Talisman and pinkfeet

I was checking through a flock of 2000 pink-footed geese grazing on the eastern saltmarsh at Findhorn Bay this morning with my telescope, when suddenly I realised there was an osprey eating a fish on a fence post in front of them. I could see that it was Talisman and he was eating a fresh caught flounder. It was gently raining so the visibility was poor but I could see his black & white ring. When he flew he crossed over the end of the flock, only 20 feet above the geese, and they showed no fear at all. It’s amazing how waders and wildfowl in Findhorn Bay are just so used to ospreys that they show no reaction to them flying just overhead, but if a peregrine appears over the bay then it’s a very different matter. The pinkfeet are feeding up before their big flight back to Iceland, with some on to Greenland. I wonder what they will think of the active volcano – probably not the first that some of the oldest geese will have seen. Talisman’s mate, Morven, is now back at the nest after her trip to Caithness but they do not yet have eggs.