Wednesday 19 August 2009

A Motherly Surprise

Our viewing of the live osprey nest has continued to be fascinating this week, with more than usual nest activity for this time of year. All three chicks are still making very regular appearances, and dad is perhaps surprisingly still bringing fish to the nest daily, despite the fact that at least two of the chicks are now able to hunt for themselves.

Yesterday held an even greater surprise though, as our female osprey made an appearance on the nest with a fish. We had begun to think she had already left for her long migration journey south. Regular watchers will know it is always mum who heads south first, leaving dad to 'supervise' the teenage chicks in the final weeks before he too abandons them.

What was most interesting though, was the fact that mum 'babied' the three chicks as if they were tiny- carefully shredding the fish she had brought in and ensuring it was shared fairly. This is extraordinary considering their advanced stage of independence!

It was great to see her looking so well and obviously in good hunting form as she will surely start her journey soon.

1 comment:

  1. Congratulations to one and all for another successful season and a very welcome informative blog.

    ReplyDelete

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