Rfalconcam Forum

Fears for Loch of the Lowes osprey

By Alan Richardson

BIRD-LOVERS FROM across the world watched helplessly yesterday as life seemed to ebb from Scotland’s oldest osprey in her Perthshire nest.

The magnificent female bird, known as Lady to thousands of admirers worldwide, has made a 6000-mile journey from Africa to Loch of the Lowes, near Dunkeld, for two decades to hatch her young each spring.

In April the 25-year-old laid two more eggs but events took a grim turn on Saturday, when viewers of the 24-hour web-cam monitoring the nest noticed her listless appearance.

Unresponsive and lying flat beside her two chicks, initial hopes that she was merely dehydrated were dashed by experts who confirmed the nature reserve favourite was in the last hours of her life.

Centre manager Peter Ferns—who monitored the situation and kept online visitors updated—said staff and the general public were left reeling by the bird’s sudden deterioration.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust centre has a strict non-intervention policy, meaning no medical aid was given as, it is believed, she is finally succumbing to old age.

The chicks will also be left to fend for themselves but relieved workers noted the male partner brought them fish and scared off predators through the weekend and hope he will continue to do so for the next week until they can feed themselves.

Mr Ferns said, “It’s very sad to watch because personally, I’ve been watching her 17 years—since I started on night shift—protecting her eggs, and it’s like losing one of the family.”

He added, “We’re so used to her being there but we knew she was going to go sometime.

“It will be heartbreaking to watch the chicks if they are not tended by the male.”

He added, “It’s also very hard for the visitors who feel involved as well.

“The regulars have been coming in since the osprey returned.”

Mr Ferns explained why the hundreds of visitors to the website were still able to view the nest.

He said, “We’ve not taken the webcam down because this is raw nature and people need to learn about it at its worst, and not just the fluffy, nice parts.”

The body will be removed from the nest when possible without unduly disturbing the chicks and male, for a post-mortem.

Mr Ferns said, “I’ve looked at all the recordings and she was fairly perky and feeding the chicks at 7.20 to 8.30 (on Friday night) and it was in the early hours you could see she was starting to go a little bit and something was wrong.

“She has no marks and it may be that she has eaten something bad but it could just be old age finally catching up on her.”

Since first arriving, Lady has had 57 eggs, 47 of which have produced successfully fledged chicks.

Ospreys have an average lifespan of only eight years and lay around 20 eggs.

UPDATE JUNE 21

Our mum has continued to fight her battle through the night and at first light she is still with us. It is amazing the strength a being can find solely to protect their offspring. She continues to amaze even in her decline!
Today will be another very busy and tiring day for us all here so your continued updates are particularly important to us, as we may miss a fish or interesting event that could be vitally relevant in the success of our dad and chicks.
I would just like to thank each and every one of you for your support and words of comfort and encouragement over the weekend. It means a lot to us.
Slainte mhath!

http://www.thewebbroadcastingcorporation.com/swt/swt.php (http://www.thewebbroadcastingcorporation.com/swt/swt.php)  web cam, this is so so so sad.  :crying:

This is sad, but ageing and dying are all part of living.

 :(

I just tuned in there and Lady seems to be rallying a bit...she's sitting up right now looking around...

21 June 2010
9am
As I am very tired at the moment I will have to ask if this is all real later!
There have been 3 fish in so far this morning and the chicks had a good go at getting stuck into a left-over fish from last night. They are learning fast. Mum seems to be making the most miraculous of recoveries, sitting up, preening herself, flapping her wings (almost taking off it seems!) and opening her eyes for a brief time. This is all positive progress but we must keep grounded and realise she is still not out of the woods yet. She must eat, and soon, in order to rehydrate and build up her energy reserves, and at present she is showing no interest in the food being brought right to her. It is also very possible that she has sustained long-term damage to her brain or eyes and may not recover fully, in which case she won’t leave for migration and may have to face a winter at Lowes. There are many different scenarios and we cannot predict anything at present. We will just have to continue the roller-coaster ride and see where the journey ends.
Dad continues to be brilliant and the chicks seem none the worse for wear for being left to survive the elements for 2 nights. Lets see what today brings. Hopefully some sleep for me!
Fiona

Latest osprey blog
21 June 2010
Sorry I have not been able to update as often as you would have liked. As you can imagine myself and the volunteers have been very busy looking after the visitors and press. For those of you who can watch we will be on BBC Scotland news and STV news tonight at tea time.
There has been no real change in the Lady over the course of the day and I can only expect her to go down hill very soon. This will be due to the lack of liquids. For those of you who are new to ospreys, these birds get all they need from their food, including water so she will not get the urge to leave the nest for a drink. I can also say that it is unlikely she has been poisoned as the chicks and 7Y are fine. This is (as the vet has said) probably due to old age. If she does decide to go walk about and tumbles out of the nest, we will retrieve her.
Thank you all for your kind words and support at this very hard time.
Peter

Whatever the outcome this osprey is a legend of her species!    :star:   Hopefully her chicks will survive and live long like her.    :heart:

Oh, that is so sad!  I did not realize an Osprey could live to be that old!!  She is truly amazing!!  And so many fledglings...incredible!  One positive note, she has certainly done her job to pass on her good genes. 

If anyone has avoided watching today you may want to check again...
 http://www.thewebbroadcastingcorporation.com/swt/swt.php

Lady took a trip to the Loch for a drink earlier and just finished feeding the chicks and herself.  It still may not end well...I can't imagine her successfully migrating after this episode...but some inner strength is keeping her with us for now.  Amazing.

I just checked, but the cam is down at the moment.  Let's hope for her, but you are right, can not imagine how she could possibly endure the migratory journey. 

Actually it is the blog which is down, but they are working to restore it.

This is a poor recording of the latest BBC story...I can barely hear it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJSWuT0vLVc

She's feeding them again right now

Latest osprey blog

21 June 2010
The Lady is proving to be a very tuff old bird and amazing to watch but I don’t think she is out of the woods yet. She flew off the nest earlier and glided to the edge of the Loch. She then took four drinks of water then flew back up to the nest. She did have difficulty in finding the nest. She looked quite disorientated. She has been back there now for over an hour and has been food calling. The male came in with a very small pike a short while ago. He left it for the chicks to fight over. After they finished the pike (which Mum showed no interest in) Mum moved to look down through the sticks in the side of the nest as if she was urging the chicks to look. They did and one of them pulled out a very small fish that had been lodged in there somehow. Just amazing! Peter


Wow, this is an amazing story unfolding. I hope she hangs in there for a while. No one really knows what is wrong with her...but she's a TROOPER for sure. Bless her Osprey  :heart:

Well, I'm a coward and I can't watch an Osprey die.  I also believe in all of God's creatures having dignity in death, so I'll just wait and read what happens. 

Another update...

21 June 2010
22:36 Update
What a day it has been for all involved. Isn’t this bird amazing, she has now fed herself and the chicks 4 times now this evening. This is good news and yes there is a but, but she still is not 100%. Let's hope our male can get some fish into the nest early tomorrow morning so she can feed again soon. Fiona and I will be here through the night to keep an eye on her. We will keep the blog updated as usual, which reminds me to thank the guys at Red Paint for getting the blog up and running again. They do a great job for us.
Peter

Latest osprey blog

22 June 2010
What a difference a day makes, (I'm sure that was song) well in an ospreys life it certainly does.

What a weekend -we certainly did go through a lot emotions over the last few days and I don’t think it is over yet. But the Lady of the Loch has certainly proved herself on many occasion to be an impressive bird, let's hope that continues today.

It is 3.30am and the birds are singing to what will be a magnificent sunrise this morning. The chicks have already started shouting for food, I think even with 7Y’s impressive fishing technique over the last few days he will still have problems at this time of the morning. Mum is still resting quietly at the side of the nest just now but has been very restless through the dark hours.

