They're ba-a-ack. Osprey season begins.

Looks like this could be a fabulous year of Osprey watching in Perth!

What wonderful photos in the first week of the thread...congrats to you both...
To me the ones showing those beautiful flight feathers are just magic.

Definitely " the other side" of Big Hook...Pete......there is a bird with attitude...she is so smug she is almost smiling.
Wonderful again..Margaret
Thanks.

A wonderful start! Looking forward to many more photos of this nesting pair and (hopefully) their young!

Well, this week has been a bit of a fizzog. Dad and Big Hook were on the nest when I arrived yesterday, otherwise each time I've been there, the nest has been vacant. I think Big Hook may be ready to start mating, but Dad doesn't, as yet. They sat quietly for about half an hour, then Big Hook started to get restless, moving around the nest and vocalizing.

She continued to vocalize as she moved over to Dad, who turned his head towards her to hear what she was saying - maybe he was telling her not to yell in his ear.

She turned towards the centre of the nest and appeared to adopt a position which would have welcomed him. I thought for a second that they were going to mate as he turned and with claws bunched, hopped up onto her back. However, that was as far as it went and he flew off. Big Hook left about 10 minutes after that and I didn't see or hear them again.

Nice ones Margaret!

Hopefully he'll get in a better mood soon. Great photos Margaret. You sure have lots of patience just sitting and waiting for these birds.

LOL!!! Think we have been there.... :)

Fantastic shots Margaret!

Maybe it's just too cold for the guy. ;)

LOL Burd, nanny and Mrs Ed.

Thanks Pelle and duc. It's really no hardship just sitting and waiting. I'll sometimes take my laptop with me and work on the book. There's no better venue for remembering the atmosphere of the 2008-2009 season.

Just a bit of an update on our ospreys. Madame X observed them mating several days ago. I've been down there several times since and although they're bringing sticks and other material to the nest and are spending a lot of time there, I haven't seen them coupling - yet.

I have just a few shots from yesterday. I thought I'd go along the low path because the lighting is really poor from the usual places at the moment, with the sun being so far to the north. Big Hook was sitting on the nest when I arrived. She glanced at me but didn't bother moving, even though I was wearing a red Goretex jacket. My experience has been that our birds don't like red (we don't have hummingbirds) or white. Birders generally should stick to dull camouflage colours to avoid spooking whatever they're watching.

After about half an hour she flew up onto one of the branches and this is her calling out to her mate in greeting as he flew in from the end of the bay.

She turned around as he landed

and joined him on the nest. His nictitating membrane is across his eye.

He then went to the side of the nest and adopted this typical pose.

Big Hook flew across to the other side of the bay. She returned shortly afterwards with a large clump of weed, leaves and a bit of rope.

Last one for today - Dad sitting atop the pole branch.

We're experiencing some wild weather at the moment, but I'll still hopefully be able to get to the nest again today in the hope I'll see them mating.

Welcome back to the nesting site and thank you Margaret for bringing them; the beautiful, vibrant couple back to us viewers here in DG. What handsome couple Dad and Bighook are!

ooo, love them. So good to see them on the nest again.

Glad to see some more action, at the nest. It won't be long now. superb shots, Margaret.

Nice shots Margaret!! Really like that last one. Did you ever get to buy that Tamron converter?

Thanks folks. Burd, I haven't yet. Thanks for reminding me. I've lent my 1.4 Canon to Pete (unsteady) to use with his 500mm lens. He's getting some amazing shots with that rig. I'm heading off to the nest right now. It's really windy and cloudy, but with occasional bright patches and not much rain.

Beautiful pics Margaret! The couple look great!

Great shots, Margaret. I'm a bit confused on the timing of the nesting down there. Isn't this your "winter".? Must not get cold in Australia.

Yeah...tell 'em how cold it gets there!! lol

Beautiful photos! Nice to see them together on the nest.

