What a day! On arrival at the hide today Chris, our technological genius, told us that he had been working yesterday on our camera setup and was viewing our Buzzard cam. Both adults had been adding to the nest and the female shuffled around, sat down and then shuffled again. As Chris watched she produced an egg right on camera! So after last year's disappointment when she built up the same nest and then decided to raise her family in another one, this year we have the camera in the right place - as long as she doesn't add too many sticks in front of the camera! Hopefully there will be another egg tomorrow afternoon, and maybe more to come. I'll keep you posted.
The even better news is that Chris thinks we will be able to continue watching Buzz-cam even when we have moved the hide several hundred metres to its new site, so we hope to follow the Buzzard family right through to fledging. The wonders of technology, and all solar-powered!
And to the best news of all - this afternoon we saw the first food being brought into Skye and Frisa's nest, meaning that at least one chick has hatched. Both adult birds stood in or on the rim of the nest feeding their chick(s) for at least half an hour, making us think there may be two chicks there already. Now the hard work begins for the parents. This evening there were two or three very heavy rain showers and with the cold wind the precious chick(s) needed brooding very closely by the adult, whilst the other bird kept watch from its perch in a nearby tree. The forecast is a little better for the next two days - the chicks are so vulnerable at this early age when they are not able to regulate their body temperature.
In two or three weeks Skye and Frisa will be settled with their new family and we will be able to move the hide along the track to its new position so that we will have an excellent view of the nest. Our high powered camera will also move so that we can beam live pictures into the hide as well as recording them. In the meantime we will still have excellent views of the adult birds hunting from our current position, and they will be more active than ever as they will need to find foods for the chicks and for themselves.
If you are planning to visit the hide in May, please do check where the meeting point is when you book your visit. If you can't make it this year, keep reading and I'll let you know how our Sea Eagle family progresses, not to mention our Buzzards.
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