Glaslyn Ospreys

Shame people are making such a fuss about the Loch Garten Ospreys. Seems to me that even if they had intervened and fed EJ and the chicks, the chicks would have been very vulnerable whenever she had to leave the nest. What if a couple of predators had attacked? While she was seeing one off the other could have killed the chicks. I hate it when people don't think things through properly.
Presumably Ospreys only ever lay one clutch - there's no chance of a new mating and second clutch?

Second egg has cracked at the Dyfi project and mum has taken over incubation from dad - both of them have been very restless so hopefully there will be developments soon!
 
It takes a long time to raise an Osprey chick plus teach it to fly and hunt for fish, then migration is looming. So unless something happened right at the start of laying it is just the one clutch.
The good years make up for the odd mishap along the way. Quite amazing when you think these little chicks will be off to Africa come September. On average from a nest of 3 only one chick will survive to come back after 3 years
 
Thought that might be the case.

Both Aran and Monty are incubating the eggs at the mo although both Mrs G and Glesni are at the nests. There's been no update that I can find as to whether Aran has been feeding 55F today.
 
Just been watching fabulous footage of Glesni feeding her two chicks at the Dyfi project http://www.dyfiospreyproject.com/live-streaming
One egg still to hatch!
 
The suspense is killing me! The third egg at the Dyfi project has pipped and Glesni is very restless. It looks as though the two existing chicks keep draping themselves over the top of the egg to sleep but she seems to have managed to move them. She has her back to the camera at the moment so even if she stands up it will be difficult to see what's happening. :(
 
First Glaslyn chick hatched this morning, and third Dyfi Project chick which they are pretty certain is female - how do they know?. Aran, the male at Glaslyn is going to be pretty busy as he's feeding two females although the eggs in the other nest aren't due to hatch until after all three of Mrs G's.
 
There seems to be plenty of food at Glaslyn, there's half a fish lying around uneaten. Aran looks very hot, brooding the chick, his feathers are raised and his mouth open. I suppose he's keeping it cool, rather than warm, in the boiling sunshine. If he was one of my chickens, I would give him some shade!
 
Great news on the 1st chick at Glaslyn, that fish is going to get very smelly. OH being a bit busy with her hospital visits to her mother has been missing dipping into the Glaslyn site.
Size is often used as an indicator of sex with birds of prey. The females are usually bigger than the males, enables parents to hunt different sizes of food, great advantage if there is a shortage of small food, the larger female can hunt for bigger prey. So a big chick is usually female. They will know for certain when they go up to ring them
 
bigyetiman said:
...They will know for certain when they go up to ring them
Click to expand...

I bet that's a precarious and rapid exercise. I wouldn't want to be up a ladder when an angry osprey returns!
Who is it on the nest now? Is it Aran? I was surprised how much they share the sitting.
 
I agree Rick, and one of the most experienced ringers has given up after a vitriolic attack on social media - don't know the detail.

They were saying it was female before it hatched BYM. It seemed it might be something to do with the markings on the egg?

The fish wasn't there for very long ...
2nd chick hatched this morning and Aran brought a fish at 5 am but there's no sign of anything left.

There's a video on the Dyfi Project site of all three hatchings. Love the bit where the first chick is lying on his back being fed!
 
Just looked at that clip really good.
Aran and Mrs G are old hands at the ringing business and just take themselves off nearby and mutter, whilst the ringing takes place. The chicks are lowered to the ground in a sack ringed, weighed etc and popped back up.
Some people put on social media totally against ringing, because of trauma to young birds,intrusive totally pointless,I think the article is still available on the Glaslyn and Dyfi website. Ringing is a good way of knowing where birds go in winter, stop off points on migration, and being able to keep these places safe for the birds. It certainly isn't just done for fun
 
My husband used to be a ringer and had to go through a long and arduous training period before getting even his basic qualification, the C certificate. He then had to get extra training to be able to ring nestlings. When the kids were little we used to camp in most insanitary conditions at Radipole Lake in Swanage, to ring the hundreds of migratory birds passing through in August and September. This entailed getting up at dawn and wading through knee-deep muddy water and sludge in the reed beds, and returning with a heavy load of birds in bird bags, hung on a pole. Then ringing them all ASAP for release before breakfast.
Twitchers used to sleep in the huge concrete drainage pipes which were on site at the time, pending building work, and watch us coming back laden with birds - then they always said 'Got anything?" which meant 'anything rare and worth a new tick on my list.'
The ringing area was near to the funfair and we took the kids down there in the evenings. At the time, Sara was 5 and Cassandra was 3. They were allowed to go up the wooden tower, clutching their mat, and then come down the long snakey slide outside of the tower. One day, on the way up, Sara noticed someone had started a fire near the top of the tower. She made her sister turn round and come back down, and told us about it. At first the man didn't believe her, but when he found it was on fire, it wasn't long before the fire engine and police arrived.
They took no notice of us afterwards, and didn't even give us our money back, let alone some free rides. I was so proud of her, being so sensible - her little sister wanted to carry on, but Sara wouldn't let her.
 
What a star!
And newly affirmed awe for the birdie credentials all round!
I think that's Mrs G on the nest tonight? Hunkered down in torrential rain on the nest with a big trout (at least) for breakfast and rain dripping off her beak.

... and fair play to the camera crew that is still on the job, zooming in and out, at ten to twelve on a Saturday night! Looks like the rain has abated.
 
Yes that's Mrs G. Being bigger than Aran she can provide better shelter for the chicks bit obviously she depends on him to bring her food.
There is some rain around for the next day or so - but I've got yellow warning for rain in Shropshire!
 
What a sensible daughter, Radipole lake know it well as we always stop off there on our way to Cornwall in Feb.
Didn't realise your husband was a trained ringer Marigold. It's a long training process I know and your comments remind me of the people that hang around the ringing shed at Dungeness hoping that they have a good bird in the bag for their list. Once they were all hanging around there and OH walked past that way with a fellow birder and said "did you all see the two cranes that flew over the power station, a major rarity outside the small breeding colony in Norfolk. Their faces on realising they had missed out on them was a picture
 
Tony used to set nets in our garden on Christmas Eve, and we would have one round of presents each on Xmas morning, then he would go out to do a ringing round, and I had to wait with impatient children until he came in and we could have the next round. Not popular with the young!
To see birds in the hand is wonderful. Bluetits are really aggressive, but most species sit calmly if held correctly, even a wild kestrel we got once. Kingfishers continually rotate their heads from side to side, more than 180 degrees, and have really short, stumpy, fleshy legs. Blackbirds have yellow micro-feathers round their eyes, like eyelashes.
 
Lots of super video clips and photos of the Ospreys this morning.

I sometimes rescue birds from the cat if they aren't badly injured. Most of them sit quietly in my hand until they recover enough to fly off and I've never been pecked. I realise they may still die of shock but that's preferable to being played with by the cat.
 
2.24, 2 chicks being fed, both look really strong. Nest appears to be simply crawling with ants (?) must be v. uncomfortable for the chicks I would imagine. I bet it stinks of old fish, too.
 
I had someone like that get on my bus today, stinking of old fish. I suppose if I was an Osprey I would have found it quite appealing
 
They actually seem to keep the nest very clean. Sometimes there's a half eaten fish lying around for a while but the adults pick up the bits the chicks drop. if you go to the Rutland Osprey site they have a fabulous video clip of projectile poo! Apparently the chicks know to put their heads down and bums up so the poo goes over the edge of the nest.

The Chichester Peregrine Falcon's nest is pretty grim now - bits of wing lying around :(
 
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