Raising Aussie Osprey #9

We've come from here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/946950/

Things continue to be unsettled, chaotic and worrying, with constant fights between Mum and Aussie, which at times are really vicious. Neither bird is catching her own fish, or enough to provide adequate sustenance; Mum, because of reduced ability because of her blind left eye and Aussie probably because the whole natural progression of experience and learning has been denied her because of Mum's situation. Poor Dad continues to bring fish; however it's as if he's confused as to when to bring the fish and to whom, with both Mum and Aussie vying for it. He appears to be waiting until only one of the girls is on the nest before making a delivery.

When I arrived at the nest this afternoon, Aussie was alone on the nest. Within ten minutes she was calling loudly and becoming highly agitated, a sure sign that either Mum or Dad is coming. It turned out to be Mum and she was in no mood for any insurrection from Aussie. Despite her less than robust state, she landed with great confidence and ease, ready to do battle.

Well I'm hoping for the best but expecting the worst. Poor Dad; I can't imagine whats going through his head.

Mum had the upper hand from the beginning of this particular foray, although Aussie wasn't going to go without putting up a fight.

The lady who lives close by says that Mum and Aussie had been going at it hammer and tongs all day, with Aussie being very much the antagonist. However, during one of their conflicts, Mum had Aussie on her back on the nest, then a short time later, there was such a confused tangle of wings and claws that it was hard to make out which bird was on top. Dad had brought two fish during the day and Aussie ended up with both of them. She has observed that he'll sit on his favourite branch, intently watching proceedings, holding a fish, but is tending not to deliver it if both girls are at the nest site at the same time, no doubt aware of the conflict which will inevitably result.

Pelle, those of us who have been following this drama, particularly over the last 2-3 weeks agree that Mum doesn't seem to be on death's doorstep any longer. She's still skinny and her behaviour is abnormal, but she's certainly hanging in there.

This message was edited Feb 21, 2009 11:59 AM

Aussie submitted and scampered up the branch. Once there, she puffed herself up and squawked constantly at Mum. Initially Mum responded with quite a croaky call, but eventually, assured that she had won this round, preened herself (she was wet when she arrived) and had one or two little naps.

Oops, there are several shots before that last one. This is part of the skirmish when Mum first arrived at the nest, before Aussie went up onto the branch.

It's hard to tell just how long these fights last, but I think this one went on for about twenty seconds.

Hard to tell with the feathers covering her frame, but Mum doesn't even look as skinny as she did a few days ago.

Aussie tried to give as good as she was getting, but in this instance, Mum held the dominant position.

I'll have to call it quits for tonight and post more in the morning. Rose said she needed her beauty sleep; I need mine too, and believe me, I need a whole lot more of it than she does.

Amazing shots Margaret!

Those are some awesome photos!!!

Thanks for keeping the updates coming, Wondering how things will turn out with both of them. If Dad will take Aussie fishing as well.

Thanks Pelle and Nanny. The lighting was just right.

Mum continues her quest to force Aussie to leave. Aussie really should be finding her own food by now.

Burn, I've only ever seen her arrive with one fish that she'd obviously caught herself, and that was when she caught the toxic Blowfish. Who knows what she's doing during those parts of the day when she's not at the nest.

Mum is showing the signs of wear and tear from repeated battles with Aussie on top of her already malnourished state; she was, however, able to hold her ground during another brief encounter when Aussie tried to re-enter the nest.

Aussie strongly protested to the eviction.

After abut 3/4 of an hour on the nest, Mum took off after a lot of head rocking whilst peering into the bay. You could then hear the cogs ticking over in Aussie's brain. She'd eye the nest, then scan the bay and the trees, looking to see if Mum was watching from a distance. Eventually Aussie couldn't resist the urge to get onto the nest any longer and with considerable fanfare, flew onto the nest, looking around nervously for a few seconds before settling to some quiet preening of feathers and dignity.

Nice pic with the neck/chest feather's flared out.

Thank you Pelle. I was pretty pleased with yesterday's shots.

