Bird Watching: Raising Aussie Osprey #5, 1 by MargaretK

MargaretK wrote:
Here's Mum having a stretch. She remained on that nearby branch for four hours that I'm aware of. She called to the male a couple of times when he briefly flew by. They've both done a fabulous job raising this gorgeous little bird, but I think the female has a harder time than most because of her blind left eye, which is seen here, which I think has been painful recently. When I first started observing these birds several months ago, the left eye still had some semblance of an eye about it. That's no longer the case and her left eye is frequently closed or, if it's open, looks an opaque reddish colour. I also noticed when I had a look at the shots I'd taken when I got home, that she has an accumulation of muck on the left side of her beak near the base which isn't there on the right hand side, which makes me think that the eye is producing some exudate. I haven't seen her rub the left side of her face on her wing or scratch at her eye, which would be an indicator that it is really bothering her.