Myy has fledged!

Congratulations to the osprey family at Satakunnan sääkset nest #3! Their only osplet fledged this afternoon and has safely returned to the nest, several times even. Many screenshots in this post.

Myy in the rain this morning.

Chiseled jawline

Or sculpted by some means, at least. Here's my progress so far on customizing the jawless Kenner raptor.

Starting with a length of aluminum wire, bent into an armature for the lower jaw.

Ospreycopter

Myy at Satakunnan sääkset nest #3 is getting close to fledging. She's perfecting her helicopter hovers in anticipation of her first flight.

Slapping Nuppu with wings again. Out of the way, mom!

Up!

Higher!

More boys

Two more JP raptor figures I've acquired for customizing, along with the jawless TLW raptor. And these guys are definitely in need of some TLC.

Pretty much every extremity has been chewed off - I assume by a dog and not a kid, although who knows, maybe it was a collaborative effort.

The figures are also from Kenner's TLW toyline; another tigerstripe raptor, and the "cyclops" one, so named because of one solid-white and probably blind eye (on the other side and not pictured here). I have quite a few of the tigerstripe's sculpt already, and had one as a kid, but not a single cyclops before. Well, whatever they're missing in addition to that eye, I'll do my best to replace.

The tigerstripe has one unmarred hand, and on his feet is only missing one toe in each, but his head is pretty much a lost cause. Which is a shame, as this one is actually one of the rarer variations of this figure, with green eyes instead of yellow. For what it's worth, the action feature still mostly works.

The cyclops has one whole finger left and on his feet only the sickle claws, but since his action feature is on the tail and neck, that still works just fine. He still has some of his head, but not sure how much of it I'll keep. Although a feature and not a flaw, the cyclops also has some "dino damage" as part of the design, and since I'm customizing these guys already, I'll probably get rid of that as well. He can have some scars, but the deep cuts all the way to the bone don't look terribly survivable, and are a bit much for me.

My plan is to turn these two into my OCs Singer and Beetlebiter, and have them be a set with Serene's figure. Although not the original eyes, the tigerstripe is going to get to keep his rarer eye colour, as Singer also has green eyes. The cyclops is going to go through a full repaint on top of the sculpting, to give him Beetlebiter's Trespasser Tribe B patterns. I think the choice of a figure is still quite fitting, as the scarred raptor pack leader from JP: The Game, known as simply Leader in the AU these characters are part of (and on that note, I've made a figure of her, too), is allegedly inspired by the cyclops raptor figure, and Beetlebiter is Leader's grandson. I'm also happy I happened to get to buy these two figures together, as Singer and Beetlebiter are a couple. Little Ruckus from my earlier raptor figure repaints is their daughter, and Singer and Serene are brothers.

This is going to be a challenge, but it's what I got them for.

Misty morning Myys

 

Wing practice and fish-waiting with the pretty backdrop of morning mist at the swamp, at Satakunta Ospreys nest #3.

Cute Myy screenshots, and news on nest #1 osplets

Osplet Myy at nest #3 of Satakunta Ospreys is growing into a strong and beautiful juvenile. She is 48 days old, and soon entering the age where she can be expected to fledge (49-55 days usually).

Here is a post in Finnish about Alma and Ossi's chicks from nest #1. (And here is the post on why they were moved, in both Finnish and English.)

To summarize in English, one of the two siblings has sadly died since then, of unknown causes (this was the one that was injured the least in the raven attack), but in happier news the other osplet has successfully fledged. The surviving fledgling is, as I've understood, the second-hatched chick A2, now known as SRS for the ID on the osplet's yellow leg band.

Ossi has been seen at his nest several times, including today accompanied by a female, so hopefully he will keep the nest despite the setbacks.

Ravens still hanging around in the area of nest #1 was also addressed. Both ospreys and ravens have nested in the area for years, and apart from this one time they have not bothered each other much, so they are not considered to be a cause for particular concern.

I'm really happy to hear of and see the photos of SRS. Despite all the tragedy one of the little ones still made it!

And now more Myy.

Alerts and wingers

Myy, Nuppu, and Ahti during an intruder alert at Satakunta Osprey nest #3, a few days ago. Is Nuppu unsure again of whether she should get down or stay up, or is she covering Myy?

Nest moments

 

Satakunnan sääkset nest #3. Osplet Myy with dad Ahti.

And Myy self-feeding! She successfully got some pieces out of the fish, even though her legs aren't strong enough yet for her to hold it by standing on it.

My boy has arrived!

(One of three boys, actually, but the other two are still on the way.) I purchased another raptor figure to customize, and this one is indeed in need of some modifications, as you can see...

...he has lost his lower jaw somewhere between 1997 and now.

I bought the figure knowing about its condition, and my plans are to make him a new jaw and repaint his head markings to turn him into one of my OCs. The body markings will probably get to stay as they are, since it's just the head that needs fixing. As I've mentioned before, I prefer to leave these older figures as they are, which is why the edits I made to the four in my second batch of repaints were all photomanipulation. But this one is broken, so some edits are due anyway. I may add the scars the character has on his leg while I'm at it, maybe touch up the claws' paint a bit. In any case, apart from the head, nothing major.

The character I'm planning on having him be is Serene. Dash and Dare from that second repaint batch are his parents, and Tumult and Daydreamer from the same batch, as well as Soft steps, are his and Meripihka's chicks.

Mother-daughter selfie

Myy and Nuppu at at Satakunta Osprey nest #3.

Myy!

Banding went well at Satakunta Osprey nest #3, and the little one has her brand new anklets and a brand new name.

Young and younger

N2 and Nuppu being two peas in a pod at nest #3 of Satakunta Ospreys.

Beak touches and wing workout

 

A moment of preening at nest #3 of Satakunta Ospreys. N2 watches mom Nuppu do maintenance on her own plumage, then follows her example.

Peaceful fishraptoring

Screenshots from Satakunta Osprey cams, mostly from the last few days. Warning for headless fishes again.

N2 standing up while eating!

A triptych

A butterfly, tomatoes, and a bumblebee

Stick arranging for all

Nuppu and N2 at Satakunta Osprey nest #3. Not actually staring into the camera, but one does sometimes get the feeling of being scolded for having laughed at the chick's clumsy waddling or some other amusing bird behavior when they do this.

Sunrise trees

Billowy

Masu enjoying the wind blowing in through the window on a warm day.

Hawklet closeups and Albatross chick territorial dispute

Fledgling K-3 at Cornell Red-tailed hawk nest. Just looking around and feeling the breeze.