Mum did several low passes, but hadn't returned to the nest by the time I left. In the meantime, Dad dropped a fish off for Aussie who took it out onto the branch, holding it in her talons for 15 minutes before starting to eat it, a sure indication that she's not starving. This was the third time that Dad had been seen bringing a fish yesterday (still today for some). It's worrying that she's so reliant on this.

I've posted shots from the same series as this one before, but I wanted to include it again as it shows such a different relationship and such promise.

I received an update from the other regular observer yesterday. He and his wife had gone to the nest about midday on Saturday. Aussie was on the nest making a racket and they spotted another Osprey approaching with a decent sized fish. This turned out to be Mum and she seemed to want to land on the nest, but thought better of it due Aussie's presence and after doing a circuit, took it to one of the branches below the nest, where she proceeded to eat it, ignoring Aussie's pleas from above for a share of the catch.

After she'd finished eating, she flew up to the nest and a might argument followed, but Mum got the upper hand and forced Aussie off the nest. For about an hour, Aussie made a lot of noise from the branch. Mum basically ignored her, preened herself, did a good poop and chilled out. Aussie eventually flew from the branch onto a much lower one in a nearby tree.

He and his wife both believe that, although thinner, Mum appears to be healthy and capable of looking after herself. She may not be able to catch as many fish as easily as in the past, which could account for her weight loss. They also speculate on whether Mum may have had some illness, possibly related to her eye, which caused the marked deterioration in her health and she is now recovering enough to regain some condition and strength.

Margaret...that is such good news. I have just been thinking about this situation and wonder if the reason for the two fighting is that Aussie isn't trying to get her own food? Maybe that Blow Fish made her gun shy or something.

Wonderful pics as always...the detail is awesome!!

Thanks for the update..I really feel more hopeful.

Thanks Rose. I'd actually had the same thought about the Blowfish. Who knows, but she really should be eagerly embracing independence by now. She'll be four months old tomorrow or the day after.

I've had an update from my fellow observer. Aussie was on the nest this morning when he and his wife went for a walk. There were three Ospreys circling above; one was Mum, who is always recognizable by her leg band and two others, which may be earlier siblings.

I spent only a couple of hours at the nest site today. When I arrived, Mum was on the nest and Aussie on the branch making her usual racket. There was really very little activity, except Mum went for a couple of flights, not returning after the last one. When she leaves, it's as if Aussie can't believe her good luck at being handed the nest on a platter. She looks to see where Mum's gone, she looks at the nest, she looks skyward and then scans all the trees in sight. She then checks the nest again and with a squeal of delight flies down onto it, where she repeats the routine checks. Satisfied that the nest is actually hers, she settles down to preening, calling the fishmonger (who must have had a day off) and having a doze.

When Mum returned to the nest after her first flight, Aussie briefly confronted her, but Mum stood her ground and Aussie very quickly retreated to the branch where she voiced her disapproval.

In light of all the drama recently, I'm glad to be able to post a light hearted shot of Mum catching a fly. My fellow observer and I have both seen her do this before.

Very cute Margaret!

Sounds a bit like our little girl doesn't want to growup!! Glad to hear that Mum is able to catch fish. This is quite a soap opera!

She's part FROG!

Great news, I think, Mum's showing Aussie that, the nest is hers to breed and that it won't belong to Aussie in adulthood. Maybe it time for Aussie to learn the lesson of life as an Osprey, and Mum is making it clear. Tough love.......... Just speculating here. :))

This has been quite the story, ever changing. I was thinking soap opera myself.

If you tell someone you are watching the progress of a nest from eggs to fledge, and beyond, it sounds kind of boring. This saga has been far from boring!

I feel a little better that mom can fish for herself, even in a limited capacity. She is one tough cookie.

It must be hard to watch her and Aussie fight. You just want to go in and yell "stop it! go to your corner of the nest and calm down!" LOL

But she needs to keep rule over the nest, and she is doing quite well. And Aussie looks wonderful. I am sure she is proud of her little girl.

They both need a slap in the face with a wet fish

;-)

LOL! so true

aww. be nice to the poor birdies.

