RELUCTANCE TO GO?

I’ve been waiting and waiting so I could tell you that the birds had all departed, Samson having done the last security check on the nest (you know the routine – stuff unplugged, water turned off, windows secured, external doors locked etc) but it was getting later and later, so the normal blog for this time of year has been replaced by yet another “how-goes -it” blog.

Augusta left the area several weeks ago. She hasn’t been seen on any other nests, unlike last year, but I’m just assuming she is now well on her way to, if not arrived at, her wintering grounds. However, the rest of the family are still around. I saw all 3 birds yesterday and C2 seems to have caught up with getting his share of the food being provided. This is a mixed bit of news. It’s great that he’s now well fed but he’s managing to do that by staying close to the nest so he can see Samson coming and can grab the fish before C1 gets there. That means that he is not flying around and familiarising himself with the area or practising his fishing technique as much as perhaps he should. C1, on the other hand, is often not seen for several hours but is usually back for the mid afternoon fish delivery/deliveries.

Poor old Samson, in the meantime, is patiently continuing to feed the youngsters but must be secretly hoping that they’ll hurry up and go. This is certainly the latest we’ve had our resident ospreys still here and he must be ready to start his own journey. I’ve never seen him leave before his chicks but I know this can happen on other nests to force the chicks to depart but I just can’t imagine him doing it. So we’ve reached a bit of an impasse. I think C1 could go first as the more independent of the 2. Once she’s gone, C2 will be able to move around more freely and should gain confidence and set off himself fairly soon. Samson usually leaves as soon as the last chick has departed. I imagine he won’t break that habit this year.

I’m a little limited in coverage of the nest at the moment as my trusty camera system, having worked well all season, has thrown a few wiggly amps problems at me which haven’t been easy to solve. Nevertheless, we have had observers on the ground and I must thank Kirsteen Ramsay for her photos which adorn this blog.

I expect my next blog will be when the 3 have left but goodness knows when that will be; we’re on new ground here. However, I’m on holiday at the beginning of next month so they need to get their skates on. Perhaps they’re waiting for me to give them a lift but they’ll be unlucky. I’m going beyond the wintering grounds of most UK ospreys and it’s a non-stop flight, so they’ll have to rely on their own wings to get them there.

I’ll let you know when Samson succeeds in packing them off on their migration. Now, where did he put his passport…?