brodie
The partnership has matured this season, with Asha continuing her good female role (and she loves nest-building) and Brodie being more reliable, both fishing and incubating.
The pair have fought their way thru all kinds of nasty weather - snow, wind and rain - and intruders, including the dreaded KL5 Klive, have been a nuisance but not dangerous...
so far.
21 April @ 10:47
24 April @ 14:06
27 April @ 13:27
EDIT
********
Sadly, the month of May heralded irresistible aggression from BlueKL5 "Klive", who had ruined the end of last season for the 2 juvies.
Within the first 2 days Klive had driven Brodie from the area (tho Brodie did return a couple of times to dive-bomb Klive, to no effect) and destroyed the eggs. He commenced to woo Asha clumsily, selfishly and inappropriately, as can be seen from the following pages.
IMAGICAT
From the food soliciting calls off camera it looks like she hasn’t gone fishing for herself. From their persistence it seems that she can see him and that she is being ignored. I am even more worried about her staying this season.
24 May
03:59 female to perch above nest cam
Klive with fish:
By the time Asha got it it had a lot of skin dangling:
Wonderful long closeup of Chaffinch - if only we could hear it on the nest cam I'd've extracted the sound and put it on the PTZ for a video, but no such luck:
Just thought, I could have found a soundtrack on YouTube and stuck that on, saying "sorry it's out of sync" and no-one would be the wiser
G'night for now :)))
At 6:38 KL5 lands on tree to right of nest (see ptz).
At 6:45 he flies from that tree to the dead one by the tower. Asha can only watch him fly across with the fish ! She must be hopping mad.
When he finally brings the fish to the nest at 7:13 it is only the tail.
May 24, 2024 - Day complete
Fish: 6:38:22 (KL5)
Mating: 4:30 F (on nest cam perch) All with KL5.
The (S)uccess or (F)ailure indication is purely my untrained observation.
0 S, 1 F
The female has been gone off camera for 6 hours. 0 fish yesterday and a tail today. I suspect that not only is she fishing for herself but also prospecting other sites.
Although I am really sad at the suggestion, one could ask why would she stay, other than it is HER nest. Klive evicted last year's male, upset the kids and ruined the nest. I don't understand his motives at all.
He has already claimed the nest,and has a strong resident female. Why is is he trying g to get rid of her. This is his second year at LG, so he isn't a novice.. I want to shake him!!
Birdie's DU Summaries 2018 https://www.imagicat.com/
25 May
I THINK !!! that Asha was on the totem with a fish from before 03:30 this morning and she ate for hours. Klive turned up on the nest at 07:35.
Some closeups of the two of them - they've been on 'n off the nest together and separately, here's a tiny vid of each of them:
NB - I don't intend to do a new thread for June. I'll edit the May OP to include the tragedy wrought by Klive, including snaps to introduce him - not that anyone will ever read the OP again :-/
Just noticed that I wrote in the OP at the beginning of this month that Klive was "not dangerous... so far"
May 25, 2024 - Mid-day
Fish: 3:25:00 (Asha on totem pole)
Mating: 8:00 F, 11:11 S. All with KL5.
1 S, 1 F
Thank you Scylla. I read the edits you made. Very good.
And yes, that was Asha on the totem pole since 3:25 eating a fish. She didn't share it either !!