I think I will go out and enjoy the sunrise with her this morning and get away from the midges in my office. I can hear you say “in your office” - yes in my office. Fiona went home about an hour ago and left the outside door open so I am now being eaten alive by them. Wait till I see her!! This will make you laugh. I was watching a ground beetle walk over the floor in the office a few moments ago (because of the door left open) and thought “Oh that’s a big one” the next thing I knew it was under my T-shirt and on my back. Man, I just about jumped out of my skin and I couldn’t get it off because of where it was. I did, I must admit, panic, but only a little, OK, a lot, Ok OK, I was like a big girl. It’s giving me the willies just typing this. Peter

7.51am Good morning to all who have just got up.
The reason I was zooming in on her feet was to check the progress of her talon that was broken a while back. What made me do this, I found the other part in the nest by chance this morning. One of the chicks brought up a pellet, I zoomed in on the pellet and there beside it was the talon. It was not in the pellet nor did it come out of the chick.
No fish yet but she did find a morsel in the nest a little while ago. Her eyes are still sunken and could remain like that for a few days yet, until she gets enough fluids in her and her body fills out again. Let’s hope what ever this was that affected her so badly does not have a lasting effect. It is a good morning to fish! Peter

She's feeding her chicks right now, she looks so much better today!  :clap: Like Peter said, for now.

Yeah!!  Glad to hear it, she looks better today!

Hi

Sorry was out in the hide for a while. She flew around for a wee while before landing back at the nest. Our boy just brought in a stick. He is going to have to do better than that.

Peter   :surprise:

Latest osprey blog

22 June 2010
3pm update
Our mum continues to do well today, feeding her chicks and herself. There have been 6 (I think!) fish brought by the Laird today and he seems happy to leave mum to do all the feeding once more. Can he sense that his mate has recovered?
As happy as we all are at the improvements she has made, we know that she is still no where near 100% and probably will never be again. Hopefully she can regain some of the body mass she has lost to keep her going for the next few weeks. If her episode was caused by an illness then there is a possibility that she may relapse, but I am staying positive that she will see her chicks fly and then she can rest easy. I think that regardless of what happens, this will be her final summer on the nest, but what a season she has given us!

Thanks for posting Donna.  It certainly appears a bit more encouraging...I think.

Have her open and the girls...she's been calling...probably for more food. They do close-ups of her and BOY, she looks much better than she did yesterday. Wonder what happened to her?  She seems to feed the bulk of it to the kids and she hardly eats any herself. Kids come first, I guess. Good mom. Funny, she calls, then the kids answer with the same call. So cute.

Well they were going to put a satellite tracker on one of the chics....but...

Satellite Tracking Update
June 22nd, 2010 by Osprey Team

Thank you all for your interest in our fundraising campaign to raise money to satellite track our juvenile osprey chicks, and thank you to everyone who has kindly donated via the centre or via Toby Greens website at http://www.justgiving.com/Toby-Green.
As you will all know Toby made a superhuman effort in cycling the length of the UK and raised over £4,000 for this project.

We had made enquiries regarding getting the tracking done this year, though it appeared unlikely to happen due to the short timescale.

Due to the recent amazing, sad, mournful, depressing, fantastic, wonderful, uplifting, hopeful events we will now definitely NOT be tracking any chicks this year.

I think we, you, and our ospreys have quite enough drama to contend with already!
We would hate to jeopardise any recovery ( we hope) of our female by any extra interference to the nest at this crucial stage.

However, we will definately still be satellite tagging chicks- next years brood at Loch of the Lowes all things being well. All your money will go directly to this important and fascinating scientific research at Lowes.

I also just wanted to say how amazed, and thankful SWT continue to be at the comments of support from all corners of the globe at this stressful time.

Robert Potter
Reserves Manager North East

For Britain's bird watchers, the final hours of the Lady of the Loch have become a real life drama which has eclipsed the most highly charged episode of EastEnders.

For the last 72 hours, tens of thousands of bird watchers from across the UK and another 26 countries around the world have been watching what may well be the final moments of one of the world's oldest ospreys, living her last hours on a her eyrie in a Highlands nature reserve.

The Lady of the Loch has already broken a series of records for longevity and breeding success, but after it emerged over the weekend that she had stopped feeding and drinking, bringing her to the brink of a natural death, the news surged around the world.

Since then there have been well over 230,000 visits to watch live footage from a Scottish Wildlife Trust webcam trained on Lady's nest, from bird watchers in Oman, Australia, the US, Finland, Japan, Peru and 20 other countries.

Tens of thousands of people have followed the trust's blog as she started to show clear signs of dehydration and advanced age. She has seemed confused, listless and in discomfort; appearing unsure how to feed her latest two chicks, both still entirely dependent on Lady and her current, 10-year-old mate.

With fears growing that she might die last night she appeared to rally. Her survival instincts kicked in. She swooped down to the lochside to drink – her first liquid in four days – and this morning, fed for the first time since last week on a pike brought to the nest by her mate.

Peter Ferns, the SWT's visitor centre manager at Loch of Lowes, in Dunkeld, Perthshire, said: "It's been a fair old roller coaster of emotions over the weekend, but seeing her flying yesterday was just amazing to watch. I was actually quite gobsmacked because if you saw her on Saturday or even Sunday, you would've thought that would be one dead bird."

Lady has been nesting at the site for the past 20 years and, thanks to the internet and wildlife blogs, is already a celebrity.

Her return to Loch of Lowes in March, for her 20th year, was remarkable. She is now 25 and has produced 48 fledglings; a British record on both counts. She has lived three times longer than most ospreys and mothered far more young. The oldest recorded wild osprey in Europe lived for 32 years, but that is extremely rare.

Ferns has been watching Lady for 17 years, and says that the past 72 hours have been a painful experience. Her brief and unexpected rally on Monday suggests she may yet live for a few months, but there are strong doubts about her chances.

"When something like this happens to any osprey that old, it's going to have a long-term effect on her," he said. "I can see other problems coming, even if she does survive this.

"She has been acting at sometimes like she's a brand-new mother; looking confused and wondering what she's going to do with that fish that's landed in the nest, but suddenly her instincts kicked in and she's doing what's meant to do, drink and feed. But she's still unsteady, closing her eyes and still looking very weak, probably from dehydration."



Good Morning all.   Todays blog entry

What a great sight to come into this morning our Lady feeding the chicks. She is getting stronger and stronger all the time and we are more hopeful than we have been for her survival. But I would like to stress that whatever happened to her at the weekend could have longterm effects on her. It could also just as easily be something she has managed fight off and we wont see a recurrence this season.

Lets enjoy what each day brings because I am sure this wont be the last drama for this year. We still have a few more weeks to go before our chicks fledge. That drama in itself is amazing to watch. Have a good day and I look forward to your posts.

Peter

I should have put this in my earlier post..

I have spoken to our vet and to other people who have been dealing with ospreys for many more years than I and they all say the same, that they have never seen an osprey like this. This down to the cameras, we are privileged to watch these birds and are learning more and more about them every day with the aid of new technology. I have no doubt we have far more to learn than we already have. I am looking forward these birds teaching us more about there lives.

Peter

That is wonderful!  :2thumbsup:

That is wonderful news...I keep hoping for her!  Thank you for the update.

 goodnews:  Nature is a wonder!    :2thumbsup:

I can't seem to see this cam-- does anyone else have this problem??

Jeanne, I just checked again and I can't see it either.  Maybe more problems with the blog??

I'm watching..everything looks fine...mom there.

http://www.thewebbroadcastingcorporation.com/swt/swt.php (http://www.thewebbroadcastingcorporation.com/swt/swt.php)

Yes, it seems to be working now...yeah!  I love how the adult calmly sits by the side of the nest, while the kids poke and preen!

Latest osprey blog

24 June 2010
Morning all
It was great to come into another glorious morning and to see our girl feeding the chicks. She was also not happy at another osprey taking a look at the nest, she was shouting at it while continuing to feed the chicks so could not have posed a serious threat to her.

On the loch we have three bar-headed geese at the moment, probably escapees, it is a lovely change from the usual Canada geese we have here all year round.

Thanks for your posts during the night I do look forward to reading them in the morning. It is a shame we can't be here to moderate them. Peter

For those wanting to find a different view of the nest, try Camera 2 – available on the webcame home page under the SWT Red Squirrel logo. We often have this camera on other things like squirrels but at the moment we thought you’d like more ospreys! Sorry if we forgot to make this clear. Emma

http://www.thewebbroadcastingcorporation.com/swt/swt2.php (http://www.thewebbroadcastingcorporation.com/swt/swt2.php) Cam2

Hi Donna, Thanks for the update!  I spent some time yesterday enjoying the cam of her and the chicks!  They are getting so big! 

They sure are...I love the call of the Osprey too. Fingers crossed momma makes a good recovery from whatever happened to her. She's amazing.

