Nest is located in South Estonia, Võrumaa. A military base is close, so it is not unusal to hear motor sounds from trucks and other vehicles, sometimes even shots.
A fish farm, as well as a river, is not far, so good hunting conditions for Ospreys. Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) reach body heights of 50-66 cm, and wingspans of 1,27 – 1,74 m. Females are bigger than males.
I wondered how long it would be before more names were added to ‘the list’. That news arrived late last evening when ‘A’ wrote to me about the sadness at the Finnish Osprey nest of Miina and Marko.
The feathers were found under the nest and it is believed that the nest was attacked, as others have been, by a henhawk. So sad. This nest site with its close proximity to the forest seems to be an unlucky one. Thank you, ‘A’ for letting me know.
The nest equipped with a webcam in the Võrumaa osprey (Kalakotkas 1), where female Miina and male Marko nested with two eaglets, was soon taken down due to damage caused by lightning.
Today the nest was empty, the nest tree was all broken, the osprey, the young bird, was killed. The burglary could have happened a few days ago.
Happily, the osplets on the nest in Finland are healthy and safe – so far no attacks that I am aware. This is a natural Osprey nest – not a human made platform – 160 miles south of the Arctic Circle. It is in the area known as Lapland and they have sunshine almost 24/7 this time of year.
Here is the link to this nest if you do not know it:
