Bird Watching: Raising Aussie Osprey #4, 1 by MargaretK

MargaretK wrote:
Yesterday was the quietest day at the nest in months. Nothing exciting to report. The greatest entertainment was the Willie Wagtails harassing every other bird in the area. It was almost like one of those demonstrations they do to let you test stereo. From the left you'd hear and angry "chatter, chatter, chatter" and the next thing a Kookaburra would fly past with a Willie Wagtail firmly attached to it back. Then from somewhere on the right you'd hear the same chattering and a Raven would fly past cawing loudly with a Wagtail attached to its tail. They went to give a quick burst of annoyance to the female Osprey several times during the afternoon. Unfortunately I had a really bad focus day and nearly all of my shots were disappointing. I'm including these three just because they're funny.

The shadow hits the nest at about 5.15pm. There's about a fifteen minute window of sunlight on the nest again at 6.30pm, so I went home briefly and returned at 6.30. Still nothing happening, but as I was driving up the street the first thing I saw was a Willie Wagtail attached to the back of a Kookaburra which was flying across the road.

I was talking to a guy at the site yesterday afternoon. He's been watching these particular birds for the past five years and reckons it will be at least a week before the chick does anything really exciting. He was also saying that once the chick has fledged, it will return to the nest site until April. He also said that these particular birds have successfully raised two and three chicks in previous years. Makes you wonder why the other chick from this year didn't succeed.