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Recent Events

July 3

Tuesday 15th. Entering the third week in July, it was nice to see our osprey family looking so content: H/D feeding Chick 1, while chicks 2 and 3 sat nearby, obviously well fed and in no hurry to push in to get more fish. All three chicks are doing a great deal of preening and wing stretching, getting ready to fly in a couple of weeks or so. Chick 1 is standing well on its feet now,whilst the other two move around on their hocks still. Early evening we had a rare glimps of all five birds on the nest.

Wednesday was a particularly wet morning, with the chicks sitting low and huddled together on the nest. Early afternoon both adults were on the nest with a large fish. At 6.30 in the evening, their peace was briefly disrupted, when the chicks were ringed: all had a metal ring on one leg, chick 3 had a white plastic (Darvick) ring BA on the other leg, chick 1 had BB, and chick 2 should have had BC, but the ring broke just before being fitted, which was irritating, so it will be known as 08, the last 2 numbers on its metal ring. Late in the evening all three chicks were snoozing , tired after their ringing experience, but none the worse for it - and we will be able to identify them throughout their lives.

Stll wet and windy on Thursday - where has summer gone? - but nothing seems to stop our osprey family from thriving. As the week progresses we have seen more and more wing excercising, especially from 08, and despite the continued drizzle. Because they're all getting so big, if one chick is flapping it disturbs the others,often forcing them to get up  and move to the other edge of the nest. On Friday evening, one of the chicks, we think 08, managed to lift off for a second.
Saturday was very windy, but EP managed to catch a large flounder - what a brilliant provider he has proved to be, and we were so worried about him early in the season. Catching fish in windy conditions is not easy, the wind ruffles the water, making it hard to see the fish.
As the week draws to a close, is the weather at last improving? Sunday was windy, but sunny. EP brought lots of fish on Monday. Our chicks are not only still growing, but using more energy now as they excercise their wings more vigourously each day. We saw BB doing some little jumps to-day during 'flying' practice