 Uh huh! :wave:

Osprey Diary 25 June
Friday, June 25th, 2010

Good Morning All! Sorry for the late update today. It’s so busy here this morning that everyone assumed someone else had written the blog!
Having been off for 2 days (catching up on lost sleep!), I came in this morning to a bird who looked liked nothing had ever happened to her, so I’m now wondering if it was real or I dreamed the entire thing?!
The Laird has delivered several decent sized fish this morning and mum has yet again been stuffing them full of food. It’s hard to believe that in just 2 weeks they could be flying! I think after all that has happened, the fledging will be a momentous occasion and I’m sure quite an emotional one as well.
We will keep monitoring her progress and hope it is all as positive as the last few days have been. She has certainly put on a bit of weight again and her preening is making sure she looks her best.
Thanks again to all of you for your support over the last week. It’s helped us through and helped reinforce the importance of what we do.
Fiona

 :clap:

Wonderful news!  Thank you  :clap:

This is such great news!

 goodnews: Thanks Donna! :wave:

     
Latest osprey blog

26 June 2010
What a difference a week makes- lets all hope we don’t have a repeat of last weekends awful circumstances!
We are all overjoyed at our female ospreys recovery but still concerned and monitoring her weakened state- she still has a lot of weight and ground to make up. We are cautiously optimistic though, and of course relieved beyond measure that the chicks have not suffered through this due to dad's dillegence. Emma

 :clap:

:thumbsup:

With all the excitement today (Jemison), I forgot to check on momma Osprey:

Osprey Diary June 27, 2010

The brilliant warm calm summer weather continues. The water flat. It seems as if it will be another good day for fishing. Let us hope that the youngens will continue to be sated throughout the day and night to come. They, at this stage have their metabolic rates at a peak, during this very rapid feather growing season. They are regularly preening and their flight and tail feathers seem to grow by the hour. “Our” female encourages/calls/nags for meal delivery in an ever stronger manner. Although she still appears thin she sounds as if she is her old self again. Will she remain longer this year before flying south in order to gain strength, or perhaps she will more slowly meander as she migrates, taking in the sites towards West Africa? The best to all who follow.

 Thanks Donna. :wave:

What a wonderful clear, fresh washed morning here at Lowes- after a big thunder storm last night, which made the cameras go off for a while (sorry!) and which brought much needed rain (as our well is looking very dry indeed).
Our chicks are now just over five weeks old, and as many of you have observed, starting to look like proper wee ospreys, not babies any more. With most of their juvenile plumage has grown in they are now able to regulate their own temperature pretty well and are shower proof! They are also now the size of small chickens and getting more co-ordinated, especially with those huge feet.
This week we should also see the chicks starting to stretch their wings more and begin the process of developing their flight muscles by flapping. Before long they will be standing on the nest edge giving us all heart attacks! It is hard to believe it may only be two weeks or so until their first flights, all being well. Meanwhile they are still benefitting from mums TLC- they will never know just how lucky they are to have her!

 :clap: Thanks Donna!

Loch of the Lowes Osprey Wildlife Diary
Osprey Diary 29th June
June 29th, 2010 by Osprey Team

A beautiful morning again here at Lowes, with glorious sunshine and a gentle breeze ruffling the surface of the Loch. There are duckling and goslings a plenty around the shores, and great crested grebes nesting again amongst the yellow water lilies near the hide.
We have been focussed very much this last week or so on our female osprey ( quite rightly) and her plight, but I would like to mention our male today, because he deserves a Hero of the Loch award as far as I am concerned.
Most of you will know that he is a new male this year, ten years old born at Ballinliug in 2000. As a new partner for our lady, he was very much an unknown quantity at the beginning of the season. His courtship was text book, his nest building skills in no doubt (he virtually buried our lady!), but his fishing skills took a while to impress us! He ahs turned out to be a specialist pike fisherman and capable of bringing in very large fish (though his average is small and some truly tiny!). He did give us a couple of frights when he abandoned the eggs during incubation for half an hour or so- he was called a few very bad things those nights!
Most of all though, he has impressed all his doubters with his dedication, first feeding his mate tenderly on the nest, and then proving himself incredibly dedicated to his hatchlings. Once the chicks arrived he stepped up his hunting to an incredible level and hasn’t slacked since- there has never been a lack of fish which has meant the chicks having the best possible start in life.
It is thanks to dad however, that the chicks survived their mother’s terrible illness, because he stepped into the breach when she was unable to, and fed them himself. Though not unknown in ospreys, this kind of behaviour is considered rare and a sign of our male’s total dedication to rearing his offspring- what a super dad!
three cheers for Green 7Y- hero of the Loch!
Emma Rawling
Perthshire Ranger

Hi All

Just a wee update on the camera. We have had interference problems so I changed the feed as you have seen from the black and white picture. I will keep at it and get the original picture back.

Thanks for your patience.

Peter

Hey Donna,
Thanks for the update!!  I am so happy that all seem to be doing well and dad deserves a big applause for stepping it up when mom was ill  :clap:

Kinda reminds ya of Kaver huh?  :'(

p

Loch of the Lowes Osprey Wildlife Diary
Osprey diary 30th June
June 30th, 2010 by Osprey Team

Hi folks,

Sorry for the delay in posting todays blog and approving your comments. We had an issue with our phone line which meant we had no internet connection. We’re back online now and we’ll get onto your comments ASAP.

The laird delivered a very large perch about 11am this morning but we have no idea of previous fish deliveries so if you witnessed any please let us know.
It’s another pleasant day here at Lowes. The sun is beating down on the nest and the chicks are panting away. There is a nice breeze though, so this should help keep them cool. I fear we can’t really call them chicks anymore, as they are almost fully grown now and acting like proper ospreys (except for the flying bit!). How quick they grow and how soon we will all be suffering from empty nest syndrome!
Fiona

     
Latest osprey blog

1 July 2010
What a delight it is to wake early this morning to gentle rain at last! The woods around Lowes are dripping musically and the loch surface is rippled by drops of much needed rain!

Our two young ospreys are snuggled in the nest using their newly acquired waterproof feathers to keep dry - their first real test so far! Mum no longer needs to be their umbrella, and instead is watching from her perch regally.

She now also feels confident enough in their ability to defend themselves, to leave the chicks for short periods - the longest yet was this morning for nearly an hour. She has even begun indulging in a little fishing herself, which is a fabulous sign of her regaining her strength.

It may be a little as ten days before the chicks first flight - we are entering the ‘thrills and spills’ time of year! Emma

What great news!  :clap:

Loch of the Lowes Osprey Wildlife Diary
Osprey Diary July 2nd
July 2nd, 2010 by Osprey Team

Our young ospreys have survived the down pours of the last day or so well, with their new coats of speckled feathers- a wonderful camouflage on the nest.
The rain did however, make fishing conditions a bit more difficult for dad- his eyesight is phenomenal but even he struggles when it rains all day! It just goes to show just how lucky we have been this year with ideal fishing conditions prevailing and an abundance of food for the two chicks.

The chicks are really starting to flap now- don’t worry they aren’t really going to take off just yet, they are strengthening those vital flight muscles. There will be loads and loads of this behaviour for another week probably before their first flight.
Has anyone else noticed too in the last few days how those HUGE feet have suddenly started to be more coordinated and the chicks are starting to use their talons, instead of balancing on their heals?

Lastly, you will have noticed too that the chicks have been starting to ‘head waggle’- the name we give the side to side head movement ospreys use when fishing or trying to focus on something. Their eyesight is developing just as fast as everything else and they are practising eyeing up things out on the loch.

Yes, all of this is happening incredibly fast- think of all the development our children go through fast tracked into 8 short weeks! Never a dull moment with young ospreys!
Emma Rawling Perthshire Ranger

P.S. three fish so far this morning- thanks eagle eyed bloggers- or should that be osprey eyed?

