Breakfast with Ervie, Middle, and Little 17

21 May 2022

I cannot think of a better way to start a Saturday than having breakfast with Ervie, Middle Bob, and Little 17! What a positive way to kick off the weekend.

‘A’ sent me a note that Ervie was on the nest at Port Lincoln. Thank you, ‘A’! I would have missed him! Much appreciated. How grand to have the time to rewind and see our special Osprey fledgling. ‘A’ said she hoped that Mum and Dad would not kick Ervie off too soon. I am hoping that they will allow him to stop by for a visit continually as long as it does not disturb the next breeding season for them. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

There was something very satisfying seeing Ervie on the barge. He arrived at 16:17 wet from catching his fish, shaking off the water droplets on arrival. In the footage below, look carefully. It is not a puffer! I cannot tell you what kind of fish it is but it is a nice size normal looking fish — which means that even with his tiny talon, Ervie can now catch a much bigger fish. He certainly looks healthy.

I was thinking the other evening that perhaps that tiny talon saved Ervie’s life. It is not clear to me what the first year survival rate is for Eastern Ospreys – ones that do not have to migrate like those at Port Lincoln. By staying in a familiar area and learning how to fish -starting with those puffers- Ervie appears to have a better than average chance at long term survival.

Here is a video clip of Ervie eating some of his precious fish while being bombarded by sea gulls.

Sometimes you just feel ‘lucky’ and I decided to check on Middle at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. Yesterday Middle had delighted in having an ever so tiny fish and Mum and Dad have been dropping off fish so that the two can get proficient in self-feeding for their life after fledging.

It is 09:02. Mum has a fish and she is eating some bites. Middle, despite having a bit of a crop, is anxious for some more fish and is tugging at the new delivery. Big is there but doesn’t seem bothered.

Middle is getting a lot of bites! I could hardly believe what I was seeing. Big is on the left facing the opposite direction and Middle is on the right. It is difficult to catch the action. Middle is very quick doing his snatch and grabs. Middle is definitely aware of Big’s presence. He would get a lot more fish if Mum would feed a little faster!

Big does turn around and get interested in the food. Notice how Big is watching Middle do his snatch and grab. She is not liking this and after a few minutes, she pecks at Middle and he moves over to the rim of the nest. Big eats for a few minutes and then moves away with Middle going in to eat the last of the fish.

It was a real positive morning so far and could it also be that something good was happening on the ND-LEEF nest? To my shock and to everyone else on the chat, the female actually fed Little 17 some food this morning. It was like she remembered that she had three chicks and not just two. Will 17 get more food today – let us all hope so!

There is, of course, so much happening in Bird World but for now — this is quite enough. Smiling.

Thank you so much for joining me this morning. Take care. See you later with a check on more of the nests in Bird World.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Ospreys, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, and ND-LEEF.