Rutland Ospreys 2011

And then there were three.

Just back from MB and it appears that we're down to one juve and the adults. When I got there I was told that one of the youngsters had set off late morning after soaring to a great height and drifting off to the south. It was nearly dark when I left and he hadn't returned by then. I guess that if there's no sign by the morning RW will confirm that he's departed.

The remaining juve (52(11) I think) was frequently food soliciting on the nest, despite the fact that 5R caught two fish in under ten minutes!

Although 30(10) lingered well into September last year, causing 5R and Mrs to stay till he departed, I've a feeling this season is nearly at an end. 

5R flies in with a fish . .

. . . and delivers it to the nest.

Also in the Bay, I managed to catch the Egyptian Geese coming in to land:

. . . although this one appears to be walking on the water . .

. . . and this is trying out it's kung-fu moves on the coots!

Sandy/Lynda something I have not found out, how did the hatched chick from the terrible event when the male went missing placed with other chicks do?

B & B

Here is an old clip from July -

Sadly one of the brood of four chicks did not survive, but when we ringed the remaining three youngsters, one looked noticeably whiter-headed than the others. 08′s chicks always had a very white head and so there seems every chance that the fostered chick has survived – we’ll know for sure once we get the results of DNA tests. At the very least we have shown that artificial incubation of Osprey eggs is possible and that the birds will accept foster eggs/chicks. This is valuable knowledge and shows that in these situations positive intervention can work. We are not sure why the fourth youngster did not survive – post-mortem checks were inconclusive – but we do not think that a lack of food is to blame. Ospreys have raised four chicks in Scotland and North America and we know that AW is a very good fisherman.

Sandy, brilliant photographs and thanks for your report.

The report re-posted by Keith is the most uptodate news as far as I know.  I know at the time they did say that the DNA results would not be in for several months.  I am very anxious to know if the 'orphan' survived as 08(97) had a very special place in my heart.  I'll let you know when I can.

Sandy - wonderful photos - I guess I might be on my own next week for my last shift :(

PS At 9.30 this morning they posted that there are still FOUR Ospreys in MB !! Maybe I'll have some company after all.

Thanks for that Lynda.

Keith thank you very much for that and I always wondered and should have gone further back on Blogs. I did try but obviously not hard enough :) and thank you all for taking the time but I feel quilty as I should have read that. Fantastic news that artifical incubation is possible and even more wonderful that the incubated chick can be accepted into a nest by both adoptive parents. Fascinating and yes very sad one chick died but Lynda it will be very interesting to see the results.

Updates on 09 and AW - amazing journies :

www.ospreys.org.uk/.../osprey-team-blog

Lynda - Thanks for the update and having been out all day yesterday caught up on the journey of 09 and AW. I must comment on how good the Rutland Information Site is and in my own view far surpasses that of any other. The reports compiled by many volunteers are very informative and always kept up to date and the migration reports by Tim could not be better for people who study Ospreys.

Please pass this on to all staff and thank Rutland - all staff and volunteers for this.

AW is text book migration - He should be an instructor. The only fault when he becomes an instructor he should teach the juveniles to take a stop over rest in Europe. I suppose the difference in the juveniles they will not be as experienced in navigation or catching fish and need to take a longer journey as part of the learning curve.

It is great to see adults tagged as opposed to juveniles as this shows the difference in migration and habits of a more experienced bird.

Once again many Thanks.