Osprey Diary July 3rd
July 3rd, 2010 by Osprey Team

Good morning all you Bloggers- its a very windy morning here at Lowes as you can probably see from the webcam. Its a warm gusty breeze which is perfect for our birds to soar in. Some of you may be worried about our chicks accidentally taking off whilst doing their wing stretches and practise flapping. Don’t worry they usually keep a firm hold on the nest with thier talons at this stage. As their muscles strengthen, they will start to make proper little ‘leaps’ or ‘levitations’ aloft for a few seconds, sometimes right across the nest. It doesn’t count as fledging though ( in our book) until they actually leave the nest though! The first flight it often a bit ungainly and landings certainly take a while to be perfected , so we could be in for some comedy moments in the next week.
Emma Rawling
Perthshire Ranger  Wow, I thought I posted yesterday's.. hmm


     
Latest osprey blog

4 July 2010

Moist musings, perhaps even wet ones this morn…all of us creatures are so interconnected; from clean oxygenated water, not too many phosphates, nitrates, heavy metals; to aquatic plant life, invertebrates, amphibians, small fish, and large; to osprey, migrant birds, mammals; and all of their intricate mechanisms from sodium/potassium balance/imbalance inervating nerves which stimulate muscles and move bones on joints. It requires so much to be in order to accomplish what seems to be a very simple thing; mopping a floor, learning to sense air resistance against feathers, to use a tail to manouevre, balance (squirrels also), eye coordination and on…
I have used the word “miracle” and “miraculous” often as many of us have, this past fortnight in referrence to “our” female. There are so many occurances that we miss moment by moment. On this moist day without the strong wind forcast, let take a moment to feel the fresh drops of water on us. And continue to marvel the unfolding day before us. Rinchen.   :thumbsup:

Osprey Diary 5 July
July 5th, 2010 by Osprey Team

Good morning ALL

Sorry for being so late with this mornings post. It has been very hectic here at Lowes this morning.

I think our Lady has proven her fitness in getting through yesterdays thunderstorm. The weather was very sever at times and I for one would not have liked to be 60ft up a Scots pine during that down pour. Lets hope the rest of the week is more settled.

The family have had a few visits this morning from other ospreys, this will happen more and more as young ospreys from around the area find their wings. Our young too will venture out to visit other nest sites nearby. It is not unusual to see young from other nests begging for food at a neighbours nest site, this has not been recorded at Lowes yet.

Peter

This has been amazing to watch unfold!  Osprey are captivating to watch, and this mom is exceptional.  We need to edit the subject line to say 'NOT - Sad news'!!

Osprey Diary 6th July
July 6th, 2010 by Osprey Team

Good morning all! As I’m new to The Scottish Wildlife Trust at Loch of The Lowes a brief introduction is called for. I’ll be here for the next six months at the reserve, working on the visitor services side of things, no doubt I’ll be blogging pretty regularly too. Coming from London , Scotland and it’s resident wildlife is all rather new for me, I’m just looking forward to getting stuck in and acquainting myself with our celebrity ospreys.

Onto the update. We’ve had a fairly quiet morning so far with relatively little activity from the Lady, although our youngsters are becoming more boisterous, flapping their wings vigorously and shuffling closer to the edges of the nest in eager anticipation. Having just seen the osprey chicks at Bassenthwaite who appeared slightly dozy and were still taking chunks of fish from under Dad’s talons, I’m impressed by how developed these juveniles are. At 9.40 they were feeding themselves with chunks of pike found in the nest then taking turns to peer inquisitively over the sides of the nest and directly at the camera. No sign of Dad so far and Lady is busy watching the skies for potential danger.

Will update soon,

Charlotte

Osprey Diary 7th July
July 7th, 2010 by Osprey Team

Morning all,

This morning came with a surprise from one of our osprey chicks who took advantage of a strong gust of wind and raised itself about four metres from the nest, flapping vigorously. This leaves us thinking- could today be the day one or possibly two finally make the move? Despite their attempts to gain flight however, they quickly nestled down against each other in the nest against the buffeting winds waiting patiently for Dad’s return. Although seemingly quiet at the moment bursts of activity from the juveniles occur on a pretty regular basis, so keep watching!

Charlotte

Be safe little ones! ;)

prey Dairy July 9th
July 9th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

You will notice that our staff are now logging on to  post and reply to your comments using our individual names, rather than just as “Osprey Team”.  We’ve done this to help you know who it is on the ‘other end’ of the keyboard. Eventually , we will even have wee pictures accompanying our names- but we are a notoriously camera shy bunch!

On the osprey nest this morning, we still have three birds- mum and two very large and adult looking chicks. You will notice how speckled their plumage is, and they will wear this disticntive juvenile pattern for up to two years -ospreys moult continuously so it will be gradually replaced with adult colours.

Both chicks are now able to feed themselves to some extent, as recent squabbles over fish deliverys demonstrate! As their feet stengthen they can now stand on the fish and tear with their beaks, but are also not averse to begging mum to ‘baby’ them.

Will today be the big lift-off day?

Emma Rawling

Mom and her 2 baby Ospreys. They are fun to watch. One was just hovering above the nest.

Osprey diary 10th July
July 10th, 2010 by fiona, osprey HQ

Good morning all!

It’s another fairly dreich day here today and not a lot of wind.  Will that put our chicks off their maiden flights or will they decide to take the plunge?  Our fingers are poised, ready to record the big event, so we’re hoping it will be during the day when we are actually here, unlike last year when the eldest chick decided to wait 20 minutes after we left for the evening!  You’ll notice Lady spending much more of her time off the nest and this is to encourage the chicks to follow her.  Dad will also bring less food so they have some incentive to leave.

There have been many questions regarding what happens after fledging, so here are a few pointers.

    * once the chicks fledge, they will continue to return to the nest to receive food deliveries for dad, who will bring in whole, live fish and leave the chicks to work on their feeding skills.
    * They will practice fishing and if they’re lucky might even catch a fish or two!
    * Mum usually leaves first, at the beginning of August, but we are unsure what she will do this year.  She may wait a bit longer to build up her strength, or she may not migrate at all.
    * The young will spend less and less time on the nest and from mid-August onwards, they will start to migrate.
    * Dad will leave first with the chicks following, but once on migration they are on their own.
    * It will take anywhere up to 8 weeks for them to make the full migration to their winter roosting spot, with females making more stopovers than males (hence the earlier departure).
    * They will fly predominantly during the day, but may fly at night, particularly over bodies of water.
    * The young will spend the first 3 – 5 years in their wintering grounds until they are sexually mature, and then return to the UK to breed.
    * They will head in the direction of their nest site, finding their own sites and partners on the way, starting the cycle all over again!

First chick takes to the skies!
July 11th, 2010 by fiona, osprey HQ

Hi folks,

If you were watching you will have seen chick no.1 spread its wings, hover above the nest and then fly free at 9:09am this morning! I will update you all more in a bit when I get everything else here sorted. Anyone else feeling emotional?!
Fiona

Well what a morning! When I got here at 8:40am, I just knew the conditions were right for a first flight, and both chicks were enjoying the fresh breeze, feeling the ‘wind beneath their wings’! I had sat by the video recorder for about 15mins and decided to get some work done and just as I sat down to count the money, the chick vanished from the screen! You’ll notice it took a while to find where it fly off too as mum had flown back onto her perch, just to confuse me! This was probably to be a landing beacon to the chick. It made a few attempts to land on various trees but the wind proved to strong and blew it over the top off them. An initial attempt was made to land on the nest, which it overshot by a long way, and I admit to having a giggle at that. But after another flight round about the loch, it came in for another attempt and made an almost perfect landing! Lady looked like a proud mum watching their child take it’s first steps while chick no.2 cowered in the nest looking slightly petrified! We just have to hope it plucks up the courage to follow suit, and today would be the perfect day to do so.

There was a lot of confusion as to whether one chick had flown last night, but I have had a look back at the footage and they did spend a lot of time on the edge of the nest just out of camera range of cam1. This is our night vision camera which gets switched on when we leave at night. Unfortunately it appears to have been blown to the right which we won’t be able to correct until the winter when we get up the tree to do some maintenance, so apologies for the poor picture your getting at night.

Keep your eyes peeled for flight number 2!
Fiona

A wonderful sight to behold, indeed!   :clap:

Janet, I know you've watched a lot of ospreys - have you ever seen a fledge?  It must be different than some other birds, I imagine, because of that lifting-off-and-hovering thing...

Dale - I saw 2 fledge within a few hours of each other - the 1st of the pair opted to lift off and fly while I was driving overing the Tracys Creek Bridge.  Thank God no one was behind me!  Obviously didn't get photos.  I can tell you that #1 was clearly surprised that flight had happened :) 

Wow, I am so far behind in posting about the Scottish Ospreys.....sorry. Both have successfully fledged.  :clap:

July 17th, 2010 by rboardman

All appears calm to begin this day. Yesterday was full of excitement highlighted by “our” female catching 4 fish in as many attempts. I have been hoping that this would occur over the past few days. What a gal! The unexpected, as ever, ” bone caught in the throat” hopefully has not had ill effects on her.

