Bird Watching: Whopper - heading towards independence at a leisurely pace., 1 by MargaretK

MargaretK wrote:
Herein is the difference between our non-migratory Ospreys and the ones from the higher latitudes in the northern hemisphere. Whopper is now five and a half months old and is still hanging around with her parents and using the nest as a base. Birds of equivalent age in the northern hemisphere would have migrated several thousand km to Africa or South America prior to the onset of winter, facing enormous perils on various fronts along the way. Here she is migrating a couple of hundred metres from the nest to the northern end of the bay.

Madam X and I saw her leave a low branch a few days ago and she skimmed the surface of the water as she flew to the top of the bay. There, she landed on the shore and had a long, flapping bath in the shallows. Too distant to get any shots.

I keep you posted on any further activity.