Estonian Osprey Nest (Ivo & Iiris) 2019

[seira]

08:05 morning routine

08:06

[Summi]

She seems to know very well what is happening.
A completely young, inexperienced bird would not behave this peacefully and non-aggressively.
She seems to definitely have some experience.

Thank you for sharing your opinion with us. This seems to be the case. Maybe Ivo and the Lady need some time to create a bond between them - Ivo's fish gifts, his being submissive, etc. Besides there have been also many disturbing factors and only the last couple of days have been more peaceful.

[Sappheira]

Alert
09:38

[Sappheira]

Evo brought a piece of bark to the nest
10:51

[mogga]

This lady mystifies me... From what we have seen, for example, in Mati's nest, young, inexperienced females who have returned for the first time are also rather aggressive towards the male when he tries to mate. If they are very young, they don't seem to understand his intentions at all; they perceive it rather as a threat and attack the male, bite him when he tries to land on their backs etc.
Mati tried forever to "tame" and teach one such very young lady - the fish worked, the mating not at all, and nothing helped. She was furious every time he approached her "from above" and was fighting back.

This female is completely peaceful. She does not look at all surprised when Ivo lands on her back. She also accepts and lets him land and do "his thing". She was just not very cooperative immediately, but she does not give an impression that this comes from inexperience. She seems to know very well what is happening.
A completely young, inexperienced bird would not behave this peacefully and non-aggressively.
She seems to definitely have some experience.

My guess is that she is not that young/first time returner from Africa. Maybe she just didn't find a partner immediately/it did not work the first year when she returned. And maybe she just needs some more time (for Ivo to bring fish and show that he is a good future mate, that he can make a nice nest etc). After all, they paired up just a couple of days ago..

And yes, the mating at 20:52 was very successful and a bit later, at 21:16 it was, too!

Thanks for your reflections, Sunshine. That sounds good too. I can only make speculations. I'm only watching the ospreys for the third year now, it's all very uncertain what's on my mind. Additionally I have the page about ospreys, which you linked last year (https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna ... troduction).

My basic impression is that it is difficult to interpret the behaviour of a single osprey. This becomes clear on the website again and again. One often reads "With the majority of the individuals it was something like this" or "With 39% of the ospreys this and that was observed".

It is just that this female seems young and a little inexperienced to me. I'm not saying this is her first return from winter. There are many ways a season can go for a female. I'm just saying that she may not have had many successful breeding seasons yet.
For example, I have read that it is not so rare for a male to have two females on two nests. One is then his main female, where he invests a lot of time and the other is his secondary female, where he invests little time. The second female, for example, has to get the fish for herself and the chicks all season long (!). For example, if our female here was a secondary female for the first time, she does not yet have had a regular breeding season.
This should only be an example for the fact that it does not always run as we are used to from Ivo and Irma.

[Summi]

12:30 Ivo placing a stick on the proper place, female followed him shortly

[Sappheira]

12:51
Alert
3 ospreys

Female

[Hellem]

12:51 Ivo landed with a big headless fish, took off, 12:52:01 a stranger female without rings landed on the nest, the female came and chased her away, Ivo landed with a fish and took off

12:59 The female is still chirping alarm
13:10 The female is still protecting the nest

[Sappheira]

12:52
new female



our female
Our Lady (left) attacks, but fails


Ivo with fish, watching the battle

[Sappheira]

12:55
our Lady



Iwo sat on the nest, but the female knocked him out with a flap of wings.
13:02

[Sappheira]

Our female protects the nest
13:05

[Sappheira]

13:11
Our female protects the nest
Another female is attacking

[Helga]

13:30 there are three osprey around. The lady is very excited, she comes to the nest and leaves it a few times.

[Sappheira]

13:12
Battle. Our Lady stands firm.

[Sappheira]

We compare. Determine the gender.
Everything happened so fast, I do not want to make a mistake.

Our Lady


Intruder
the feathers on the chest are bright and dark.

[Helga]

14:22 the other two ospreys are still around the nest, flying close together . One must be Ivo, because he was not seen since the battle started. Lady is still excited, comes to the nest and leaves it around 20 times inbetween the last hour.

[Sappheira]

The spots under the wings are very different and their drawing suggests that these are two females.

our Lady


not our Lady


Our Ivo has no pattern under the wings at all.

[Sappheira]

14:31
Ivo is in the sky for the second hour.
Our Lady is in the nest or near.
The battle for the nest is not over yet.

A few days ago, the three osprey on the nest were together, Ivo brought the fish to both guests. Today, the third bird is chased away.
Something has changed that we, the people, do not know.

[Sappheira]

Our Lady does not want to give the nest. Ivo flies in the nest area, we see 2 osprey in the sky.
14:48

[Hellem]

14:59 The ladies are flying and fighting in the sky
15:05 The female is sitting on the cam stand and still chirping alarm, 15:07 she jumped to the nest