When very little appears to be going on in front of our eyes, the egg “that wasn’t” stands large. I once called it “decor”, but perhaps now it can symbolise those past experiences for us all over the past 3-4 months.

Some days, the moments spent on the nest are spaced farther apart, by all parties, including “our” brilliant male. Let us try to savour each and every one of these times, the egg “that is”. Rinchen

Posted in Diary 2010 | 18 Comments »
Osprey Diary 16th July
July 16th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

Four Together Again:

 Yesterday evening we were treated to an unusual sight on the nest for this time of year, but one which warmed my heart- all four of our ospreys on the nest together again. It as only a brief moment, but when dad arrived with a whole fish, mum and the younger chick were ready and waiting and the older chick appeared lightning fast from stage left. Mum then quickly grabbed the fish and took off with it, whist dad gave chase to an intruder nearby- a frantic few moments. The look on the chicks faces was absolutely priceless- “what is no one going to feed us!?!”. No fear, mum soon returned with it having eaten the head- she must have been really hungry.

 Moments like these are just wonderful, and make you realise how much we are all going to miss our wee family all too soon- but they still have a few magic moments and interesting behaviours to share with us yet this season!

Emma Rawling Perthshire Ranger

Posted in Diary 2010 | 305 Comments »
Osprey Diary 15th July
July 15th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  We are all hoping here at Lowes that the weather will finally improve today as it has been the wettest and coolest period so far this season. Not that the rain isn’t welcome, with the Loch (and our well) so low, however,  the rain has made life difficult for our ospreys.

The male (and female) have certainly had their work cut out fishing as the wind has created substantial waves on the lochs and visibility is poor. All the wild birds have been using the more sheltered bays on the leeward side of the loch for foraging and roosting. The ospreys, young and old, have been sitting in the sheltered trees across from the nest the last couple of days, hence the empty camera for so much of the day.Don’t worry it is normal for the youngsters to continue to use the nest for some weeks, and most of the fish deliveries will  still take place there. We should be able to enjoy views of them for some time to come- before the real withdrawal symptoms kick in for all of us as the chicks migrate into their future.Emma RawlingPerthshire Ranger

Posted in Diary 2010 | 245 Comments »
Osprey Diary 14th July
July 14th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

 A cool, damp and windy morning here at Lowes, with both the chicks visiting the nest in between training flights. Both are looking more confident in their flights and making remarkably good landings all things considered.

 Our poor lady osprey has been looking a wee bit lonely on the nest -a bad case of empty nest syndrome literally. Some of us have been noticing that she seems to be spending a lot of time on the nest, rather than joining in with fishing, which would be more usual at this time of year. Is she resting up to build her strength? She seems to be supervising the youngsters and watching carefully, but taking things easy.  Not a bad thing as she has only weeks left to gain strength before autumn migration. We can only hope she reaches full condition in time, in order to have the best chance of surviving the journey ahead.

 Emma Rawling

 Perthshire Ranger

6pm Update : Hi folks Emma here, sorry for the camera being a bit static today- someone forgot to change it to roving HD mode this morning ( we are human alas ) . I’ve just taken a wee tour of the loch and found two of our four ospreys ( mum and one chick) hiding in the better cover of the trees just across the bay- this is the side that is not so wind blown today! Don’t worry they will still use the nest for quite a while yet, it’s just that today it is the wettest and windiest palce on the loch so they’ve sensibly decided to shelter elsewhere. Emma

Posted in Diary 2010 | 220 Comments »
Osprey Diary 13th July
July 13th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  Sorry about the camera problems overnight folks- the computer which hosts the camera to the web was a wee bit overtired again- restart and a few kind words and its working again- thank goodness!

 Both our chicks have now taken their exciting first flights over the last 48 hours and both have done extremely well. Instinct is a wonderful thing and both chicks flew strongly, though not very far as yet. They will often perch up somewhere close by at this stage to build up the energy to return to the nest, as long flights are still a bit beyond them- those wing muscles need a lot of conditioning.

 The first chick to fly is the older and seems more confident at this stage, whereas the younger is more tentative, but this is nothing to worry about. Both have returned safely to the nest for feeding last night so there is nothing wrong with their homing instinct!

Emma Rawling

Perthshire Ranger

Posted in Diary 2010 | 184 Comments »
Camera problems
July 13th, 2010 by Peter Ferns

Good morning all.

I am still having problems getting the cameras back on line. I will keep working on it until it is sorted.

At the moment mum is shouting for a fish from Dad but he is not around the nest area at the moment. We will give you a proper update a bit later. After I get this camera working. Technology is a wonderful thing but some times it can be a pain in the, well I wont say but you know what I mean.

Peter

Tags: camera, osprey
Posted in Diary 2010 | 7 Comments »
Osprey Dairy 12th : Chicks Fledging
July 12th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

Update: Thuderstorms abound! We’ll get the system up and running again ASAP!

Our first born osprey chick has been pretty busy since fledging for the first time yesterday- no less than six flights from the nest and a few practise landings ( some better than others which can be comical!). This morning it has been away for quite some time- but don’t worry we’ve just found it perched high above the loch on the far side of the bay, getting used the new view.

With wing muscles only just getting used to all this work, chicks will often perch up somewhere nearby to rest and get the energy up to fly back to nest. Never fear though, as soon as there is even a hint of food arriving at the nest , the chick will appear as if from nowhere- sound familiar to anyone with teenage children?

 The second, slightly younger chick seems to be getting ready to follow suit this morning- after an attempt this morning at about half past six. Stay Tuned!

 Emma Rawling

Perthshire Ranger

P.S. at 9.10 am a spectacular aerial dog fight between the osprey parents and a heron who dared to come too close the nest, just shows the instinct to protect is still strong despite the chicsk being big enough to defend themselves now!

Update: at 9.40 this morning the second chick took its maiden flight- a text book one at that!

Posted in Diary 2010 | 227 Comments »
First chick takes to the skies!
July 11th, 2010 by fiona, osprey HQ

Hi folks,

If you were watching you will have seen chick no.1 spread its wings, hover above the nest and then fly free at 9:09am this morning! I will update you all more in a bit when I get everything else here sorted. Anyone else feeling emotional?!
Fiona

Well what a morning! When I got here at 8:40am, I just knew the conditions were right for a first flight, and both chicks were enjoying the fresh breeze, feeling the ‘wind beneath their wings’! I had sat by the video recorder for about 15mins and decided to get some work done and just as I sat down to count the money, the chick vanished from the screen! You’ll notice it took a while to find where it fly off too as mum had flown back onto her perch, just to confuse me! This was probably to be a landing beacon to the chick. It made a few attempts to land on various trees but the wind proved to strong and blew it over the top off them. An initial attempt was made to land on the nest, which it overshot by a long way, and I admit to having a giggle at that. But after another flight round about the loch, it came in for another attempt and made an almost perfect landing! Lady looked like a proud mum watching their child take it’s first steps while chick no.2 cowered in the nest looking slightly petrified! We just have to hope it plucks up the courage to follow suit, and today would be the perfect day to do so.

There was a lot of confusion as to whether one chick had flown last night, but I have had a look back at the footage and they did spend a lot of time on the edge of the nest just out of camera range of cam1. This is our night vision camera which gets switched on when we leave at night. Unfortunately it appears to have been blown to the right which we won’t be able to correct until the winter when we get up the tree to do some maintenance, so apologies for the poor picture your getting at night.

Keep your eyes peeled for flight number 2!
Fiona

Osprey Diary July 18, 2010
July 18th, 2010 by rboardman

Damp morning, warm air, thus far.

Well, I left last night with the juvies calling for lunch and tea well into the evening hoping that either ma or pa would come through with fish for the family. Over the past 4 months I am constantly reminded of; the random timing of switchovers in incubation by each adult, the size or quantity of fish, what nesting material is brought to the nest, by whom,  when are the best fishing times and what are the ultimate conditions. Every day provides a different pattern, including yesterday with delivery of very few fish. Was the behaviour yesterday a separating process, encouragement, or a dispute between the roles of female & male, or non of the above?

I did leave pondering why or how odd it was not to note fish catch in our diary throughout the day. I knew of course that plenty of food had been provided for all the previous day and that the birds were not starving/dehydrating. Thank you blog people for informing me that infact a couple of fish have been provided over the  night and this morning.

 I expect today will provide more opportunity to see fresh skulls, intestines and all the other fleshy and gooey bits so exciting for ourselves and the osprey.

