FULL SET

As promised, I’m updating on the situation on the nest since the second egg was laid.

We had further intrusions by 565 on Sunday (4th) but, if she has been around since then, she certainly hasn’t come so close as to disturb the birds on the nest. An intruding bird when there are eggs or young chicks in the nest can cause disaster but it’s interesting, and a sign of her growing maturity, that Augusta tended to pancake rather than rear up when 565 attacked on Sunday, protecting the eggs from harm.

The big news is that we now have a full set of eggs, after Augusta laid her third egg at about 1335 today. It took some while before she gave us any sort of look at them and it wasn’t until Samson came in with a fish that we got a clear view. Samson wasn’t sure that being given some time incubating was worth the exchange of a sizeable meal and so a bit of a tug of war ensued.

However, having lost that battle, he did take a long look at the eggs and took some time to bathe in the (mainly) reflective glory of 3 eggs having been produced.

Augusta must have been delighted to stretch her legs and wings and also to take shelter in some shade to eat her fish. It looked really hot up there as there was absolutely no wind and no shade from about midday. Samson was soon sitting with his beak open, looking longingly at where Augusta was sitting in the cool, enjoying her late lunch. There are definitely downsides to the job of incubating, despite it being a favourite pastime of his!