After the fourth egg was laid in April, much of what we saw of Manton Bay was very similar with Maya incubating the eggs and 33(11) acting as sentinel, and occasionally bringing back fish to the nest. 40 days after the first egg was laid we were greeted by the first of our hatched osprey chicks and it was joined be it's three siblings shortly after on the 14th, 17th and 18th May. On the day that the fourth chick hatched, a very lively pike was brought back to the nest by 33(11) colliding with the newest juvenile. Unfortunately, due to the collision or otherwise the fourth chick died the day after on the 18th of May.

Within two weeks of hatching, the juveniles had already undergone a large visible change, with their second down feathers becoming visible, and marking what is known as their 'reptilian stage'. 33(11) has continued to bring in a large number of fish, with notably more pike than in previous years. As the juveniles approach the five week mark, they have done the great majority of their growing and have developed most of their feathers (though their flight feathers are not yet grown). Soon we will have the chicks ringed and, when they are at between 7-8 weeks old we will be expecting them to fledge and take their first flights.

In the last blog I gave an update on 095(21) after she'd been seen intruding on one of the Kielder nests at the end of April. She has since started bonding with male W6 and, while it's likely to late for her to have a brood this year, it is great to think that we might see her with juveniles in the coming years. You can read more in Kielder's blog via the button below: