OBSERVATIONS~ ESTLAT Osprey~Madis & Piret's nest ~ 2013

[asteria]

Yes, a pine marten visited the nest on the pine.

[Luz4711]

That marten has chosen the rightest time for finding eggs.

Yes too late. But remember there is one egg missing since May
Thanks for information about the Pine Marten.

[andi7]

Would he attack osprey chicks in size of Irma's and Ilmar's offspring? I assume they wouldn't be so nice to the marten as to Ülo during ringing.

[Chimega]

Was it perhaps Oxana? I wondered that too .... Get out the photos for comparisons

I compared the photos of the back of Oxana's head and also some from the side to this osprey and this is not Oxana.

[NancyM]

Chimega ... and I thought it might be ... (of course, another osprey might land on the nest )

[Luz4711]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88-aoCV2 ... cLYxCMQo3A
Thanks Molly ...

[Luz4711]

Several times there were 2 of them picking in the nest
2013-07-23-11-31

[joey]

Good morning
there is an osprey perched in the wood?

grasshoppers are flyng around nest

[Luz4711]

Good morning
there is an osprey perched in the wood?

No, this fooled me also a time ago. It's there on all pictures. Leftover from a fallen tree.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88-aoCV2 ... cLYxCMQo3A 18.07.
Here you can see it without the bush in the front
http://pontu.eenet.ee/kalakotkas/2013-0 ... -14-16.jpg 30.04.

[joey]

No, this fooled me also a time ago. It's there on all pictures. Leftover from a fallen tree.

thank you Luz, I hope always to see Piret and Madis

[Kukelke]

I compared the photos of the back of Oxana's head and also some from the side to this osprey and this is not Oxana.

I checked old pictures of Oxana as well, and came to the same conclusion. In any case are we dealing with young ospreys (both Oxana and this one and perhaps even others who escaped our attention) looking for suitable nesting spots next year.

[Luz4711]

In any case are we dealing with young ospreys (both Oxana and this one and perhaps even others who escaped our attention) looking for suitable nesting spots next year.

May I ask you how you come to the conclusion that the unringend Osprey is a youngster? To me it was the same size like all the other ones that are raising children in the Estlat cams. Also it acted matured. I strongly believe that there are other nests nearby.
In the previous Kalakotkas2 was a family with 2 chicks due to the reporting of Urmas. Don't get me wrong I'm not criticising you. I just wanna know how you do know about it. I believe when some fledge around here they will probably also step by for a short visit.

[Luz4711]

Good morning
grasshoppers are flying around nest

Thanks for identifying. I was wondering what's flying around or better jump around.

[Kukelke]

In any case are we dealing with young ospreys (both Oxana and this one and perhaps even others who escaped our attention) looking for suitable nesting spots next year.

May I ask you how you come to the conclusion that the unringend Osprey is a youngster? To me it was the same size like all the other ones that are raising children in the Estlat cams. Also it acted matured. I strongly believe that there are other nests nearby.
In the previous Kalakotkas2 was a family with 2 chicks due to the reporting of Urmas. Don't get me wrong I'm not criticising you. I just wanna know how you do know about it. I believe when some fledge around here they will probably also step by for a short visit.

I use deduction and logic, although I'm not 100% sure ofcourse. But, recently I read somewhere on the website of the Dyfi Osprey Project something about other osprey "intruders". I will try to dig up the actual text from the recesses of the internet, but anyway, it was, among others, about this year's female (Glesni) who was first sighted at the Dyfi during last year's breeding season. Back then Glesni was an intruder at the Dyfi (Nora was the female on the Dyfi nest at that time). Glesni was originally a Ruthland osprey and ringed there. But after her first ever return to Europe she was sighted on several known osprey nesting sites in the UK (including both Ruthland where she was born, and the Dyfi as well), as if she was making a mental map of good sites which she had to check out the following spring in case there were vacant nests and/or vacant males. And indeed, this year Glesni did return to those nesting sites she had been visiting last year, including the Dyfi where the previous female (Nora) hadn't returned and thus Glesni took Nora's place at the Dyfi.

