Bird Cams Around the World

The calm continues

By Kayleigh Brookes on April 23, 2014

Another relatively normal day in the Bay today! This is what we want! It may be too late for these eggs, then again it may not. Nevertheless, it is encouraging that 28(10) returned to the nest and did not abandon it altogether. This means that he has bonded with Maya and the nest, and knows what his responsibilities are.
If 28 had not returned to the nest, then it would surely have failed. His reappearance brings with it the last vestiges of hope that one or more of these eggs will hatch. It may be false hope, but we do not yet know. Is it better to keep hoping, and risk disappointment, or is it better not to expect anything, and maybe get a nice surprise? Who knows the answer to that question, however, for me personally, there is no suppressing that little bit of optimism, and I cannot help but hope.

28(10) has returned with a renewed sense of what is expected of him. He brought Maya a fish last night, and he brought her another this morning, at about 07:10. He has taken his turn at incubation, and has been performing this duty as though he has been doing it all his life! As you will see from the photos below, he looks a lot more comfortable on the eggs than he did when they were first laid.

At the moment, 28 has been bringing about one or two fish a day to the nest. At this stage in the season, this is plenty to get them by, as they are not expending much energy. When (or if) there are chicks in the nest, he will need to fish a lot more often, but hopefully his instincts will guide him to do this, as they have been guiding him the right way so far. He is learning fast, and although he had trouble with 33(11) last week, it could have been a lot worse. Just look at who returned the victor, and who has not been seen now for three days.

By Paul on April 24, 2014

It has been another settled day in the bay, 28(10) brought a fish to the nest just after 7 oclock this morning. He ate most of fish before taking what was left to Maya who was on the nest. Most of the day the pair have been sharing the duties of incubation. It is still taking 28 a while to settle on the eggs, firstly he has to straighten the nest material, move the eggs around and then eventually flops down to cover the eggs....

Turn of the tide

By Kayleigh Brookes on April 26, 2014

What a day we have had today! The past five days have gone by with a minimum of fuss on the nest. Things were very normal and we had hope that it might work out. However, today has seen a turn-around. 33(11) is back and he has been relentlessly harassing the Manton Bay nest, again. He even had the audacity to land on it!

51(11) seemed to clear off when Maya booted him off the nest, but 33(11) has proven harder to get rid of. There has been no let-up today for poor Maya, she has been on and off the nest like a boomerang as she chased off 33 and returned to continue incubation. She has had to defend the nest alone, as 28(10) has been absent all day. Although she left the eggs fairly often, she was only off them for very short intervals, so it shouldn’t have an adverse effect on them. However, if things continue as they have today, that might change. We can only hope that 33 gets fed up of being chased away and leaves for good, and that 28 returns. We will see what tomorrow brings.

In addition, the Bay was visited by relatively new arrival 51(11), who also landed on the nest!

Drama in the Bay

By Kayleigh Brookes on April 27, 2014

This morning, the slight hope that things would return to normality today went out of the window. We turned up to find that 33(11) was still bothering Maya and 28(10) was still not here.

33 got even more daring this morning. He landed briefly on the nest, and he also tried to land on Maya’s back more than once, but she was having none of it! He caught a fish at about 11am, which he ate on the dead tree near Waderscrape Hide. We watched the screen with anticipation, would he bring the fish to Maya? As it turned out, he didn’t. If he wants to impress her, he'll have to do better than that!

Later this afternoon, 33 landed on the nest again, for quite a long period. Maya had flown off, we thought to chase off 33, then he appeared on the nest! Where was she? A few seconds later she appeared with a clump of nesting material, and to begin with she seemed to tolerate 33's presence!

Finally she chased him off and settled back down to incubate. 33 isn't giving up though, he tried once again to land on Maya, and as I write he is still flying around the nest upsetting her. She has not been off the eggs that much today, so again, there may still be hope for them! However, if 33 does not give up, it is unlikely that 28 will come back, and if he doesn't come back, then any hope we have for the eggs will slowly fade. The uncertainty is agonising, but all we can do is wait and see what happens next.

Paving the way forward
By Kayleigh Brookes on May 5, 2014

33(11) has made a much more concerted effort with mating today. At the moment he is fairly consistently unsuccessful, but he’s trying his best, and Maya is allowing him to do so. All this is a good sign, if he perseveres and gets the hang of it, and she continues to be receptive, there is still a chance she could re-lay. As I said before, we’re not ruling anything out. We must just watch and wait!

The eggs have finally gone completely from the nest cup, with no chance of another one falling in! One is still visible (occasionally, depending on stick placement) on the right-hand-side of the nest. A crow took off with one of them today when the Ospreys were away, and the other was removed by the female, after either the Ospreys or a stick broke it. We knew that there was no chance for these eggs even if they remained in the nest cup, so their absence is a good thing. It means that Maya can hopefully return to the state of mind that tells her she must produce eggs, because there aren’t any in the nest.

28(10) was not seen today, but he could still be around somewhere. It is unlikely that he will make a comeback and try to fight for this nest. From the beginning he seemed to understand that he is no match for 33. There is every chance that in the future, 28 will breed at Rutland Water, but not on such a high-profile nest!

Stick fest
By Kayleigh Brookes on May 6, 2014

...here are some wonderful photographs taken by John Wright over the last couple of days in Manton Bay. We have fish being delivered, 33 struggling with a rather large roach, an intruding Osprey, harrassment by gulls, dive-bombing of cormorants, and lots and lots of sticks! Enjoy!