Estonian Osprey Nest (Ivo & Iiris) 2019

[balistar]

Ari,
yes, they get spoiled again

Berit,
welcome to the forum

[Ari19]

Agreed! They are spoiled.

I got a bit worried looking at Ivo today...
He looks so thin.
I hope he is eating enough, he has a migration to prepare for.

[Summi]

...
I got a bit worried looking at Ivo today...
He looks so thin.

Ari
I'm also worried a bit, to feed three hungry kids is hard work for Ivo. Iiris has been great in helping her partner with fishing.

[Sunshine]

Still a few pics from this morning. The early mornings are amazing..

05:29


05:50


05:56
Iiris and Nele

[Sunshine]

11:27
The delivery from Ivo, fish # 4

[Ari19]

I wanted to say that Iiris has shown herself to be such an excellent mother...

Her trio is incredibly well taken care of & they are very disciplined.
Remember how Smallie would get boinked around,
but Iiris would continue feeding everyone equally?
Ultimately, she taught the kids to stop fighting.
Today, Nele even shared her fish with Pilvi.

I thought of this when I saw the following episode
at the Dunrovin nest.
The video shows a fish delivery to three osprets.
They are the same age as Ivo & Iiris’s trio.
In the Dunrovin nest, everyone gets beaten up and feathers fly...
https://i.imgur.com/250rIHb.mp4

[balistar]

I wanted to say that Iiris has shown herself to be such an excellent mother...
....

In the Dunrovin nest, everyone gets beaten up and feathers fly...
https://i.imgur.com/250rIHb.mp4

Fully agree !
Our beloved Irma would be very proud of such a more than worthy successor Iiris !


Thanks, Ari, for the video to compare. Oh my

Here the proverb fits:
when two quarrel, the third rejoices

[Ari19]

Fully agree !
Our beloved Irma would be very proud of such a more than worthy successor Iiris !


Thanks, Ari, for the video to compare. Oh my

Here the proverb fits:
when two quarrel, the third rejoices

balistar, ditto on the proverb!

[Summi]

Ari, thank you.
Incredible what a plume of feathers one ospret had managed to rip off in the turmoil.

[Liz01]

... looks like Mart to me

seira you're right

[Ari19]

Ari, thank you.
Incredible what a plume of feathers one ospret had managed to rip off in the turmoil.

I know, Summi, it shocked me too.
I’m not sure the osprey knew what it was.
He/she tried to eat the plume of feathers.


Liz01, good to see you here!
(Beautiful new avatar btw. Is that Grincs? )

[Ari19]

14:51 Nele is back in the nest and shrieking.

[Sunshine]

I wanted to say that Iiris has shown herself to be such an excellent mother...

Her trio is incredibly well taken care of & they are very disciplined.

In the Dunrovin nest, everyone gets beaten up and feathers fly...

**
Iiris definitely has proven to be a very "good" mum, especially for the fact that this most probably is her first breeding season.

However, the success of the breeding every year depends on many factors and, first and foremost, the availability of food resources.

Iiris and Ivo are very lucky in this regard; they have their nest in a very close proximity to various very rich fish ponds, including commercial.
The location of this nest is excellent and that is not necessarily the case in other situations, so the comparison might not be completely fair.

The food is apparently much more scarce in the Dunrovin nest - this definitely must be the reason for such a relatively high sibling aggression in this age (normally sibling rivalry is reducing with time). Availability of food is one of most important factors regarding the siblicide.

As a matter of fact, "discipline" is a human virtue not attributable to ospreys. In the nature, siblings have to learn the dominance, aggression and quick reaction, or the ability to attack the sibling and take away someone else's fish; or else the skills to wait for the right moment and steal the fish; scavenge from others etc.
Being "disciplined" or "sharing with others" are only projections of our own human values.

Nature does not bestow such to birds, and such virtues also would not help osprey survive in the nature. As it was shown, the mortality rate is very high (~50-60%) for young ospreys in the first year. The first fights with siblings on the nest and learning to steal or fight for fish are very important lessons, as a result of which the young ospreys acquire important skills, which help them to survive later on.

[Summi]

16:00 Ivo brought a fish for Nele

[Sunshine]

14:51
Nele arrived



16:00
Fished arrived, brought by "double-IVO"



16:28
Pilvi wants to have fish, too, and moved closer; Nele is not happy about it and quacked at her
16:28
Nele off with her fish

[Ari19]

16:00 Ivo brought a fish for Nele

Fish delivery #5!

[Sunshine]

16:42

Fish # 6, a pike for Pilvi





17:09
And #7, for Nele again

[ExpertOfNothing]

17:09 Fish for Nelle

[Silke]

17:40 Nele eating

Has someone seen Mart today? Could it be that he left the nest and is gone on migration?

[Ari19]

No Mart. All day too.

Would he leave before Ivo though?
I hope he is doing ok.