Well today (Saturday) is day four of not seeing or hearing Mum. When she was last seen, she was alert and active. She had been observed eating a good sized fish a week ago and has also been seen to be excreting small, but normal looking poops. I went for a walk along the river yesterday to see if I could see her in any of the trees. I saw Dad and the lady who lives close by had seen Aussie at the nest site. She had also observed three Ospreys flying above the bay on Tuesday and believes one of them was Mum. She has also noticed that in years past, the Ospreys are there one day and gone the next, then return in about June to start re-establishing the nest and bond. All of us that are regular observers at the site remain optimistic about Mum. If she'd done a no-show like this a couple of weeks back, we'd have been panicking.

There's been a marked shift in Aussie's behaviour since Mum hasn't been around at the nest. Instead of standing on the nest looking towards Dad's favourite tree and calling for food, she has been standing on the edge of the nest and peering down into the water, doing that head rocking movement they do when zeroing in on a fish. She left the nest several times and returned about 10-15 minutes later, although she didn't return with a fish whilst I was there.

I went back down to the river with binoculars this morning and viewed from quite a distance, but couldn't pick anything out in the trees.

This is a shot of Aussie launching herself off the branch the day before yesterday.

Here's Aussie heading off from the nest yesterday afternoon. She had been peering into the water below, head rocking and then left without a sound, which is again a shift in her usual pattern of announcing to the world that she was going for a flight.

It's just cooling down to a respectable 35.7C (96F) after hitting the old 100F about an hour ago. I'll wait until it becomes even more respectable before heading out.

Love the launching shot Magaret.

Oh, to be left hanging here wondering about mum....if we have to wait until June to see if she returns would be torture!

So Mom left with a group and Dad & Aussie are still around? Hmmm

Nice shots Margaret!

I am learning so much about Ospreys. Thanks so much, Marg. Great pix.

Kim

MargaretK~lots of drama since I've been away; the photos are just fantastic and knowing the story that goes along with them, really makes this a special thread.

Thanks, Nanny, Pelle and Kim.

Welcome back Kiska. Hope you had a good holiday.

I haven't posted because there hasn't been terribly much happening, but there are many pairs of eyes looking. Four days ago the lady who lives close by saw an adult Osprey fly by with a fish, not long after dawn. Short thereafter another adult Osprey flew by, without a fish. She was fairly certain that the second Osprey was Dad. Aussie arrived with a fish and stood on a branch nearby at 11am, but didn't start to eat the fish until 3pm.

Early that same morning, my fellow observers wife had seen three Ospreys soaring above the area. She was unable to identify them, but we all like to think that Mum is one of the birds being sighted.

Yesterday when I arrived at the nest, Aussie was one the branch with a fish. She wasn't eating it and the fish looked like it was long dead - the skin looked quite dry. She actually dozed for a greater part of the time I was there. She started to eat it about an hour after I arrived. I could see Dad in his favourite tree and Aussie would call to him periodically, between snoozes.

In this shot, there's nothing wrong with Aussie's eye, just the nictitating membrane covering it.

This is not the sight of a hungry bird.

Dad is still providing her with fish. I don't know about this one, but assume he provided it, as the head has been removed. Aussie isn't quite as neat, or restrained with a whole fish.

After I'd left the other evening, my fellow observer saw Aussie plunge from the nest and flew over to the tree where Dad hangs out and could be heard nagging someone. This turned out to be Dad and they both arrived back at the nest, Aussie leading the way, squealing and alighting on the nest first. Dad landed on the nest straight afterwards with the remains of a fish. He seemed cautious before landing, looking around him, almost as if to see that Mum Osprey wasn't around. He was at the nest less than 10 seconds before departing. He likens Aussie to the spoilt daughter who is the apple of Dad's eye and gets whatever she wants.

Here she's communicating with someone, presumably Dad, in a tree nearby.

I'll continue to give updates, but unless there's something significant happening, there's no need for it to be on a daily basis.

Aussie is just gorgeous Margaret...thanks for the update! I also like to think that Mum is out cruising with her friends having the time of her life!

At least things are progressing with Aussie and she is seemingly healthy and well fed. We can only imagine the best for mum!

This message was edited Feb 27, 2009 7:56 PM