It doesn’t really matter what you call him or her, the third hatch on the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest in Cumbria has had a really great 24 hours. Everyone was waiting for Tiny Little (aka Little Bob) to do some more flying, to get a little aggressive towards nabbing a fish drop, and for her to sleep like an adult. Well, all of that has now taken place.
Last night, for the first time, Tiny Little slept on the perch, head tucked in sometimes – and sometimes standing on one leg. Grown up style.
Between 6:00 and 18:00 (a long period of time) I did not see what Tiny Little accomplished.
At 18:25:41 Dad, White YW, delivered a fish. 464 grabbed that one. By 18:34 Tiny Little had moved up and was trying to get that fish. Tiny Little is so funny. He was trying to take bites out of 464’s mouth and was doing his usual ‘stare down’. 462 had arrived on the nest but he was hanging back from the action around the fish. At 18:53 sibling 462 moves in for the steal and takes the fish from 464. Tiny Little then focuses its sight on that fish.
In 37 minutes, at 19:02 White YW flies in with another fish! This time Tiny Little fights Dad for control of the delivery.
White YW must be looking down at Tiny Little feeling very proud. These are the lessons these parents want their children to learn and do. It will be a hard world out there for Tiny Little and White YW and Blue 35 need their youngest to be able to survive.
Tiny Little uses her beak to try and tear that fish off Dad’s talon. Dad just wants to get out of the nest!
Tiny Little has moved around and opened her wings to keep sibling 462 from the fish.
Tiny Little did not win the battle but she did not get injured either. Sibling 462 won this one but, it is the very first time that Tiny Little has shown any aggression during a fish drop. Bravo, Tiny Little!
At 19:04, Tiny Little moves over and finishes eating the last of the first delivery. There is still a bit of fish and the tail for her.
Once she finishes that little tidbit, Tiny Little is still hungry. Sibling 462 is chomping away at that big fish dad brought in. So what does Tiny Little do? You guessed it right – she starts doing her antics. She stares, she picks up sticks, she moves around the fish getting right close to the face of her sibling.
Wouldn’t you just like to share a little, 462?
Then Tiny Little tries pulling pieces of fish out of 462’s beak when she is pulling the pieces from the fish to their beak. That must be very annoying. And, of course, that is precisely what Tiny Little wants to do — annoy their sibling to give up the fish without having to have a fight and get injured.
Tiny Little begins to focus more on the location of the fish and the balance of 462. Look at how Tiny Little is staring between the legs of its sibling.
Tiny Little is beginning to remind me of Tiny Tot on the Achieva Osprey Nest. She is getting smart. She is moving in to get that fish. She has spotted that 462 does not have complete control of the fish.
Feeling very confident, Tiny Little steals the fish from sibling 462 at 19:20:49. Wow. Tiny Little, your fan club is cheering you!
Tiny Little gets the fish and pulls it over to the other side of the nest so that 462 will not try and take it back.
Yum!
Tiny Little is focused on eating. She knows that at any moment the other sibling could arrive on the nest and want some fish. Tiny Little is learning to eat fast and not be distracted.
Despite sibling Blue 464 arriving on the perch at 19:32, Tiny Little pays no mind and continues to eat.
Ah, nothing like eating almost an entire fish to warm a little one’s tummy.
It looks like Tiny Little is going into a food coma for the night. Nite nite Tiny Little. Happy fish dreams!
It has been a great day for Tiny Little. That is about as much excitement as one can take in a day! Thanks so much for joining me. Please take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the Cumbrian Wildlife Trust and the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest for their streaming cam where I took my screenshots.
You can watch the antics of Tiny Little and her Osprey family here:
https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife/cams/osprey-cam