BACK IN THE OLD ROUTINE WITH AN OSPREY DUTY.

At last feeling much better I had my first Osprey duty on Thursday the 6th of July. I had my normal trip out to Rutland visiting our Little Owl sites but saw nothing until I got to the last site, No 12, This is a site we have not seen a bird at since last September so a very welcome site, we just must have been unlucky in our visiting times or a new bird has taken up residence.

I arrived at Rutland Water with plenty of time to spare and upon visiting the centre was told the female juvenile 2AN had fledged that morning and had flown to a T post farther along Manton Bay and had been sitting and thinking about returning ever since. The temperature was 29 degrees so I had a very leisurely walk down to Waderscrape Hide calling in at both Deepwater and Tufted Duck hides on my way down with no particular rush so I arrived in the hide reasonably cool. The gent I was on duty with {Phil} arrived wet through as he had rushed down, so we got all the birds sorted as to what was going and the previous volunteers departed.

We had several visitors throughout the first hour when we were invaded by a bus load of Brownies, they arrived with both the Education Officers for the Project and were an absolute delight. All had a pair of Binoculars and showed great interest in the birds when they eventually found the nest, we lowered both the scopes and with the extra power they were fascinated at what they saw. They were with us until 19.30 hrs and we missed a considerable amount of logging in the book, just an entry saying "Brownies visited, nothing logged". We were bombarded with questions most of the time and these were mainly regarding the birds returning to Africa, this really fascinated them and they were showed the map on the Hide wall showing the route they take and the distance they travel.

After this we had our teas, packed up all the equipment in the Hide and made our way towards the Car Park. After about 200 metres the path widens to some open pastures and we immediately saw a female Barn Owl who flew  ahead of us landing on numerous posts all the way back to the Centre.

Our Barn Owls are coming on well and the third bird has done a considerable amount of catching up and is looking like a Barnie.  

Little Owl Site No. 12.

Not the best of images but as we had not seen a bird since last September. wonderful. After taking this image from a gateway, I moved along the road to get closer but so did the bird and disappeared .

RUTLAND WATER. 

LYNDON CENTRE.

Great Crested Grebe, Deep Water Hide.

Upon entering the hide I could see this pair about 60 metres out from the hide  and could not resist this image of the young having a lift.

Southern Hawker Dragonfly, Tufted Duck Hide.

Have since been informed this is a Male Emperor Dragonfly.
Sorry for the mistake.

On arriving in the hide I could see several dragonflies but all a long distance away. This one then landed on a reed about 20 metres away so really pleased with the outcome even with its tatty wing.

Comorant, Tufted Duck Hide.

By the time you have reached this hide you only have 480 metres to go to Waderscrape Hide, so I had a rest and cool down, even the Cormorant was hot. 

Young Moorhen, Waderscrape Hide.

An adult and two young were about in the channels to the front of the hide all afternoon. 

Female Barn Owl on the way back to the Centre.

As we walked back to the Car Park, this bird flew along to the front of us and perched on numerous posts but always partially obscured with grass.

MANTON BAY OSPREYS.

It was wonderful to be back on duty and my how things have changed, on my last visit the adults were sitting on eggs, on the morning of my duty the young female 2 AN fledged, that some growth rate, it was a wonderful afternoon with several visitors including a bus full of Brownies.

Please remember the nest is 320 metres from the hide.   

2 An {Female} on the camera post with 2 AM {Male} on the right of the nest with Mum in the middle. 

Adult female on the left , then 2 AN and 2 AM on the right. 

2 AM having a flap prior to helicoptering. He actually fledged the following day He is actually six days younger than his sister 

2 AN showing her brother how its done. 

A quick fly past the nest. 

And guess who's coming to join 33/11. 

Luckily both Dad and female got away with it and she regained her composure. Her landings have improved greatly since then.

2 AM helicoptering again. 

End of the shift and 33/11 had returned with a fish so both Juveniles got stuck into a feast.

OUR BARN OWLS.

The Owlets have had another successful week and all three are growing at a pace. I can tell at the moment we have at least on male but it just a case of watching them as they develop. They are not showing very early so the images are taken at ISO 10000 and 12800. I got up early {04.00 hrs} last Friday and all three Owlets were on the front of the box but my camera was down stairs. So since then I have got up every morning at 04.00 hrs with the camera with me in the bedroom and the little beggars have just sat in the doorway, sods law??? 

I got up at 03.30 hrs this morning as it was just starting to get light, two birds  sat on the platform and one in the entrance but even though I had the camera it would have been a hand held image and no chance with the light. 

Owlet Male {I think}.

You can see the start of the speckle on the chest to the front of his wing.

Owlet Male.

Again you can see speckling to the front of the wing. 

This appears to be the youngest of the three.
I think this is a female but still a bit early to be sure.

Second bird showing behind.

 Adult Female.

Having deliver some food, she sat just for a short time and then was away again hunting. By this time it was virtually dark, this taken at ISO 12800. 

Thank you for your visit, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did in the getting of the images