Shortly around 14:00, Bazza, the only osplet yet to fledge, and Ervie, the first to fledge when he was 60 days old, got into an extraordinary fight. It was not friendly banter. The incident had been provoked by the expectation that a fish would be landing on the nest. Fawlkey and Ervie got into a wing battle but, somehow, Bazza who had tried to stay out of the feud, found himself upside down under Ervie. The pair fell off the nest. It could have been tragic – and a repeat of history on the nest. In 2017, Nurrin tossed Stevie (65 days old) off the nest and into the water. Stevie was taken into care but died. So there was nothing humorous about the scuffle. Ervie flew away and Bazza found himself in Dad’s man cave.
And then something remarkable happened. Mum was on the nest feeding some of the fish that Falkey claimed to Ervie. Bazza was hungry. Hunger is a great motivator. It took Calypso, the 2019 fledgling, two days to figure out how to get out of the man cave by flying to the ropes. Well, it only took Bazza 2 hours and 2 minutes!
So on the 19th of November at the age of 65 days, Bazza fledged! It was 16:10:09. He might not have planned it but it was a remarkable moment.
There is Bazza in the Dad’s man cave. Mum is up in the nest feeding Ervie.
Hunger does marvellous things and, in this case, it propelled Bazza into flying. He calculated so well reaching the ropes without a problem. People had been saying that it would be difficult to get the lift to go straight to the nest so the proper way was to the ropes and over. Well done, Bazza. You figured that out quickly.
Bazza wanted some of the fish. Look at the shocked look on Ervie’s face when Bazza does a bit of a crash landing into Mum.
I looked several times and I could not see Bazza getting any fish. I think Mum was finished by the time he made it to the nest.
Bazza will have a real chance at the next fish. Falkey is super full and Ervie has eaten twice. Fingers crossed. Our newest fledgling deserves it!
Congratulations to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project and to Mum and Dad. It has been a fabulous year and this was a historic moment. At the moment Bazza flew to the ropes, then to the perch, and did a fly around before landing on the nest, it was the first time that this couple and this nest had three fledges. Every chick that hatched has now flown. What a terrific feeling. As rowdy as it may get in the next few days, nothing can take that away.
Thank you for joining me. I wanted you to know first thing!
Thank you to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project’s streaming cam where I took my screen captures.