Bird Watching: Raising Aussie Osprey #8, 1 by MargaretK

MargaretK wrote:
Yes, it was really good news. What a thrill to have seen that. We've shared the agony of the past couple of weeks.

When I got to the site this afternoon, Mum was on the right hand branch and Aussie was on the nest making her usual racket. Mum seemed perfectly contented, preening herself, gazing about her, looking downwards into the water with that wonderful head rocking motion and communication with Aussie. The relationship between them seemed far less strained than it has been, although when Mum started making her way down the branch towards the nest, Aussie adapted that submissive, wing down and out posture.

What I have noticed, viewing the shots of her on the computer, is that she definitely look much leaner than I've seen her before. I think this shot shows the loss of condition. So the optimism is still tainted with concern about her ability to fend for herself in the longer term. However, she is not in any distress whatsoever.