13 November 2022
It is the 14th of November in Australia.
Port Lincoln Ospreys says that a decision about banding and putting a satellite tracker on Big will be made at 0900 Port Lincoln time. That is about two hours away from now and it is 1442 on the Canadian Prairies. The forecast that I am seeing for Port Lincoln is calling for wind but no rain. Fingers crossed that Ian Falkenberg can get the job done! I wonder what Big’s name will be???
An early chunk of fish came on the nest at Port Lincoln. Mum is so hungry. She did not give Big all of the food! Thankfully. It was either one bite for you and one for me or two bites for Mum and one for Big. She was just ‘wolfing’ down that fish, she was so hungry.
Mum and daughter.
What a welcome sight. Dad arrives with a fish first thing in the morning.
Mum is famished. I have not seen her so hungry. We all worry about the chicks having enough food but the adults have to eat too in order for them to fish and care for the young.
At the end of the day, it appears that there simply was not enough food to feed a family of 5 this year. I don’t even like saying that but, right now, we have a seemingly healthy chick who is hungry and a Mum who is hungry and I suspect a Dad that is hungry. They are doing the best they can with what they have. We need to send the most positive wishes this family’s way. We might not ever know the reason but, it would be very informative if someone was doing a study on fish stocks in the area along with toxins, the impact of weather on the fishing capabilities of osprey, weather system changes, etc. Maybe someone is!
The banding began around 0900 or a little earlier. Mum stayed on the barge and watched everything that was going on inside the boat.
Big – you aren’t surprised are you? Has a pink band and is a girl. What we didn’t know is that she is the biggest girl yet at 1700 grams or 3.75 lbs. Incredible. We also all knew she was a fish eating machine.
One healthy girl named Zoe after Janet Forster’s granddaughter.
Thank you Port Lincoln.
NOTE: The newsletter for 14th of November will be posted around 1600 Canadian time.
Thanks for this update Mary Ann!
Congratulations to Big and we knew she was a big girl didn’t we!
Glad Mum got a lot it that fish. She needed it! Glad Dad is doing well and. Delivering fish !
Have a great Sunday evening and we look forward to seeing you here again soon!
Linda
Yes, we sure did. Not much use in measuring here although there was a male at Llyn Clywedog in 2021 that was the biggest male ever in Wales, bigger than all the females. Take care! Thanks for your comment! Let us hope she lives long.