The chicks are four weeks old now and hopefully weather permitting we will be able to ring them sometime this week, we’ll keep you updated on how this goes.
The weather has been warm again over the weekend, although the mother doesn’t have to shade the chicks as much now as they are getting stronger. The chicks are preening themselves, which is a good indication of their health and their feathers are becoming very well developed.
The father is keeping away from the nest longer now - up to three hours - and is bringing back live fish to the chicks (complete with heads). This is the start of the learning process for the chicks and will help them identify what a fish looks like and how they can kill it, they’ll have to do this themselves soon enough.
A young blog follower has been keeping an eye on the ospreys closely and will this week give his first talk about he project to his Beaver Scout Group in Huddersfield. Matthew is a keen wildlife enthusiast and has visited the Osprey site several times this season alone - we’d all like to wish him well on his first ever presentation, and who knows he might be the next David Attenborough!
As we are approximately half way through the season I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers and staff, as well as visitors who have supported us so far this year – without their help and enthusiasm the project would not be possible, so thanks everyone for all your help.