The moment all Rutland Osprey fans have been waiting for. At 17.29 Blue 33 touches down on the nest, and does a bit of nestorising while he waits for Maya to arrive, which she does at 17.45. This heavily edited clip starting at 17.29 and ending at 18.45 shows his arrival, and the moment they are reunited since they parted in August 2021 to go their separate ways on the long migration down to winter quarters in Africa. Mating is attempted a couple of times, not very successfully, but they're both adjusting to being back together and tomorrow is another day. By 18.45 they've both departed for the night, he flies off first, from the sounds he's up on the camera post, followed at 18.45 by Maya. So good to see them both safely back home!
From RSPB community forum Manton Bay Rutland page:
The nest was first occupied by White 08(97) and Green 5N(04) in 2007 who raised 2 chicks. In 2008 they paired again but the nest failed and in 2009 it was unused.
In 2010 a new pair, Green 5R(04) and an unringed female nicknamed Mrs 5R, took up residence and over the next four years raised 11 chicks. Green 5R(04) failed to return in 2014 and Mrs 5R paired with a new mate, Blue 28(10) and laid 3 eggs.
Blue 33(11) arrived determined to claim this nest and evicted Blue 28(10). Blue 33(11) kicked out the eggs and spent the remainder of the season bonding with Mrs 5R who was then officially named “Maya”.
In 2015 Maya and Blue 33(11) returned and to date have successfully raised 20 chicks.
Many thanks to Rutland Osprey Project for allowing me to clip bits off their livestream, more on their website here:
www.lrwt.org.uk/rutlandospreys
Get a front row view of our Manton Bay Osprey nest at Rutland Water Nature Reserve, where our star pair Maya and 33(11) have bred together since 2015.
To support future work of the Rutland Osprey Project you can donate here 👉 www.lrwt.org.uk/ospreydonation
Or join as a member here 👉 www.lrwt.org.uk/join