There is something very comforting about seeing a fish delivered first thing in the morning to the female and little ones. The weather has really been awful in the United Kingdom. The rain appears to have mostly stopped but there seems to be some lingering wind at various nests.
Blue 33 flew in with a fish and Maya was ready. So were the Two Bobs.
Laddie had a nice big fish on the nest for NC0, Nessie, for the Three Bobs. Let us hope that the wee one figures out how to get up front. The two older siblings are at least 3 or 4 times its size. I really feel for the last hatch. If they survive they often become clever, persistent, and tenacious. Like Tiny Tot at the Achieva Osprey Nest in St Petersburg. Fingers crossed for this little one.
I have just received word that sadly the youngest Bob, Little Bob, at the Loch of the Lowes Nest has died. It had struggled since hatch. Fly high, little one.
I went back and checked on Bob 1 and 2 and they are fine. They will survive NC0! She has not quite figured out the feeding and still thinks that taking her beak and stuffing theirs is the proper way! Still, Laddie is getting nice fish on the nest and these two look like they are doing OK.
If the bad weather of last week was not enough and the death of the last hatch, NC0 is now having to deal with a hail storm! The challenges that these birds have is enormous.
I am sorry you cannot see it but this is a huge hail storm.
The same thing is going on at the Dfyi Nest of Idris and Telyn in Wales. A nice big fish on the nest for Bob 1 and Bob 2. Looks like they are doing pretty well. Telyn had some of the worst rain drenching her and the nest for days.
Of course, it helps if the little one knows which way to face to get some of those delicious morsels of fish and if it is out of the way of a flipping fish tail! It is amazing how quickly they do figure this out but it seems that Ospreys hatch with their mouths open ready for fish!
Idris has just brought a mullet onto the nest and it was so big that it almost wiped out both Bobs at once!
And then to the shock of Telyn, Idris insisted on feeding the chicks!
Oh, look at that wee one on the Llyn Clywedog Nest of Dylan and Seren. That is a really beautiful fish for mom and the wee one. Like all the other Welsh nests, Seren had a lot of rain and wind to contend with while this wee Bob was wanting to join us in this world outside that shell.
There has been no news from the Glaslyn Wildlife Centre on the state of the Glaslyn Nest of Aran and Mrs G. The last report was two days ago. The weather was improving but Aran was missing secondary flight feathers and was only able to protect the nest, not fish. It has now been five days without fish on that nest. This can only go one of two ways – there is either a miracle happening at Glaslyn or a potential one and fish has come to the nest or the situation is so devastatingly dire. Mrs G has to be weak herself. She has potentially not eaten since last Wednesday evening, giving the two Bobs the small fish tail she had kept under her. Our warm thoughts go out to those whose lives are devoted to this Osprey Nest – Mrs G, the oldest Osprey in the UK.
What we do know is that a chick has been lost on the Loch of the Lowes, the Dyfi, and the Glaslyn nest so far this year.
Thank you for joining me for this quick check in on a few of the Osprey Nests in the UK. Take care everyone. Happy Tuesday wherever you are.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams. This is where I grab my screen shots: the Dyfi Osprey Project, Carnyx Wildlife, LRWT, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Loch of the Lowes.