9K5 at 10 Weeks
Early morning fish brought by Syfaddan and grabbed by 9K5
At 70 days old, 9K5 has not been fed by an adult on the nest since 30th July (at 58 days old), preferring instead to wrestle fish from Syfaddan the moment it is delivered, and then to self feed. On Sunday, both Clogwyn and 9K5 had a fish each. Clogwyn’s was partially eaten and she leaned towards 9K5 to offer a mouthful several times in an unmistakable feeding attempt. However, 9K5 was trying to keep a live and flapping fish under control and wasn’t the least bit interested in what Clogwyn had to offer. Perhaps we have already seen the last instance of 9K5 being fed by a parent?
Clogwyn offers fish to 9K5 but in vain
9K5 has been trying out new places to perch and one of them is very close to home. The cup camera (attached to the nest and visible from the nest cam) was never really designed to be a perch but both adults regularly use it, possibly because it gives them a good vantage point. On Thursday 9K5 was clearly eyeing it up from the nest but instead of taking off and landing on it, embarked on a shaky climb up the support pole. There was a repeat of this on Saturday, which seemed more confident. Then a third attempt, which involved leaping to the top.
9K5 clambers onto the Cup Cam
Flying practice is going well with various manoeuvres at differing heights being observed. So far no definite fishing practice has been seen. However, on Sunday, arrival at the nest with wet underparts and clean feet suggested 9K5 had been in water somewhere not too long before.
9K5 Mantles and calls to indicate an intruder is close
On Thursday there was a second visit from Blue 8B2 (the 2023 Male from Clywedog) when 9K5 was alone on the nest. With 8B2 coming nearer there was nothing 9K5 could do but mantle and make as much noise as possible to alert the adults and deter the intruder. The disturbed calls were deafening! 8B2 landed but met with a fierce young osprey turning to face him, loudly proclaiming that there was no vacancy to be filled here. 8B2 got the message immediately and showed no intention of arguing. He flew off into the distance and Clogwyn arrived on the nest just seconds later, bringing a fish with her, which proved a timely reward.
9K5 and 8B2 (07 Aug 25)
Despite no witness evidence of Clogwyn catching a fish, it now seems certain that she is fishing again. Unlike the camera observations, those made by the trained watchers at the tow path do not span 24 hours per day, there are other distractions, views which can be obscured, and don’t have the benefit of play back and verification. The ospreys don’t help matters either, as they can hunt anywhere they like. So it’s not hard to see why spotting a particular osprey catching a fish is so difficult. But there are times when no other conclusion can be reached and Sunday was one such.
Clogwyn brings in a small fish - (09 Aug 25)
At 08:23 Clogwyn appeared from upstream with an entire, very large, live fish and landed on the National Grid Perch where Syfaddan had been preening for a while. Not long afterwards, Syfaddan flew off and left Clogwyn eating. But at 9:04 she took her partially eaten fish to the nest just as Syfaddan returned. The occasion already described, when Clogwyn had tried to feed 9K5 but without success, came only after Clogwyn and Syfaddan arrived at the nest just two seconds apart - each carrying a fish.
Clogwyn and Syfaddan deliver fish 2 seconds apart (10 Aug 25)