• 2011
  • 2010
  • 2009
  • 2008
  • 2007
  • 2006
  • 2005

Recent Events

July 16th - 23rd

Sun 16th: Great excitement as 05 was briefly airborn and 'flew'  from one side of the nest to the other! It then settled down for an afternoon snooze. When it woke up, there was another excercise session - its wing muscles must be getting really strong. Although 05 was alone for much of the afternoon,it kept looking around as though there were other birds around, and was quite relaxed.

Mon 17th: a very hot day, but 05 was practising hard again. When the female came in with a fish, 05 was initially more interested in preening than eating, but soon decided to to be fed. Once the female left, it was back to  wing flapping and 'fly-jumping' across the nest. Surely it will fly soon? By lunchtime, when the male brought a fish,  both 05 and its mum were eager to feed. A very hot afternoon left 05 panting on the side of the nest, trying to catch the breeze. It was even too hot to excercise, and 05 contented itself with a little wing stretching. Later in the evening, as it cooled, 05 started to excercise its wings again.

Tues 18th: a very hot, sunny day today, and 05 and the female were in the nest quietly preening and resting.
When the male brought in a fish later, 05 was on its own, and neither the male nor 05 seemed keen to start eating. Then he left with the fish, possibly trying to encourage 05 to fly? Really vigorous wing flapping from 05 as the morning progressed, with large jumps across the nest. Then a spell of preening, before 05 was seen feeding itself, alone on the nest. When the female returned, she fed 05 in between feeding herself - even though it is quite well able to feed itself! Late evening we had a peaceful picture of the female feeding on the edge of the nest as 05 rested in the centre of the nest.

Wed 19th: today was very hot, and early on 05 was preening ,enjoying the slight breeze on the top of the nest. During the morning there was alot of wing flapping as 05 tried to get airborne, but no luck this time! Early afternoon we had a nice family picture, when all three were briefly on the nest together, the male having brought a fish. He left quite soon, while 05 and mum tucked into their meal. More flying practice in the afternoon, but still no launch.

Thurs 20th: 05 was very vocal this morning whilst doing his flying practice, and kept looking over the edge of the nest. Then we heard the female alarm calling, and 05 responded by lying flat in the centre of the nest, 'playing dead'. No reason for this behaviour was evident. When the male brought the remains of a fish, the female fed 05 some of it before flying off with it.We could hear her calling as 05 stood on the edge of the nest flapping its wings vigorously, as though she were encouraging 05 to fly.  But it didn't! In the afternoon we saw several 'fly-jumps' across the nest and more energetic wing flapping, but it was very hot,  and soon 05 was lying panting on the nest. Early in the evening, 05 was on the edge of the nest, flapping away, and we thought 'this is it'. But no, no flight tonight.

Fri 21st: a light drizzle greeted us this morning, and it was a little cooler. 05 was still on the edge of the nest looking over, and fed himself from the flounder that the female brought to the nest early on. Several times around midday 05 flew across the nest, hovering briefly over the nest. It kept this up  for about 15mins, before perching on the edge again. Then it climbed out of the nest onto the branch, but retreated to the nest quite quickly without flying. Later during its wing flapping excercises it flapped on to the platform supporting the nest, and we thought " this is it!" But no, it wasn't, and again 05 scuttled back to the safety of the nest. We were about to give up for the day, but then, at 3.45pm, our chick, 05, flew for the first time! We rang the town bell so that everyone within earshot would know the news. We then anxiously awaited 05's return, but it was not seen on the nest again untilmid evening, when it was seen sitting on the nest feeding.

Sat 22: After yesterday's excitement, our first view of 05 this morning was it sitting alone on the nest preening. Then the female brought a large flounder to a hungry 05, who mantled it (spread his wings over) to prevent the female from getting any. Once she left, 05 began to eat eagerly and quickly ate half the fish. It then left the nest for a while, arriving back with the female shortly after. She began to feed it - obviously flying is too exhausting to feed yourself as well! The rest of the day was spent by 05 on brief flying trips in between eating the fish brought to the nest by its parents.