We are absolutely thrilled to announce that our first two osprey chicks have hatched. The first one hatched yesterday evening at 21:20 and the second less than 11 hours later, at 7:50 this morning.The first chick has already received its long-awaited meal of fish at 6:50 this morning and the second will soon have the luxury of trying fish for the very first time. We are staying hopeful that the third egg will hatch but due to the time lag between the second and the third egg being laid, it has a lower survival chance. If the chick does hatch then it will be a lot smaller and weaker than its siblings and will therefore find it harder to compete for food, but we are still holding out hope that it will make its way into this world and survive to a ripe old age along with its siblings.

Our little orphaned duckling, named Twister after Oliver Twist, is still doing well and seems to be thriving with his new family.We are still continuing to keep the feeders inside and dry to kill the parasites and hope to have them out again in the coming week.

Music: Irina’s Waltz performed by Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers (www.findlaynapier.com). Composed by Dirk Powell.