First of all, an apology. We strive to keep our followers as up to date as possible, as quickly as possible, but we have not been able to do this for the last few days. Teething problems with the complex recording systems required to store so much High Definition data has meant we have had problems archiving footage. The bad news is that the following video is not high definition; the good news is that we have, this evening, sorted through all of the issues after burning the midnight oil on several occasions over the last two weeks. We are now recording everything on Full HD and all of the time.

Nora laid her eggs this year exactly a week earlier than in 2011. April 18th, 21st and 24th – probably around the average time window for British ospreys. Here’s a short video of three clips showing Monty incubating after the first egg was laid, then Nora for both second and third eggs. Note, the second clip is the actual footage of when Nora laid the egg.

Osprey eggs are only slightly bigger than chicken eggs and have a beautiful crimson red splattering. This patterning is slightly different on each egg, so we hope this year, as we did last year, we will be able to keep track of each egg for the five and a half week incubation period. Then, on or around May 26th, we’ll know exactly which chick hatches first.

So which egg is which?

Egg No 1, April 18th – Heavy blotching with some black patches in the red parts of the egg. Bottom left of picture.

Egg No 2, April 21st – Tricoloured! A very red area, then a pink band in the middle and  then very white, looks like a sweet egg. Bottom right of picture.

Egg No 3, April 24th - This one looks much more like a ‘normal’ osprey egg. Average red blotching, then red spots leading to the white part of the egg. Top of picture.

Nora, and particularly Monty, scraped a very deep cup in the nest this year prior to laying and sometimes it is difficult to see the eggs from our various camera positions. By zooming in, however, we are able to identify which egg is which, most of the time. Will Nora lay a fourth egg? Probably not, Monty has been told in no uncertain terms that mating is strictly off limits today. Roll on 2013 mate!

As I write in diminishing light, Nora is keeping all of her three eggs dry and warm as the rain pelts down on her back. That maternal instinct never ceases to amaze me. More updates soon, and quicker!