So many ideas for the title to this video clip! "Previews of Coming Attractions" or "Family Dynamics Changing" would've worked as well! We have some milestones happening here! ...

Earlier today, Iris had taken off. She missed all this action that happened in a very short time! We see the kids, just chillin', laying down in the nest. In comes Fabulous Finn w/a small, whole fish. In the absence of Iris, "Big" makes a move to claim the fish! Growing up is happening at a very rapid pace now. "The kids" are getting big, the nest is now a bit crowded when all four are on it.

So "Big" takes the fish from Finn, claims it, mantles it then watch as he/she works SO very hard to get those talons around the fish! Having succeeded in that, he/she tries to open the fish, but "Little" had come along, innocently thinking they would like some of that fish too.

As we can see, comes the hard part for some to witness "Big" attacks poor "Little" telling them to "keep back, this is MY fish!" As hard as it can be for some of us to see (including me; I hate it), this is normal behavior and VERY necessary once they are out on their own. It's nothing personal but rather, it's all about pure survival instincts.

Thankfully, the focus switched bec Dad returned with a "log" for their nest. "Big" takes their chance to grab that fish from under Daddy's new "log", mantles it again, resuming the attempts to break open that fish and try to selffeed.

However, as we see, that all comes to an abrupt end due the arrival of The Matriarch, Queen Iris, hollering out: "What is going on here?!" She says "I'll take that!" and goes for the fish. "Big" is not happy about all this, fights w/her over the fish, even grabbing her foot and pulling that into the air! Lol. They proceed to have a "Tug O' Fish" which we are used to seeing bet Iris and Finn! Lol. Speaking of him, Dad sees all this, wants no part of it and takes his leave. Iris won the battle of course, "Big" settles down and gets fed from Boss Mama.

I let the recording run a bit past all of that to show that yes, "Little" finally did get in there too! They all settled back into their usual routine of Mom feeding them the fish.

So ya, this was monumental in the progress of the babes. Claiming the fish, mantling to put those boundaries around that fish telling everyone else "this is MY fish" is beautiful, natural progress.

This is also definitely previews of coming attractions as the chicks keep on growing and the milestones continue. My only concern is somebirdy getting pushed off of the nest God forbid so I will continue to do as I do = hope for the best, all ways and always taking it all just one little, and precious, moment at a time!

~Thank you shout out to Cornell Lab Bird Cams as well as to The Montana Osprey Project for the gift of these livestreams!

~Thanks for watching!

Links to these live cams:

Main Cam:    • Hellgate Ospreys Nest Cam | Cornell L...  
Owl Pole Cam:    • Hellgate Ospreys "Owl Pole" Perch | C...  
Website: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/he...