I don’t think anyone ever expected to get a phone call telling them that an Osprey with a yellow band was seen at Port Augusta yesterday.
The question at the time was: is it Star or is it Falky? Falky was last seen on the 12th of January at 19:40.
On 9 January, Falky took a dive off the barge and caught a fish!
On the 10th, Falky and Ervie have their ‘dog fight’ in the air.
On the 8th of January, Bazza knocks Falky into the water. We held our breath as he figured out how to get. Falky’s confidence must have grown when he kept his cool head and recovered instead of drowning.
The two siblings were not so nice to the middle one who kept himself to himself, most days, looking for fish in the water.
Well, Morgan Palmer Dunn took some photographs and sent them to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project and guess who it is that is 13 km south of Port Augusta, a distance of almost 350 km?
There he is, the middle hatch, Falky flying like a pro. Our keen eyed observer noticed the young Osprey when a bunch of Silver Gulls began vocalizing.
So, in one week, look how far Falky flew. I am smiling and can’t stop saying ‘incredible’.
What is interesting to me is that everyone was startled when Solly flew up to Streaky Bay and then Eba Anchorage. The thoughts at the time were that this 200 km distance from the natal nest was quite far. With this flight of Falky’s, it is time to start looking for Bazza and maybe Star and DEW further afield!
This is why banding birds is important. Look at the information retrieved by a simple coloured leg band and a very keen observant individual – who took the time to get in touch with Port Lincoln!
Some may be asking if the tracker was put on the wrong bird. At the time of the weighing, the naming, and the banding, Ervie really was the star of the nest. He was the male who weighed the most and got the sat-pak. If you go to Port Lincoln’s FB page and look back, Ervie was quite adventurous. Did something happen to Ervie so that he lost his confidence? is he getting his mojo back as some claim? or was Ervie’s goal all along to be the ‘King of the Nest’. We wait to find out. But for now, raise a glass to Falky. What an incredible young Osprey. May he live a long safe life with always a full belly!
Falky, you really are impressing everyone. You look good. You are obviously catching your own dinner. Be careful out there!
Thank you for joining me! This is simply incredible news.
Thanks to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project streaming cam and FB page where I took my screen captures and video clips.