See, I have projected my pattern for the day. We shall see. Rinchen

Osprey Diary July 19, 2010
July 19th, 2010 by rboardman

The carryings on and dynamics amongst each individual becomes more and more pronounced. Mum tidies up alone on the nest,  juvie flies in, Mum flies off, and mimics same actions. At least a couple of behavioural actions here…And then there is the food situation, who catches, who sees the catch, who eats, who gives, who receives. Not satisfied, they squawk, full, they squawk, hungry or not. Pops remains aloof, was it fishing, guarding territory (and we do have a fair number of intruders and will continue to do so) or watching the golf?

“Our” female remains an extremely devoted parent. The juvies are still her priority. I would like her to eat more, she appears tired. Let us not forget that on Friday she caught 4 fish in as many attempts and did catch two (one too large to lift) yesterday afternoon in front of juvies and us visitors. Breeding  is a massive task. I remain hopeful that the young will soon be less reliant on the parents in order for her to recover from this very stressfull four months.

Calm and warm here at present. We shall continue to marvel, whether overseas, overair, or at the Loch of the Lowes, Perthshire, Scotland. Rinchen

Loch of the Lowes Osprey Wildlife Diary
Osprey Diary 20th July
July 20th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

Update 2:54pm: Cameras should be back up and working now.

Update: Will our cams are still being worked on, I thought I’d update you on todays comings and goings. Both chicks have been on the nest, off the nest, on the nest, off the …you get the picture! Both currently back on the nest after some time sat in trees doing a bit of preening. Dad brought in a nice brown trout about lunchtime, which mum grabbed while she had the opportunity and flew off with it. She ate her fill and brought the rest back for the chicks to fight over. Both had a bite but seem peckish again, calling incessantly for dad to bring more lunch!
Off to work on the webcams again! Wish me luck!
Fiona

With the cameras back up and running after our wee power cut crisis overnight , we can only hope the birds show themselves on the nest early this morning to help you all with your withdrawal symptoms!

Both the chicks have certainly been very active over the last few days, constantly bouncing to and fro the nest on training flights, circling the loch, and even taking the odd run at the water- not seriously tryo9ng to catch anything yet, but probably practising judging distances, angles and speeds for successful strikes in the future.When they roost however, they are never far from the nest- most often in the trees opposite where they can be clearly seen from the hides- and always in easy reach if a parent with a fish does happen to appear on the nest.They are certainly vocal that’s for sure- this must surely be the nosiest time of the year on the nest!Emma Rawling

Perthshire ranger

Scottish Wildlife Trust

Loch of the Lowes Osprey Wildlife Diary
Osprey Diary 21st July
July 21st, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  What a morning!  Our lone chick on the nest is a picture of misery- bedraggled!  Their juvenile plumage is pretty waterproof ( though not as good as say a ducks) and they are pretty good at thermoregulation now, but you can’t help but feel sorry for it! At least the chicks got a good meal last night and this morning so they should be fine- like all of us they will just have to wait out the rain until sunny skies tomorrow!

 More news later today!

Emma Rawling

Wow, look at the feets!  :scaredblue: Juvie Osprey

Those tallons are positioned "facing each other" to enable the bird to get a solid grip on the fish in the water, haul it out of the water, position the face forward and the tail aft, and fly up to the nest.  Those tallons and the positioning of them are designed to get a really secure hold on the fish.  Sometimes the fish is a really big one and it will drag the osprey down to drown.

 :wow:  Thanks ladies!  What a beautiful bird they are.    :handshake: :gum:

Stop. Hold on. The bird will not let GO?
What mother of all design flaws are we talking about here?

dale

Sometimes (just like a fish hook getting caught via the barbs) the osprey can't release.  It happens sometimes.  A big fish, with lots of life and speed (rock fish comes to mind) will take off when the bird sinks in.  Accidents....

Found this:

Hunting & Feeding
Ospreys are expert hunters, well-adapted to catching live fish. Locating their prey from the air, ospreys will sometimes dive more than 100 feet, pulling up at the last moment before plunging feet-first into the water to capture a fish. Sometimes going completely underwater, the osprey has unique nostrils that close to keep out water. Their heavily muscled legs, powerful wings, and strong feet allow them to catch and fly off with fish up to three feet below the surface of the water! As the osprey rises in flight, it will grasp the fish firmly with two claws facing forward and two facing back. Adult ospreys are capable of carrying fish that equal their own size.

OK so they take BIGGER fish than that of their own weight? YIKES!!!

They can and they have according to MD DNR.

Awesome facts and info some of us are learning from the Jersey girls.  Thanks! :clap: :gum: :handshake:

Osprey Diary 22nd July
July 22nd, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  AT last we have some sunshine!!!! What a glorious morning with the loch and the whole world seeming fresh washed and plumped up with moisture. As the sun warms up, the steam is rising in the woods and all our wildlife is drying out!

 Our lady osprey is no exception- sitting proudly on the nest perch , preening and enjoying the feeling of sun on  her feathers. She must be starting to dream of Africa surely- warm winds, hot nights, big fish….

 The good, calm weather  will certainly help all our ospreys fishing and we hope the rate of deliveries goes up- time too out some real weight on for our wee family.

Emma Rawling

Perthshire Ranger

Osprey Diary 23rd July
July 23rd, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  Another beautiful morning at Lowes with more sunshine and the happy sight of lady and her two youngsters on the nest, feeding happily.

Those of you who have been worrying about the smaller chick getting enough food, will be glad to hear it had a breakfast fish all to itself this morning at the crack of dawn! Nature’s survival of the fittest’ rule can be harsh, but in this case the wee one is getting enough to get by at the moment. However, it is certain that the bigger chick will be at an advantage, with extra fat reserves to call upon if times are hard. This may be particularly pertinent come migration time in a few weeks- although there is a great deal of luck involved in surviving your first trip to Africa for a young osprey, having a good bodyweight to start with will certainly help .Many of you will have also noticed the amount of intruder activity around the nest over the last week or so. This is not surprising really, given the timing of other young ospreys in nearby nests also fledging, and their parents also frantically trying to keep up with the demands of teenage mouths! The ospreys alarm calls you are hearing are not too serious (unlike earlier in the season when there was a serious risk to chicks etc) but more of a symbolic protest at the neighbours getting too close.Emma Rawling Perthshire Ranger

http://www.thewebbroadcastingcorporation.com/swt/swt.php (http://www.thewebbroadcastingcorporation.com/swt/swt.php) Mom and kids at nest now making some strange noises. They are so cute.

Osprey Diary- July 24, 2010
July 24th, 2010 by rboardman

Warm and grey this morn…

I shall start with sending apologies to all for the lack of  live coverage. Late yesterday afternoon our technology let us down. None of the three of us last evening could do what is required to encourage our PC to talk to the internet. I believe that it is something that our head office has control.  We shall continue to work away.

Yesterday morning at my breakfast table overlooking Dunkeld and the broad rushing Tay river, the first bird of the day was an ospey peering into the water. They are often seen over the Tay valley, usually I see shreeching swift first thing. What is missing is the consistant piping of oystercatchers…

I am rambling to note that there are obvious wildlife changes already, albeit mid-summer. “Our” female osprey spends less time on the nest. Just last week she overviewed the bay and nest from a very predicatable perch. She does not frequent this tree as often these days. The juvies had a long bath yesterday, but still, oddly to me occasionally lie flat in the nest as if they have forgotten how to perch. Often, they soar ever higher and farther away from the Loch for longer and longer periods. The male continues to briefly provide his perch drops to the nest, and then is gone…I have witnessed “our” female tearing across the Loch after intruders lately. It is hard to believe that she was poorly when I watch now. She flies well and I am hopeful that she will successfully fly south. Of course we all are wondering when that will be. Personally I think that it may well be by the end of the month.

Osprey Diary, July 25, 2010
July 25th, 2010 by rboardman

It is feeling warm here already…air still a time of writing…

Having been here for two hours all feels “normal”, although I did hear a tawny owl and saw a young song thrush as I walked down to the Visitors Centre this morn.

Two juvies were feeding upon my arrival. Were there two fish delivered, I did see two tails? I am hopeful that this is what occurred, for it does seem that the smaller youngster is not eating as much as we would like. Perhaps having a more bold attitude has rewards, at least when it comes to fresh fish. Less squawking and more action may be our advice. The “greedy” one has flown off a couple of times with fish to eat over the past few days. I hope that perching and eating were well accomplished, for this is another essential skill. Eating at the table (nest) is a luxury for these birds for only a limited time. Perhaps if “greedy” does this more frequently and “our” intrepid male provides a double order the smaller juvie will have time and space to eat.

