AND THEN WE HAD THREE.

Manton Bay Ospreys with the Young. {Header Picture}

Should read "Its Behind You" 33/11 male had delivered a fish and Mum has it behind them, they are looking at Dad hopefully for feeding but eventually realised that tea was behind them. 

As Richard was unavailable and the forecast for Thursday was not so good, plus the fact our Grand daughters were coming for a visit on Thursday, I had an early outing taking a dear friend in Arthur Costello with me to introduce him to some Little Owls and also the Ospreys which as you can see have produced three wonderful chicks. 

I collected Arthur at 13.45 hrs and we set out towards Rutland  Water, checking the Little Owl Sites on the way out, we only managed one bird at Site No 1 and that was only a fleeting view on the outward trip but hoped for more on our return.

We arrived at Rutland at about 15.45 hrs and went into the centre where Arthur met up with Kayleigh who was on duty for the day. We then had a steady walk down through Deepwater Hide and Tufted Duck Hide, again not seeing the Otters but we spent some time trying. 

Arthur was a sound recordist of bird song and had recorded both a cuckoo and nightingale singing together near the Lyndon Centre some years ago.

We then made our way to the Waderscrape Hide where we for a short time watched the Ospreys, being in the singular as only the female [we were told was on the nest and the male away fishing}, we saw reed bunting and other birds and then made our way to Shallow Water Hide.

On the way down Arthur was recognising all the birds by the song which was useful as it saved having to move the camera and bins about to find them and then decide what the bird was.

In Shallow Water Hide we settled down to watch the Ospreys and await the return of the Male 33/11 with a fish. Whilst in the hide we also saw a Yellow Wagtail, swallows, house martin, great crested grebe and many more. 
Eventually the male returned but without a fish, landed on the nest and at that point I was then checking my images. Upon looking again at the nest a bird left and flew to the T post, and the bird on the nest started feeding the young. Checking my images on the screen, the bird that returned without a fish was the female,{no ring} and the bird that flew onto the T post and had been sitting on the young was the ringed male. The fish was obviously already on the nest so the female had taken over and fed the young after her flight around the reservoir.
The previous male 5R would occasionally try to feed the young but usually after the female had already filled them up with fish and was only occasionally successful.

After about an hour in the hide we had a steady walk back to the car park again with Arthur spotting the birds by song.We then indulged in a well deserved tea and set off on our return journey and to look for some of the illusive Little Owls.

We again visited every site but to no avail and unfortunately finished with only the one bird seen at Site No. 1.

I had a quick visit out on the 25 th of May to stake out a site and on the way through managed two birds at Little Owl Sites 1 and 2. so I have put them at the end, sorry I saw them Arthur and you only got a glimpse.

Thank you for coming with me on Thursday Arthur, it was so interesting to get your input through bird song.

Sky Lark Near Little Owl Site No. 11.

As we drove up the road I spotted this bird plus another sat on the fence posts, as we approached it sat still until I got my first image and only then turned to the side as below. 

It then flew and I managed a quick image as it gained height.

As we drove along the road we must have seen another five or six birds, lovely to see.

 Rutland Water.

Tufted Duck, Waderscrape Hide.

A pretty little duck swimming in the channel in front of the hide, still in large numbers on the reservoir. These are the channels we saw the Water Voles in last year, but have so far seen none this year. Other people have seen the odd one.

Reed Bunting, Waderscrape Hide.

A bird that was continually calling and common amongst the reeds to the front of the hide, because it was windy a lot of the birds were not visible. 

Swallows, Shallow Water hide.

The bay had good numbers of swallows flying about with a fair number of House Martins with the white rump mixed in with them. Tried for an action shot but gave up!!.

Osprey on the Manton Bay Nest, Shallow Water Hide.

This is the bird we were told was the female sitting keeping the young warm, this was in fact the male Osprey 33/11 doing his bit. 

Female Osprey, Shallow Water Hide.

As you can see the bird has no ring in place, so therefore the female {Maya}. 

Female landing on the nest, the male keeping low and out of the way in the scrape. 

Female landed. 

Male straight up and preparing to leave the nest. 

You can just make out the rings so its the Male. Female then fed the young so a fish was already in place on the nest. 

Female Feeding the Young, Manton Bay.

33 does appear to be a wonderful fisherman with fish always being available on the nest for his young.  

Male on the T post after his duty on the nest.

Pied and Yellow Wagtail, Shallow Water Hide.

We had been in the hide for a while when these two arrived and sat reasonably close to each other so I made the best of it. 

Yellow Wagtail, difficult shot with the fence somewhat spoiling it. 

Great Crested Grebe on its Nest, Shallow Water Hide.

This is the bird I took the image of last week when I thought it was not sitting on a nest. Since then the nest has been raised and here she is sound asleep on her nest. 

Yellowhammer, Near Shallow Water hide.

Bird sat on the electric cable feeding Waderscrape Hide.

Hare with Leveret, Near Little Owl Site No. 3.

We spotted this pair as we drove down the road on our way home, this was taken at about 21.00 hrs. 

They had moved a lot farther away but the Leveret is more obvious to see.

Little Owls.

Little Owl Site No. 2.

This image was taken on the Monday evening at about 19.30 hrs, the bird was sat in the entrance to the nest hole and by the looks of it was having a snooze. 

Little Owl Site No. 1.

Again on my own and the bird sat out in the tree as good as gold, just wait until Richard is with me and he will be out of site. 

Thank you for your visit, I hope you have enjoyed the images as much as I did in getting them, and my visits out.