Even More Nest Visitors

Blue 441 “Fenham”

Last week we told you about Blue 441 “Fenham”,  the 2 year old female from Kielder who visited us on 14th June. This bird has turned out to be quite a persistent visitor at the Gilestone nest.

On the 15th June recordings show an unidentified osprey flying in the distance several times. It was not possible to say for certain if it was one of the resident pair because there was only ever one other in sight each time. But in these instances it's really wise to watch and listen to the birds carefully and see what their behaviour is saying. On this particular day it was saying “Intruder!”. The birds were fidgety, mantling in defence of their nest and vocalising in the way that indicates a disturbance. Alarm calls were heard in the distance too, potentially meaning the other resident bird was involved in defending their territory.

Blue 441 arranging sticks….

…..and more stick-arranging

The next day blue 441 returned (if she had ever really been away) and visited the nest several times. At first she seemed restless and flew away and back again. But then she seemed to settle down, perhaps as she had not had to face the wrath of the resident female. She began picking at the nest lining and then progressed to moving sizeable sticks from one side of the nest to the other and looking quite at home.  But then the resident male arrived, showing his discomfort at her being there by turning his back and mantling.  That might seem odd, but female ospreys are quite a lot bigger than males so it's unwise for a male to pick a fight with one unless he needs to. The male exited the nest and blue 441 stayed on and continued rearranging sticks. The male returned and mantled again but this time when he left, blue 441 wasn’t long in following him. 

Resident male turns his back….

…….and then exits

With the birds in the air, the towpath Watchers were able to see that there were now three birds interacting and flying around. The resident male then appeared to be driving the other two towards the river. Had his mate joined in with the eviction process? The answer was no. It was at this point that the resident female returned to the nest and stayed there long enough for it to be determined that she was not one of the three ospreys that could now be seen flying up river. There had been two intruders for the male to deal with, not just one.

Blue 441 returned to the nest on Monday 17th and again on Tuesday 18th, but has not been identified since then. 

Wednesday was, by contrast, uneventful. The resident un-ringed pair were either absent from the nest area or just not visible for quite long periods at a time.  

Blue 653

But on Thursday there was another visitor to the nest. This time it was Blue 653. This Scottish female was last on record as visiting the Usk Valley on the 5th May.  Unlike Blue 441, she was on and off the nest a number of times in quick succession, never staying long and never, as far as could be observed, coinciding with the residents.

Friday was calm and allowed the pair to carry on with their routines.  The day started, as is usual, with the early morning delivery of new nest material by the male.  A little later the female joined him at the nest and there was a mating attempt. This might sound surprising as the window for producing chicks has long been closed for this year. But ospreys will mate at any point in the season, whether they have produced chicks or not. It is part of the constant bonding that goes on to help strengthen them as a pair, as is the insistence of the female that the male should continue to bring her fish (just as he would if she were caring for chicks) even though she could easily catch them for herself. Similarly they continue to build and maintain the nest right the way through the season. They are keeping very busy at all these activities because they are honing their skills and building their future.