Two small heads

Moselle Osprey Habitat where Mouche nests

Great news in Moselle (France, see photo): Mouche PR4, born in eastern Germany and translocated to Switzerland in 2016, has become a mother for the second time ! Since May 24 David Meyer, who is monitoring the pair, has seen the male AM06 bring fish to the nest and Mouche carefully tearing it into small pieces to feed at least one chick. Then on June 4 he saw one small head poke above the edge of the nest for the first time, and on June 6 he could see two. The nest is quite deep and built high up on a dead tree, so from the ground and at a distance of several hundred meters it is difficult to see more than this until the chicks get bigger.

Last year we had high hopes for this pair when they were seen feeding at least one chick on May 30, only to receive the news that on June 17, following several days of cold and rainy weather, the first breeding attempt had failed. However, the pair spent the rest of the summer in the area, and fortunately both adults returned this year. Right now the parents are clearly taking their responsibility very seriously, and we very much hope that this year they will manage to rear their chicks to fledging.