In that article I read, there were also other ospreys mentioned with their names, numbers and typical characteristics, and all were relatively young without a partner nor a nest, and all were observed crisscrossing the UK and "intruding" at various osprey nesting sites. So the theory behind this was that young ospreys who haven't been breeding yet, return to their original home sites in order to see if there's a vacant spot there, and from there they will venture further away to look for suitable nesting sites. Young ospreys who haven't found a mate and nest during spring, will use the rest of the summer season to check out all those possible spots for next year's breeding season. They are doing their "homework", so to say. And spots where there are ospreys already will ofcourse have a big plus in the homework book, because that is proof of a good osprey habitat and living conditions.

So, all the above taken into account, and also the fact that spring started late this year in Estonia, meaning all of nature was delayed and that there therefore most likely aren't any of this years fledglings around yet (most have hardly fledged at all, let alone left their nests for good, and fledglings have much more white at the tip of their feathers compared to adults), tells me that we have to do with relatively young birds who haven't reproduced yet, but are ready to do so and looking for suitable places for future reproduction. The chances that these lone intruding ospreys are in the same situation as Piret and Madis are rather low if you ask me, since the current situation at the Piret & Madis nest (= both male and female there but no chicks) is an exception, or at least pretty uncommon in the osprey world. Besides that, ospreys in the same situation as Piret and Madis do have a home and thus a nest to defend, and would never leave it for a long period of time in order to check out other nesting sites.

Et ergo: we most likely are dealing with young ospreys who are looking for suitable nesting spots for next year's breeding season.

[Luz4711]

Thanks Kukelke.

[Luz4711]

They are there very often. Quiet for a while, still there at Estonian time 16:32

2013-07-24-13-51

[Kukelke]

To Luz4711, and other interested people too ofcourse,

I found the article on intruding ospreys from the Dyfi Osprey Project which I mentioned yesterday:

We've had 61 separate osprey intruder events this season so far, at the same point last year (July 7th) we were up to 35. So what's going on?

Well, there will not be 61 different ospreys, many of the intruder visits will be by the same bird. We're pretty sure there's a non-breeding male around (with a moulting secondary feather on his left wing) and Dai Dot has made a few appearances, another male that is a Dyfi resident for at least the last three years. At a very rough guess, we've probably recorded between 20 and 30 individual birds. So let's try and answer a very commonly asked question on Facebook and emails:

Why are so many ospreys attracted to the Dyfi?


Well the answer is simple. The Dyfi, like countless estuaries up and down the coast of UK and Ireland, is a great place for ospreys to breed. It has the kind of habitat they need and it has the food they need. But the big elephant in the room here is the nest.

Ospreys are attracted to other active osprey nests like bees to honey. They are infatuated by them and there's a very good reason. If a non-breeding osprey (male or female) sees another nest with eggs or chicks in, it means that this must be a good area for ospreys to breed. The decision is made for them, two other birds have taken the 'gamble', it's worked - it's a no brainer. Oh, there's a Brucie bonus in it for them too - if they can displace the corresponding osprey (male to male or female to female), the nest is theirs, a free house. No more prospecting, wasting valuable time, assessing a habitat for its osprey worthiness. It's winner takes all but without Jimmy Tarbuck. Job done.

Read more on: http://www.dyfiospreyproject.com/blog/2013/07/blue-24 (scroll a bit down to "Blue 24" or just read the whole excellent blog)

The same mechanics and dynamics are true for our ospreys in Kalakotkasland too, ofcourse.

[Luz4711]

Thanks again, Kukelke.
.....

There a million of bugs in the nest now. Or is this an anthill now? Earlier a lot of moth were flying around also.
I did not see them when the birds were there this afternoon picking in the nest for quiet a while.

2013-07-24-13-50

[Luz4711]

25.07.2013 - 08:38 Birds are back, bugs - or what ever kind of species - are not active.

[molly]

July 25

Little visitors in nest