Author Archives: Rosieshields

Well, it took 48 hours from writing the blog expressing my concern about the non-arrival of the birds, but the ploy worked and Samson duly arrived this morning, in torrential rain and pursued by the local jackdaws. He was soaked, and I struggled to see him properly (see the picture below) but eventually he driedContinue reading “I TOLD YOU….”

Several of you have been in contact asking whether our birds have returned yet but I’m afraid that there is no news yet. I am particularly concerned about JW6 (Juno) who is 16 days’ late from her 2023 arrival date and 6 days’ late from her 2022 arrival. It’s not beyond the realms of possibilityContinue reading “NO NEWS”

Well, that’s that, then. The nest is redundant; the almost constant noise from food begging female and chicks has ceased; the final fish catch of the season has been delivered. The area seems weirdly quiet and empty, despite other birds and animals being around and doing their thing. None of them has the same impactContinue reading “THE END OF THE SEASON”

I DON’T KNOW WHY I BOTHER; I really don’t! Yesterday evening I wrote that JW6 had definitely maybe left on migration. Not been seen, longer absence than normal…blah…blah. I downloaded yesterday’s recordings as I do each following morning, came home to review the footage…and guess what? JW6 brought a tatty tail end of a fishContinue reading “YET MORE HUMBLE PIE”

Since fledging, Jed (733) and Ursula (732) have fallen into a steady routine of eating, flying circuits, preening, exploring and eating, with more eating thrown in wherever possible. Handover of fish has become a nerve wracking and often painful experience for Samson as the two of them come racing in and fight over who getsContinue reading “TIME IS TICKING ON…”

It’s a strange old feeling when you see the nest empty for the first time since breeding commenced and that’s what I was met with this morning when I arrived and, although I expected it, there is a deal of emotion I always experience each year it happens. 732 (Ursula) has been almost ready toContinue reading “732 (URSULA) FLEDGES”

I was intending writing a blog about the changing dynamics in the nest but it got overtaken by the exciting news that 733 (Jed) fledged at 1600 this afternoon after umming and aahing (spelling??) for several hours. The chicks’ helicoptering had, to be frank, been quite conservative up until today. We had certainly seen airContinue reading “FLEDGING TIME ALREADY”

I promised you I’d let you know the names we’d picked for the two chicks now that we know we have a male and a female. The older chick, which is male and Darvic ringed 733, will be called Jed after the local town, Jedburgh. The younger chick, the female who is Darvic ringed 732,Continue reading “NAMES”

Thankfully, it was a little cooler and not so muggy as last year when we gathered to do the ringing of the 2 chicks. Our normal ringer, Tony, decided to supervise at ground level this year and so Bjorn was dispatched up the tree to collect the chicks. As usual, JW6 flew around the nestContinue reading “RINGING DAY – 2023”

Despite all our positive vibes and its best efforts, I’m sorry to announce that chick 3 died this morning at about 1030. It was very weak and wobbly first thing and made no effort to try for food although chick 2 could still not resist giving it a couple of pecks as it passed. TheContinue reading “SAD NEWS”