Update on Our Osprey Eggs
Posted on July 16, 2012 by rangeremma
I have had a report back from Bob McGowan , Senior Curator, Birds
National Museums Scotland about our two unhatched Osprey eggs which were removed from the nest under license on the 2nd July. We asked for them to be analyzed to see what went wrong with them, and it turns out that they may not have been fertilised at all. Neither egg had any sign of an embryo inside and certainly not a chick ready to hatch, despite the fact that many of us were convinced we saw a tiny hole and movement in one around hatching time.
Mr McGowan said:
“The two eggs were rotten/addled with no sign of any development. I wonder if the prolonged wet weather might have been a factor in bacterial degradation (but I’m just speculating).â€
So why were the eggs not viable? We may never know exactly, but it is possible that either our male or female may have lower fertility, or it may be just very bad luck, I am told this is not unusual in Osprey nests, and that we shouldn’t worry unless it happens several years in a row.
As at many raptor nests in the UK this year second and third chicks have not survived due to the prolonger wet and cold weather and subsequent food shortages, perhaps it has been a blessing in disguise that we only had one viable egg this year. The resultant chick’s odds of survival have definitely been higher with all the food and attention to himself .
Good grief it’s been all go on the Osprey nest today with Blue 44 displaying more and more adult behaviour. This morning he fed himself from a fish that was left on the nest and he has being doing enormous vertical lifts taking him up past the camera so all we can see is an empty nest.
Everyone in the hides have been avidly watching him as he teeters on the nest stretching his wings wondering if today will be the day for fledging. We got action just not what we were expecting.
Our male, affectionately known as Laddie or Newman, brought a live Perch into the nest where it was writhing and thrashing about. Who steps forward to get it? We’re all thinking it will be our female but no it was Blue 44 who grabbed it with his talons and kept a tight hold. Dad was holding onto it tight so this fish was definitely not one that got away.
Then late this afternoon it all kicked off. Our male turned up with a fish but he barely landed when an intruder Osprey appeared overhead so he came off the nest to chase it away taking the fish with him. We then witnessed a fantastic aerial battle as our male, complete with fish in talons, chased the intruder around the loch and nest several times. Our female had obviously had enough of this by then and she came off the nest and saw the intruder off decisively. Our male took advantage of the intervention to land on a tree and start eating the fish – interesting priorities he’s got there! He’s since brought the fish for the rest of the family to eat.
UP
down
