Foggy today and it did not clear until 11am, when I went to check for Nimrod – the female was on the eyrie but no sign of a male – and then perched on the tall branch above the nest (see photo to right) so he must have been away trying for fish or had Nimrod arrived and they were away fighting? Next to Logie’s nest, where Morven was arranging the nest so she is settled and sadly still no sign of Logie.
Checked Nimrod’s nest again at 3.25pm; female standing in eyrie looking anxiously around and then I heard male ospreys calling – tchup – tchup – a sure sign of disagreement – then a male osprey landed beside the female, and I was sure it was Nimrod, but she chased him off. Then the males chased around the tree tops and I positively identified Nimrod back at his last year’s nest. They continued calling and chasing, with the female in flight as well; after some minutes she landed back on the top branch. Nimrod landed on a tall tree some distance from the nest and the intruder male dived and knocked him off his perch. They continued wheeling around over the tree tops, and the female returned to the eyrie. Nimrod landed back on a tree top 100 metres from the nest, and without disturbing him, I got the first photo of him back in Moray (see left). Male HA had landed somewhere else in the area but I could not see him, so I left them to their contest. Nimrod built the nest in 2007 and reared 3 chicks there in 2008, so he should win the battle, and we will find out in the next couple of days. These conflicts can be aggressive and there have been rare cases of fatal injuries.