ANOTHER OSPREY DUTY, AND WE'VE GOT FOUR EGGS.
THEN A VISIT TO EYEBROOK AND EVENTUALLY TO OSPREY SITE 'O'.

I had another Osprey Duty and on arrival at the Centre found great excitement as to the fact we had another egg laid, so we are up to four, let's hope the pair do better than the last time we had the four. 

We had a very busy afternoon with singletons and family party visits which are always good with some good questions to answer, a young boy asked if we baited the nest with meat to tempt the Ospreys to stay and then appeared very embarrassed when his Dad explained they only ate fish, he was also very interested in the migration route and as to why the birds came all the distance. We explained the difference in daylight hours giving the extra time for fishing. In the end he went away happy and kept thanking us very politely for the help bless him. 

It was so busy I hardly had time to take many images so my apologies for so few. 

Osprey Pair, Waderscrape Hide.

The female Osprey flying in with the male doing his bit in the incubation duties, something he appears to enjoy doing his bit with. With four eggs and he being smaller than the female it's is a difficult job for him in covering the eggs without damaging them. 

Then a quick change over to the female incubating.

Then the male flies away to keep an eye on things from the hedge.

Female on the nest and male in the hedge.

Reed Bunting, Waderscrape Hide.

This male appeared for a short visit and was away quickly, just lucky to have the camera in my hand when it happened.

Mallard, Waderscrape Hide.

This Male appeared at the top of one of the channels for a short visit and was then disturbed by a Water Rail flying across the channel, which I missed getting an image from.

Moorhen, Waderscrape Hide.

This bird flew from within the reed beds and landed in the bush and seemed to be feeding on the flower heads.

Mute Swan, Tufted Duck Hide.

Swam across the bay to the front of the hide and then a quick flap of the wings and up onto the raft. 

Male Gadwall, Tufted Duck Hide.

 Beautifully marked duck near to the raft with the swan.

Female Gadwall, Tufted Duck Hide.

This female was swimming around and keeping relatively close to the male, a pretty duck.

A VISIT TO EYEBROOK AND THEN ONTO OSPREY SITE 'O'.

I had a visit to Eyebrook on Thursday the 18th for hopefully some images of the Male Osprey 03/2009 but I'm afraid this did not happen, I eventually met up with a gent who does the bird count at Eyebrook who told me the male Osprey had been sitting in a tree on the far side of the reservoir for the previous two hours but had since flown elsewhere, The tree it was in was about 1500 metres away from me but if I had driven around to the far side of the water I would have got within about 80 metres, what a missed opportunity but never mind.

I saw numerous Red Kites throughout the afternoon but unfortunately most of them were over the fields which would have meant me shooting directly into the sun. 

At the end of the day we both decided to have a quick drive around to the Osprey nest site 'O' and found the female was sitting on an egg or eggs?, we only approached up to a farm gate that is 1200 metres away so no danger of disturbance. 

Red Kite, Opposite Stoke Dry.

Throughout the afternoon I saw numerous of these birds, but only managed images of about four or five, 

Such fascinating birds to watch in flight with the tail twisting from side to side acting as a rudder.

Common Tern, Rutland Tern Raft.

This raft Eyebrook apparently gained from Rutland Water, one bird on the corner post and one on the gravel inside the raft. 

We counted thirteen Terns during the afternoon but that's expected to over double within the next week. 

Juvenile Mute Swan, Opposite Stoke Dry.

 This bird had a quick fly by and headed down the reservoir towards the dam.

Osprey Site 'O', About 4 miles from Eyebrook.

By parking in a gateway and crossing the road, you can just make out the nest site. Upon checking its 1200 metres away so no danger of disturbing the birds. This as taken through a 600 mm lens. 

Female Osprey, { believed to be an unringed Scottish bird} sitting on egg or eggs, Site 'O'.

This image is reasonably heavily cropped but you can make out the bird sat on the nest,

Our Garden Barn Owls.

The news unfortunately is not good, we have seen nothing of the Barn Owls or any pellets for several days and a pair of Kestrels have been hanging about and are going into the box. The young male is not like his father who if you remember killed the male Kestrel back in 2017, I am still monitoring the box and hoping the Barn Owls will return and send the Kestrels packing.

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