I JUST HAD TO HAVE ANOTHER  OSPREY VISIT TO SEE 33/11.

I decided as I was not on duty this week to have a visit back to the Lyndon Reserve and go to see the male Osprey 33/11 to welcome him back from his Winter holiday in West Africa.

On arrival I had a chat with the two new girls we have at the centre and then got underway to visit the hides on the way down to Waderscrape hide. On the walk down it was a beautiful Spring day with Butterflies {wrong lens} and plenty of Chiffchaff calling.

On arrival in Waderscrape I had a chat with the two volunteers on duty and got up to date with all that had been happening at the nest, several matings having taken place and a considerable amount of nest building having taken place since my duty last Thursday.

Earlier on they had intruder Osprey who was soon seen off by 33 but he didn't seem over bothered by three Buzzard that circled over Manton Bay, with no eggs or chicks he didn't seem over bothered where as another Osprey could be after this prime nest site.

After a short time I decided to visit the new Shallow Water hide where you are actually closer to the nest and was most impressed with the two Hides, the ground floor section is extremely comfortable with new higher seats to suit the  large shutter openings, and the upstairs hide is superb for the Osprey nest.

Male Osprey 33/11, Waderscrape Hide.

On arrival this was the view of the Male sitting on the 'T' post to the left of the nest. You can see from last weeks images how much nest building the male has carried out.

Female Osprey, Waderscrape Hide.

The female sat on the nest and after a short time commenced food begging.

Both birds. 

Female Osprey, Shallow Water Hide, Upstairs.

She then became more demanding and we had a continuous calling. 

So the male flew to the hedge and out of her view and threw a deafy, this however did not stop the food begging. 

So after a short time he flew around the back of the trees and landed on the female. 

Then after a quick mating. 

He was away fishing, I think he went to Eyebrook Reservoir in the direction he flew. 

33/11 heading away on a fishing trip, to hopefully silence the female. 

I was lucky as he came within approximately 150 metres of the new hide. 

The female remained on the nest but stopped food begging and it was time for me to head back to the centre and car park and get underway for home.
  

Male Osprey, Deep Water Hide.

On my way back to the Car Park I saw another Osprey , so it was a quick visit into the hide and get an image even though this bird was a silly distance away. Other than the bird is a male, at the distance no chance of reading the ring number.

Female Mallard, Tufted Duck Hide.

Not much going on to the front of the hide but this duck swam past within about 40 metres. 

Male Mute Swan, Tufted Duck Hide.

This bird swam again about 40 metres away past the Hide. 

Male Mute Swan, Shallow Water Hide, Ground Floor.

This bird swam by looking very proud and ready for battle but nothing else was about. 

Teal Male, Shallow Water Hide, Ground Floor.

This single male was messing around near the area where two Great Crested Grebes were building a nest.  

Badger activity just up the track from Waderscrape Hide. 

The well hidden hole in the undergrowth. 

Great Crested Grebe, Shallow Water Hide, Ground Floor.

 This pair have started nest building not far from the hide and all afternoon were about with all the normal bobbing and facing each other.

I was never looking in the right direction when they were in full crests. 

Pied Wagtail, Shallow Water Hide, Ground Floor.

This bird just had a very quick visit and was only about 15 metres away .

Black Headed Gull, Shallow Water Hide, Ground Floor.

At one point we had ten of these birds on the fence posts extending out into the reservoir.




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



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A TRIP TO EYEBROOK AND THEN AN OSPREY RETURNS.
THEN MY FIRST OSPREY DUTY.

I decided to have a visit to the now open Egleton Centre to see what if anything was happening on the Osprey front.

On arrival I was met with a considerable amount of dark cloud and the wind was howling, after a visit in the centre I was informed we had the first bird back, the Manton Bay female had arrived that morning {the 14th}, she must have managed to get over the English Channel prior to the wind getting so bad and made the last section of her trip into the head wind.

Then on the 15th another female, 25/10 { site B female } returned so things are getting underway with the migrating birds.

