Yippee our boy is back on the nest. He was brought back by his mother just before 11:30 this morning and she very firmly sent him back to the nest and dive bombed him so he stayed there. She then landed on the nest proceeded to scauld (scold) him that none of us will forget, she shouted at him and pecked at him and flapped her wings at him.  It was incredible to watch, I do have the footage but it’ll be tomorrow before I can edit and post it.

 Since he got back to the nest Blue 44 has been making a racket calling, calling, calling for fish from his dad. Our male on the other hand seems a bit confused and was flying around with a stick for a while. Finally he got the message and a Brown Trout appeared. The chick shot over to his dad and ripped the fish from his talons before mantling (spreading his wings) over it so none of the others could have some, not that either parent was trying. He struggled a bit to begin with but got the hang off and promptly scoffed the lot. A big Rainbow Trout appeared about and hour later and he’s still getting stuck into that. He’s obviously a hungry boy but he must have been fed during his time away otherwise he wouldn’t have had the energy to fly. While he was away his mum must have stopped shredding the fish and feeding him directly and instead encouraging him to feed himself. It’s all part of growing up for him.

You can imagine how delighted we all are that he’s back and doing well. Emma is fine after her fall in the swamp she just got wetter, colder and swampier than she’d planned on. Thanks again to our fabulous volunteers and everyone for your kind words, offers of help and patience while we waited for Blue 44 to return.

Lindsey