Well, I guess I must have been on another planet! I call myself looking for this thread and did not see a new one, so I thought maybe I was too early...look what I have missed!!

Great pix, Mags! I am so looking forward to this nesting season...

I missed this thread--must have been on the same planet as duckmother!!

Wonderful shots Margaret.

I'm drooling again Margaret! Your pictures are so crisp and clear. Love them all.

I think it's interesting that your osprey are just now setting up their nests (in winter) while ours are now feeding their young (mid to high 90's here). I guess the birds have become acclimated to their areas.

Our local paper has a little write up about our Ospreys....and how Ospreys' lovers here are encouraged to set up platform nest structures for them along our River. If only the writer can visit Margaret's wonderful threads! I'm so lucky to have found your thread Margaret.

I'm glad you've found the thread. I can't believe this is my third season watching them and posting, even though it's been less than two years.

GP, the winters generally are very mild, especially in comparison to the northern hemisphere. The Australian Alps get pretty chilly and the snow fields are very active at the present time. There really are snow fields in Australia. http://au.totaltravel.yahoo.com/promotions/ski/ However, with the exception of some parts of Tasmania the coastal areas don't get too cold at all. I assume that our ospreys need to start their season early so that chicks have fledged by the time summer hits with a vengeance, usually late December or early January (with variations). If chicks hadn't fledged by then, they'd be in danger of cooking to death on the nest, as osprey nests are invariably fully exposed.

This will give you an idea of what winter is like here. I took this shot this afternoon. These guys were out on the water for over two hours. Mind you, in deference to the cold, they were wearing wetsuits. When they first jumped into the water I could hear one of them laughingly say: "Ooow, refreshing!"

Lily_love, would there be any chance of you having an osprey platform constructed in front of your place? Then I could go between ducs and your places. I don't know what impact the oil disaster in the gulf will have on your ospreys, but they may need every bit of help they can get.

There's been very little going on at the nest and no further mating has been observed. However, the nest isn't left unattended for long and there have been other ospreys flying around, so I guess these two need to remain pretty vigilant so that there isn't an attempted coup. Sticks continue to be added from time to time.

Big Hook was on the nest when I arrived there this afternoon. Here's Dad flying in for a 30 second visit before heading off to the end of the bay, where he remained for the rest of the afternoon.

The Rainbow Lorikeets continue to show a great interest in the area inside and below the nest. Madame X was watching them vanishing into it this morning and they arrived again this afternoon.

When I was leaving this afternoon, I could hear baby Lorikeets in a nest hollow in a tree over the road. We've had one flying around at home. Maybe the sign of an early spring - or maybe a sign that this invasive species is increasing its foothold.

Thanks for the info Margaret. You must all really look forward to "winter", unlike most folks in the states. PS I usually look forward to winter too, but after last winter, I'm not sure what to expect. It was so cold here most of the birds I normally see kept going South.

This message was edited Jul 13, 2010 6:33 AM

Shortly after I took this shot, both the Lorikeets started screeching louder (if that's possible) than usual. I should have realized that an osprey was on the way and sure enough Big Hook returned to the nest and they flew off in alarm. It'll be interesting to see if they do set up nest there. They did this last year, but they certainly didn't hatch any chicks.

Oh GP, you are so right. I absolutely love winter, although I'm a self-confessed thunderstorm wimp. Winter here rarely stops you from doing anything, whereas the relentless heat of summer is so enervating it really curtails activities - except swimming.

Beautiful shots Margaret!

Funny seeing the Lorikeets too.

Are the lorikeets native? Or are they just pesty birds, like grackles here.

Iris, they're native to Queensland and northern New South Wales, on the other side of the continent. They were introduced to Western Australia, it is thought maybe by accident in fruit crates or possibly as escaped aviary birds. However they got here, they are posing an increasing risk to native species because of competition for nesting sites and nectar sources, but also because of real and potential damage to the orchards and vineyards in the region.

What great photos! The osprey are beautiful and so are those Lorikeets.