So, without sounding too much like a cheer leader today let us hope that larger fish or a more bold attitude is the order of the day.

Yes, Mom, continues to preside over the Loch in fine form.

I will continue to work on Cam 2.

I started with the word “normal”. I wonder if we will experience something not so today…Rinchen

Osprey Diary July 26th
July 26th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  What a lovely site this morning of our lady osprey and both chicks on the nest, feeding well, though there is undoubtedly some squabbling going on. You will notice that mum is ‘babying’ the smaller chick, feeding it though it is well able to feed itself by now- perhaps just to ensure it is getting its’ fair share!

Our female osprey has taken to pending most of her time (when not out fishing) sitting across from the nest on the other side of the bay. Can you blame her- she must be sick of the sight of it after three solid months stuck there with eggs and chicks! It is also vital that she gets herself fit again , as migration looms only a few short weeks away.Dad is working extremely hard, even though he’s seldom seen- blink and you’ll miss him during his lightening quick fish deliveries to the nest. He is flat out keeping up with the demand, and is doing a stirling job yet again- what a hero!For those of you able to visit us here at the Lowes, we can assure you that even though the nest may often now be empty, there is still plenty of osprey action on the loch. There is almost always at least one of the birds in sight of the hides, and often a lot of fishing action on the loch, both with our birds and other form the nearby area- all in all, agree to visit and see the ospreys for yourself!Emma RawlingPerthshire Ranger

Osprey Diary 27th July
July 27th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  What a defensive lot we have in our wee osprey family! This morning all three (mum and two chicks) were happily roosting in the trees opposite the hide- you may have seen me zooming in on them – from where they can survey their domain. They show little interest in the nest now (far too grown up for that obviously!) UNLESS someone else gets too close (in this case an intruder osprey). What a lightening fast reaction- all three of them appeared within seconds and began mantling (covering the nest with dropped wings and squawking) over the nest like it was still the most precious thing in the world to them.

 There has been a lot of discussion about our female osprey’s weight recently- we estimate she lost up to a third of her bodyweight during her dramatic illness. Rest assured she is slowly regaining weight (despite always favouring the chicks over herself with food) but we would not yet say she is back to ‘before-illness’ weight, and we would like to see her put more on before she attempts autumn migration. By the way, we judge a birds weight at the front over the chest- what is known as the ‘keel’ or breastbone, is where birds carry their fat reserves.

 Emma Rawling

 Perthhsire Ranger


Osprey Diary 28th July
July 28th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  Three interesting snippets of osprey behaviour from the last 24hrs.

 Firstly our lady had to fight off a very determined intruder yesterday, and unusually, shouting and posturing was not enough! She actually had to use her talons and beak to see the intruder at the nest off- for this  to happen is unusual. As well as other juvenile and curious birds at this time of year, there are also now ospreys starting to head south, who have either failed to breed, or bred very early, so there will be doubtless more such encou7nters.

 Secondly, we had a visit form dad at the nest yesterday afternoon, with a nice juicy pike- and unusually, there was no one there to receive it. Where were the hungry hordes?  He sat for a few minutes ( a nice chance to see him in detail as his recent visits have been so fleeting) and when no one else emerged to claim the prize, her quite rightly took off with it himself!

 Lastly a few of you noticed one of our chicks yesterday pick up at least two things from the water- a pine cone and a stick! Not quite a fish, but a good sign it is honing its skills in coordination, visual calculations and accuracy. Keep it up wee one!

 Lets hope today has as many equally exciting developments.

 Emma Rawling

 Perthshire Ranger

Thanks for the osprey news, Donna. The Lady of the Loch sure is something! :wub:

 :ditto:    :thumbsup:

Osprey diary 29th
July 29th, 2010 by fiona, osprey HQ

Good morning bloggers,

It’s another pleasant day here at Lowes and all seems well on the nest. There was a fish delivery just a short while ago and, yup you guessed it, greedy guts got in there first! Chick no.2 really needs to start growing up and fighting for itself, and mum needs to let it! Lady is due to leave by the end of next week and she seems to be on a mission to eat as much as possible to gain the strength she needs, which is a good sign she is ready to leave. Her progress would be better if she didn’t have all these intruders harassing her and the chicks, but a mother’s work is never done and she will defend her young and home to the very last.

We are all savouring these moments however, as we all know, this very well could be Lady’s last year and we will applaud her every little victory, the last being here final(?) migration.

I wish her safe travels and hope she makes it and returns next season. What a great mother she is.

The very best mother!  :pray:

Fingers crossed and prayers said for this precious mama bird.   :heart: :heart: :heart:

Oprey Diary, July 30, 2010
July 30th, 2010 by rboardman

Warm and greyish this morn. Rain is forcast for later today.

The current questions are; “where is the female?”, “who caught the fish?” and “who is eating most of the fish?”

The answers lie in very careful and accurate, verifiable observation. I will  place here some personal comments. “Our” female is spending more time away from the nest; a gradual weaning of  the breeding season. This will continue to occur until one day (probably soon) she will wend her way south, having completed another fantastic episode of her life. And yes, she appears strong and is well able to look after her own needs. Perhaps a juvie caught a fish yesterday. As we have observed over the past fortnight the male deliveries to the nest are nearly instantaneous. We have also observed that the chicks are able to fly with objects (pine cones, sticks, and fish) and know that they are able to land in the loch and alight from it. They are also able to perch and even eat fish away from the nest, albeit it is surely easier to eat on the “table”. It is possible that there was a fish exchange away from the nest. Our views from the camera and hides are remeber very limited, selective and comprehensive. About an hour after the perch came in, another fish was delivered by “our” male. Both of the adults have made consecutive food drops in the past. Of course we have very talented and accompished osprey here. As someone who has recorded plenty of natural history and biometric data I suggest that further observation is required. The juvies will both be too soon, to many, fending for themselves. Both of the young are healthy, active and progressing at their own pace. As I noted yesterday in a response to a comment, I indicated that the siblings have been getting along famously since hatch date. Competion is healthy. Each individual has its’ own needs.

Let us experience and enjoy the activity provided by natural world. Rinchen

Osprey Diary July 31, 2010
July 31st, 2010 by rboardman

…30 days hath September, April, June and…yikes, the last day of July.

Faithful blog people noted a “crow/raven/blackbird” poked a hole into the third egg whilst I was away. The orb itself still has fine form. I cannot think that any contents were palatable. As noted yesterday, we have had a good number of jays about and still do this morn, it may have even been one of them. Many odes to the orb have been written.

Two larger fish were brought to the “table” yesterday; a huge perch and a blue trout. I have spoken in the centre of noting that once the juvies were able to fly, the the size of the fish seemed to be smaller than earlier on in the breeding season, thinking that the the parents were choosing to catch smaller fish for the inexperienced young to eat. As the juveniles continue to mature we shall see if this is in fact a change in the adult behaviour. Yesterday, both of the youngsters ate on the nest and flew off with their heavy partially eaten prey. One, found that the fish was a wee bit too heavy to comfortably fly. It returned with it a few moments later. Once more had been eaten it flew off with a lighter load. This is much like an adult would do when fish are caught too heavy to lift and fly just above the surface of the water and eat at the waters’ edge before flying off to a safer perch. Of course the juvies will soon be flying with fish and need to have the skills to do so.

If we have many visitors today I may not be able to respond as frequently as I would like. I will do so as soon as I am able.

Have a wondrous day on your own patch as well as this one! Rinchen

Mom and whiny kids in nest.  One has a fish and still whines. Cute though.

So I'm watching these 3 and the one with the fish wants no more. Mom is checking out the leftovers and so is his sib. He is holding on to that last piece of fish for dear life, in his talons, (tight). He flew off with it and then came back with fish still clutched in his talons. Very greedy... :2funny: Amazing to watch how they develop their own habits. The other 2 are drooling over that fish. Mom just took off, kids watching.

he's still clutching that dern fish... :hysterical:

Osprey Diary August 1, 2010
August 1st, 2010 by rboardman

Dunkeld and the Loch seem eerily quiet this morn despite the calling of “mom” and juvie.

