Osprey season 2010. Towards fledging.

The chick is progressing well and appears to be a very large bird - it's almost impossible to tell for sure, but it seems to be much larger than either Aussie or Harmony at the same stage. It is exercising its wings frequently and because of the shallowness of the nest, there's a real concern that it may leave the nest before it's fully ready to. As Pete mentioned in the last thread, Big Hook vacates the nest when the chick starts flapping, as there simply isn't enough room.

Here's a link to the previous thread. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1136955/
... and to the first thread for the 2010 season. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1109408/

Big Hook leaves and the chick continues to flap away. It is not far off lifting a couple of inches off the nest.

And it stumbles. It really is exactly like looking at a toddler flopping down whilst learning how to walk and looking puzzled at how such a thing could possibly happen.

I've seen this chick watch helicopters and airplanes fly over and yachts and jet skis pass below without it hunkering down. However, a gentle little Laughing Turtledove flew upwards in a mating display and it promptly hit the deck ... albeit momentarily.

Big Hook had flown off somewhere and Dad, as keen as ever, came and landed on the nest. It was during his time on the nest that the size of this chick really became apparent. (The chick's on the right).

Another shot showing the size difference.

I swear this shot isn't photoshopped.

It started exercising again whilst Dad was on the nest, occasionally whacking him on the head with a stray wing. Another stumble.

This chick's a whopper! It's really hard to believe that it's only six weeks old.

"Yes, I do believe you are getting hair on your chest"

Ha! That might be your name, "Whopper". I tell you I can't believe how big it is. Just wanted to be the first to say that, because I'm sure everyone else will have the same thing to say! ha.

This is for Madame X.

Good one, Mrs Ed. That name is very appropriate.

Last shot for tonight.

Excellent shots Margaret! That chick is so beautiful!

Holy cow....it is huge!!!

Fantastic job with your photos to show the comparison between Dad & chick!

Whopper! I'll say! My goodness, I cannot believe the size of that chick! Great pictures Margaret.

Wow...what a wonderful series Margaret and the chick is huge! I suppose the nest site would be called "home of the big Whopper"!!

Hey Rose.......SO glad to see you back!!! We miss youuuu!

WOW! This baby is huge. Love the shot of him showing off his chest feathers.

beautiful shots margaret. The chick is definitly a whopper..= }

Fabulous photo's Margaret! That baby is getting huge. I really love the shot of Dad and chick together, the one that wasn't photoshopped, it's an amazing photo showing the detail! The chick looks larger than Dad or pretty close to size ... I wonder if he/she will be end up being bigger than mom?

The photo that you labeled for Madame X is amazing ... Big Hook is such a regal lady!

Gee ... they are all amazing photograph's, if I had to pick ten favorites it would take me a year!

Beautiful series Margaret, I agreed-- whoa! The chick's appearance makes its parents look insignificant. There is an old saying "Better generation -- ahead". Let's toast to the future this Holiday season. Welcome back Rose.

Excellent photos, I loved the portrait of Madame X. I was wondering if the chick looks so large compared to dad if it might be a female? I seem to recall you talking about the female being larger than the males.

Love that "Whopper" temporary or nickname! It does fit.

I was thinking the same thing Duc, it being maybe a female. Whopper would be so fitting. It got so large in such a short time. Margaret superb photos.

OMG! The baby turned into one big bird over night!!! Maybe we should go the opposite way and call it "Tiny" LOL

Great pix as always, Mags!

oh yah! Tiny. LOL. what if it turns out to be as big as an Eagle.

Oh I love that!! Like Baby Huey! lol

Ha! Huey. All fun!

Nice shots Margaret!! This one is growing so fast...getting near fledge time already.

all to funny and good names... it is amazing how fast the chick has grown,just amazing.Thanks margaret

Thanks so much Margaret for taking the time to take all the wonderful photos. It /she looks to be very large, maybe because only one and got so much attention.

Donna

So sorry about the hiatus. Things have been hectic and we've had some extremely hot days which puts sitting on a baking embankment on the back burner. Pete and I spent a day Osprey monitoring on Rottnest Island last week, which was interesting. I went to the nest this afternoon for the first time in a few days. Things are progressing nicely, but nothing really exciting to post (which is just fine). Dad arrived with a fish shortly after I got there and Big Hook immediately started to feed the chick.

Welcome back, Rose! We have really missed you.

The chick is showing great interest in everything going on around it. At one time this afternoon, both Big Hook and Dad were on the nearby pole branch and I could hear them calling softly to each other. I couldn't see them from where I was because the trees are now obscuring the view, but I could pinpoint where they were because of the chick's gaze.

Here's the chick watching what its mother was doing with a stick (fascinating stuff, stick repositioning).

Even in comparison to its much bigger mother, it's still a big chick. Note the difference in the colour of their eyes.

An airplane was passing overhead in the distance.

That's it for tonight. I won't get down there again until Wednesday afternoon at the earliest.

good gravy it's big. I can't imagine three of them in that nest. Sure is brave too!

I think we have a big girl...taking after her momma!

I can just imagine what this chick was thinking when it saw that plane. Wonderful photos Margaret.

So my prediction of a fledge on 23rd November is not going to come true :(

It sure is a big chick. When Old Ma was banded back on November 21st, 1990, Perry, the man who did the banding described her in his notes as the biggest and heaviest of three siblings. So, even though there's no way of accurately comparing this chick to Aussie and Harmony, this one certainly seems a lot larger at the same age when seen side by side with Dad.

Thanks, duc. I love it when the chicks look skywards like that because the light invariably hits their eyes. Again, comparing Aussie and Harmony, both would stare at a passing aircraft just like that, but would hit the deck after a few seconds. Apart from when this little one briefly hunkered down when the turtledove was in a courtship glide, it has shown no inclination to conceal itself.

Tiger, because there's no pressure to migrate, things tend to happen at a more leisurely pace here. From memory, Aussie was 68 days when it fledged and of course Harmony left the nest earlier than expected, so no way of gauging when it would have fledged if a strong gust of wind hadn't altered its course.