June 2017 surveys

In June Irina Utekhina accompanied by the drone pilot Alexander Siverich of Sevastopol, have made a trip along the Kava and Chelomdja rivers. The chicks have already hatched in some nests, whereas some pairs were still busy incubating the eggs. The trip revealed a huge age differences between different pairs: one nest at the Khuren spawning grounds had chicks with well developed feathers, whereas in other nests the chicks were much younger and in some there were hatchlings and/or egg. This was the first ever drone surveys of the eagle nests in June. In total the trip resulted in 2 chicks from 2 nests along the Kava river, 4 occupied nests along the Tauy river (one egg and one chick, two females sat on clutches of unknown size, 2 chicks in one nest), and 9 active nests along the Chelomdja river (one nest with 3 large chicks, 2 nest with one chick and one egg, one nest with at least one chick, 3 nest with one chick, 3 nest with two chicks).  This was a very promising start of the breeding season!

Other findings in June included clutch of 3 eggs of an Osprey photographed by chance when the bird stood up to shuffle the eggs. It was the first clutch of the Osprey for a long time. It used to breed in the area in good numbers in early 1990s.