NEWS AND VIEWS

A mixed bag of news today: some good, some not so good, some interesting and then a grumble.

Probably the best news came, not from our nest but from Nest 10 at Kielder, just across the border from us. Brian and I were very privileged last week to be invited to view (from a safe distance) our 2017 chick, PY0 (nicknamed Walter), his mate, 330, and at least two chicks on their nest. These are the first confirmed grandchicks of Samson’s and, although much younger than the chicks on our nest, they looked strong and healthy and I reckoned handsome PY0 looked a lot like his dad (but I was accused of being biased). It was lovely to see him for the first time since he set off on migration back in August 2017 and our thanks go to Joanna and the powers that be who allowed us to go and see him with his family.

Back at our nest site, Samson has continued to work hard bringing fish in all the daylight hours he can. The family have often already had their first fish by the time the camera comes on at 0500 and he’s still working when it goes off at 1800. The bonanza he had when he discovered what I assume was a group of trout caught by low water levels in the river lasted almost a week but then it was back to hard graft. This last week, fishing conditions have been much harder with heavy outbursts of rain upstream causing river levels to rise dramatically with the accompanying transportation of mud which have often made river fishing impossible. Lake fishing has also been made more difficult with gusty winds and local downpours causing very poor levels of visibility into the water. Despite this, he has been bringing in some decent sized sea and brown trout and the pike population has also taken a slight dip. Last week, he brought in 3 good sized Jack pike in one afternoon.

Nevertheless, gaps in fish deliveries have been extensive on some occasions and tetchiness between the chicks has been noticeable. In the last few days chick #2 has been picking increasingly on chick #3 and has actively prevented it from getting close to JW6 when she’s feeding the chicks, even to the extent of leaving off being fed to attack #3 and force it to cower away. It’s natural behaviour, particularly if competition is keen for food, but that doesn’t make for easy watching. #2 only desists when either the fish is finished or it is so full it has to stagger off to lie in a food coma. Yesterday, #3’s first feed of the day didn’t come until 1730! The cocky little #3 that I was describing in the last blog has had an implosion of confidence and now only approaches for feeding with great trepidation. I’m hoping that food supplies will satisfy #2 and still be sufficient for #3 to feed, or that #2 quickly grows out of this phase; with a 3 day gap in age there will only be one winner if this deprivation of regular food continues.

We’ve had a couple of intruders this last week. A left leg ringed female came quite close to the nest but, inevitably, not close enough to catch the ring number. Yesterday, an unringed male had the effrontery to land on the nest (well, technically, on top of the chicks) very briefly before being invited to leave by a furious JW6. Samson was away fishing and so missed the drama but JW6 managed extremely well on her own although she wasn’t able to chase the intruder far from the nest as she wasn’t prepared to leave the chicks unguarded. If there’s any doubt about an adult’s commitment to its family, it would be dispelled by the second photo, showing JW6 standing astride her family, looking like an avenging Fury. I wouldn’t want to cross her when she’s in that mood!!

Lastly, I have been extremely disappointed to see on camera several instances of individuals walking under the nest, disregarding the notices asking people to stay away and clearly disturbing the birds in the nest. What was particularly annoying is that some of these intruders were obviously birdwatchers or nature lovers and knew exactly what was there. On one occasion a couple stood about 40 feet from the base of the nest tree, looking up, as JW6 flew round and round alarm calling and there they stood for several minutes. Unfortunately, their faces were unrecognisable from the video but their actions were in clear contravention of the Countryside and Wildlife Act which precludes disturbing Schedule 1 birds at their nest site. I don’t expect people to know the provisions of the Act, and I’m fully aware of their rights under the Rules of Access in Scotland, but the notice they chose to ignore makes it clear they were breaking the law and the sight of an adult bird, circling round in distress should have warned the most ignorant of “nature lovers” that they should not be there. Luckily for them, the chicks were old enough to survive their parent bird’s absence from brooding duties while she attempted to chase away these intruders, but these people were not to know that. The birds are very tolerant of people, dogs, noisy children etc who keep to the river path. Why are there always people who are not content but have to get closer to see, photograph or otherwise experience these magnificent birds, irrespective of the needs of the birds themselves?

With that off my chest I’ll dismount from my hobby horse to say that I will let you know in a few days about the situation with the sibling rivalry. Thankfully, it only occurs when there’s a fish delivery and during feeding. The rest of the time, there’s peace and tranquillity and the chicks don’t bother each other and for that I’m grateful. I know some nests experience major problems, irrespective of the food situation, and the bullied chicks have died. I hope this won’t happen here as I’ve a real soft spot for the little one and, before you ask, human intervention would be inappropriate. Fingers crossed for a peaceful and beneficial resolution for all concerned. Keep those fish coming, Samson.