20:41 - Two sleepy kalakotkas youngsters in a relatively windy nest. Both with full crops and tired after today's flying trips.
My guess is that both sleep on the nest tonight, which after all is much more comfy than perching in some tree in these winds, and less exhausting for their talons.
21:05 First DH then DJ were up, and had poops shots, then DJ (Kaido) flew off the nest.
21:07 Kaido returns.
My guess is that both sleep on the nest tonight, which after all is much more comfy than perching in some tree in these winds, and less exhausting for their talons.
The way birds' feet work, when the toes are relaxed, the tendons cause them to curl around a perch and grip it tightly - so it is not exhausting for them to perch, but is the normal way. It is unusual for adult birds to lie down as these young ones do.
About the talons - I have noticed that it takes a few seconds before the adult can let go of the fish - as though they have to make a conscious effort to open the talons.
NancyM wrote:The way birds' feet work, when the toes are relaxed, the tendons cause them to curl around a perch and grip it tightly - so it is not exhausting for them to perch, but is the normal way. It is unusual for adult birds to lie down as these young ones do.
I'm aware of that, but these youngsters haven't perched much in their short life. There's also the element of balance involved. They can have an automatic tight grip on the branch they're sitting on, but that doesn't help much when the rest of the body sways back and forth all the time. We'll see what happens.
21:21 - Both youngsters flew off for now. Will they perch in some tree tonight, or rather spend the night in their nest?
21:23 - DH back on the nest again.
21:24 - DH can't make up his mind and flies off once more.
Looks like ospreys love dead trees. I've been watching some ospreys in USA, there they also liked to sit on a dead tree though it was not that close to the nest.
Here is a 5-minute video of Kenno's fledge this morning. Kaido seemed to be chirping to her almost the entire time - I think Kaido really was encouraging Kenno to fly.
Maggy I can“t believe how big they are now.
21.44
NancyM: Thanks for the video.
Edit. I just noticed Kenno made a poop shot to the nest just before her first flight.