After this I had a visit to Eyebrook as the heavens had opened at Rutland and I had no wish to get the camera or lens soaked so I took the easy option.

The wind at Eyebrook was just as strong and the only Red Kites I saw were gone past in seconds with a following wind so no chance of any images.

33/11 has returned on the 23 rd at 18.02 so we have a pair at Manton Bay.

Blue Tit.

This bird was in the same area I found last week where somebody had thrown some seed about on the ground and obviously had done the same today, thank you to whoever it was.

Goldfinch.

This image taken just before the bird flew down onto the ground to snatch some seed. 

Chaffinch.

Several of these birds were having a feast on the seeds, thank you to who ever put the seed down. 

Dunnock.

This little beauty came only onto the side of the area where the other birds were feeding.

Marsh Tit.

I had moved up to the Bridge that crosses the Eyebrook that feeds the Reservoir and the bird feeders, I am not keen on taking images on the feeders but more on the birds the feeders attract.

Long-tailed Tit.

This singleton bird had several trips in onto the feeder and the only way to get an image was to take it whilst the bird was on the feeder, sorry about the feeder.

Back again but this time with a couple of friends.

MY LONG AWAITED FIRST OSPREY DUTY OF  THE SEASON.

I had my first Osprey duty on Thursday the 21 st and was on duty with my friend Sheelagh, we had an interesting and reasonably busy afternoon but still no return of the Manton Bay male Osprey 33/11. As I reported in my previous post the female returned on the 14th and must have battles through wind.

We at the moment have seven returned birds { comprising of two males and five females } so things are getting well underway, but it is still early and one of the satellite tracked birds has still to leave his island of the coast of Guinea Bissau.  The other bird {S1} left earlier in the week.

We had a couple of intruder Osprey into the bay during the afternoon which got our female into action  to see them away.

Female Osprey {Maya}, Waderscrape Hide.

She is thought to be an unringed Scottish bird and has been the Manton Bay female for several years, this is where she was sitting when I took over for my duty. She hopefully won't have to wait too long for the return of her mate.
I have for the first time in several years checked the distance from the hide to the nest and found it to be in excess of 300 metres so not easy to get the lens to focus on the bird. 

Then after a while she flew onto the nest.

She then had a fly around Manton Bay for a stretch of the wings, she has a very ragged trailing edge to her wings so this will make it easier to pick her out in flight.

Then we had our first intruder, a good height above her.

Intruder Osprey that through the scope had a blue ring but no chance of reading the ring number.

After this excursion to send away the intruder she then returned to the nest.

She then after a short time decided to go on a fishing trip as no record of any fishing was in the book. She could however have eaten before the first duty of the day.

Here with the fruits of her fishing trip, a nice Rainbow trout which she devoured sat on the T post. We have to monitor and time the birds when they leave the nest and she was only away for sixteen minutes.

Greylag Goose, Waderscrape Hide.

This Goose flew in and landed in the reeds to the front of the hide.

At this point the bird was in excess of fourty metres away.

Canada Goose, Waderscrape Hide.

Again this bird was about fourty metres away and after the Greylag arrived, it attacked it and sent it packing.

Having sent the Greylag on its way he decided to have a quick bathe.

Couldn't resist this head shot.

Reed Bunting { Male }, Waderscrape Hide.

We had several birds about singing but this was the only reasonable image, all the rest were buried either in the reeds or bushes.

Wren, Waderscrape Hide.

This little bird was darting about all afternoon but would not stay still for long enough for an image. It eventually landed on this reed which when checked was in excess of thirty metres away, not easy for the camera to focus on.

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

Reg had sent me a super image of his Tawny Owl but every time I brought it across  onto the blog it cancelled out all the other images, having had to do the post twice I'm sorry Reg but no image, I could not stand doing the post for a third time.

 I was so pleased to have a phone call from my friend whilst on duty and to hear you have at last managed to get home, 33/11 {which is what you really phoned to ask about is still not onsite but I'm sure he will arrive in the next few days.}

You just do as the doctors and nurses tell you and then you will be able to return and see these wonderful birds yourself.