Fresh fish again by “our” reliable male. As I mentioned recently, many of the deliveries are larger these days;  more work and a heavier load for the young. Earlier, I posed that this event was intentional. “Greedy” acts just that. Perhaps some of us noticed “Slim” driving off a crow twice yesterday and a grey heron with terrific intent, whilst “his” sibling gorged away. “Our” female remained on the nest during this event, no doubt very observant. Perhaps we do have a male & female. Practically speaking, we may never know.

The egg, raided by a crow early yesterday morn has been shattered entirely, the integrity of the structure broken. Natural forms and behaviour are truly spectacular. What remains will change along with the fish scales, mandible, pond weed, bark and detritous in the habitat of nest. We remember. As we will the events of days past, on this blog.

All four osprey here this morn, a new month begins. Best for all. Rinchen

Osprey Diary 2nd August
August 2nd, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  What a relief this morning to find, after my four days off, that all our ospreys are still here at Lowes. As many of you will be aware, our female is usually the first to leave for her southward migration, leaving Dad to supervise the ‘teenagers’ last few weeks training. Who can blame her after all that enforced stillness on the nest during incubation and the chick stage.

In the past our female has left as early as the last days of July and as late as mid August. What her timing this year will be is the big question- will she linger in order to build more strength, or will the instinct to fly south be too strong? It is highly unlikely she will stay into autumn however, as an osprey would be unable to survive the winter here in Scotland.

All you eager eyed bloggers and webcam viewers- We need your help! We’d like to keep an accurate track of her appearances on the nest over the next wee while, so we will be able to judge when she is getting ready to leave, so tell us when you see her on the nest. Below is a refresher of ‘who’s who’ to help you identify her.

Adult ospreys: dark solid chocolate upper plumage.

Juveniles: each upper feather fringed with pale edges.

Male; a green leg ring with 7y on one leg, a metal one on the other leg. Smaller.

Female ; no leg rings, and a distinctive ‘v’ shape dark pattern on her forehead.  Larger

Emma Rawling,Perthshire Ranger

P.S. full marks to our wee osprey chick ’slim’ who managed to keep TWO pike to himself last night, despite ‘greedy’ sibling being on the nest too- well done mate!

Close-up of the "Lady of the Lockes" Momma Osprey.
She's so beautiful, I sure hope she comes back next year. Godspeed Momma.

I know there are subtle differences between the European Osprey and ours, but her eyes aren't the bright yellow that I'm used to.  She is a beauty, but ALL Osprey are beautiful.

she is just beautiful!!!!  I hope she has safe journeys and that she returns again.   :heart: :heart: :heart:

I love her eyes! :heart:

Osprey Diary August 3rd
August 3rd, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

Thank you to all our bloggers who have contributed such wonderfully detailed observations so far. It is a great help, especially overnight, and we can be sure that we aren’t missing a moment of our Lady’s’ last days here this year.

 Many people have been asking what to look for as our female osprey prepares to leave, and the honest answer  is that there are no real anticipatory signs. She simply decides one day that the time has come, and flews off and doesn’t return to the nest- if we haven’t seen her for more than 24hrs on the nest or Loch we can usually presume she has headed south.  :(

 Meanwhile our chicks are giving us all a fantastic show here at Lowes, with spectacular and sometimes comical action over the loch. They are getting bolder by the day, and can be seen trying their luck at diving into the water regularly around the loch side. None of these runs so far has been successful, but it won’t be long before we have the first fish we hope!   :steff:

Emma Rawling

Perthshire Ranger

Osprey Diary 4th August
August 4th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  An empty nest this morning makes me feel a little mournful, but rest assured all four of our ospreys have been seen already today.

 Dad brought in a  fish at 7am, followed by mum with a fish at 7.30am- one each for the chicks, fairs fair! Rinchen tells me that the smaller of the two chicks, though still a wee bit more of a ‘baby’ is now getting more of the fish delivered by the parents and is definitely holding its own, so no worries there.

 All four of the birds however, are spending more and more time away from nest , and even beyond the reach of the webcam. They are however, still around- often just on the far side of the loch or at the far end, and sometimes over neighbouring Craiglush loch. Our adults are also expanding their hunting territories in order to keep up with the insatiable demand by the chicks for food- as evidenced by mum bringing in a blue trout yesterday which can only have come from Butterstone Loch a few miles away.

 Lets hope the weather holds stable and all our birds continue their successfully fishing strike rate in order to be on top form for migration.

 Emma Rawling

 Perthshire Ranger

Thanks for the latest Osprey info, Donna.  :wave:

I was sorry to see the empty nest this morning - esp after yesterday's activity with one of the young being a total gut-bucket and keeping everything to him/herself while the hungry sibling complained and looked on... and Mom sat there saying "Play nice, Kids!" Won't be long now and they will all be off. And our hearts will be suspended til Mom returns... I will miss them!  :(

One of the kids is now back... looking skyward... "MOM! I'm hungry! I'm thirsty!"

 :hungry: :hungry: :hungry: :hungry:

Osprey Diary 5th August
August 5th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

Good mornign bloggers,  from the team at Lowes. We are all wondering here, if today is the day we’ve all been dreading – the day our female osprey leaves on migration. She has not been seen since 10am yesterday, and if we don’t see her on the nest or loch today we can assume she has headed south. So keen eyes out today folks- let us know if you see her. Of course this is normal and natural this time of year but none the less we will all be sad to see her go- especially as many of us have lingering doubts as to whether or not we will see her here again.   :(

Meanwhile the male is delivering fish and Rinchen tells me these are noticeably bigger in size these days. This is a great sign that the chicks are now able handle  fish themselves ( perhaps the parents are deliberately challenging them with bigger prey? ) as well as a compliment to dads fishing skills.

Emma Rawling

Perthshire Ranger

I do hope we see her again! :pray: :heart:

PS

Osprey Diary 6th August
August 6th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  Well folks, it does look like our magnificent lady has left us for the year- it is now almost 48hours since she was last seen at the nest and she has not been seen on the loch either, so we can presume she has begun her annual journey south. The instinct to migrate is incredibly strong and our female is always the first of the family to leave and  interestingly her timing this year is exactly consistent with her average dates- that’s our lady, regular as clockwork!

Spare a thought for her and the hazards she will face on her migration journey as,  like all Scottish ospreys she may have up to 4,000 miles to travel in the next month or so. She will stop, rest and refuel on route, relying on wetlands, estuaries and rivers as vital links in the chain for food and shelter. She will face the dangers of bad weather (particularly Atlantic gales that can blow an osprey out to sea where it cannot survive too long) and desert dust storms; indiscriminate shooting (particularly around the Mediterranean); power lines and rubbish entanglement hazards; and last but not least, shear exhaustion and starvation.If she makes it to her traditional wintering grounds ( the exact location of which are still unknown) she will have just over five months of blissful relaxation before she has to do it all over again to return to us here at Lowes.All of us are wishing her strength, luck and safe journeys, and are lost in admiration for all our birds who make this amazing journey yearly. Ospreys are truly remarkable!Emma Rawling

She has a rough few months ahead of her, I wish her the best and strength to endure, on her trek.  :heart:

"Lost in admiration" for the Osprey Mom does not even begin to say it, does it?! A fond but sad "Fare-Well"... we may not see her like again...

Safe journey banner mom!  :wave:

Osprey views right now show a rain-swept nest-site with one young aboard. Looks more like a rain-forest habitat than Scotland. At one stage yesterday, the camera panned off the nest to show some deer wandering through the nearby woodland. What a wonderful place. Soon to be silent as it sees the winter close in - and we await news of the next beeding season. Hardly seems possible that the Lady of the Loch would be back again. This breeding season has been such a privilege. Thanks, Donna, for keeping us posted.

Slainte!

BOBBIE

God speed precious Lady :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart:

May this incredible Osprey mom have fair winds beneath her wings to carry her safely to her wintering territory.  Safe journey!   :hawk:

Osprey Diary August 7, 2010
August 7th, 2010 by rboardman

And very good hello to all. If you will indulge me for a few lines of a song rotating around my mind shortly after our last image of “our” female. This song, in choir, recalls for me a past poignant tribute to a beautiful teen aged woman tragically killed in a car accident. It is credited to Gordon Light and found in the Book of Common Praise, Anglican Church of Canada. Excerpts as follow;

She comes sailing on the wind, her wings flashing in the sun, on a journey just begun, she flies on…

And in the passage of her flight, her song rings out through the night, full of laughter, full of light, she flies on….

Silent waters rocking on the morning of our birth, like an empty cradle waiting to be filled, and from the heart of God the spirit moved upon the earth, like a mother breathing life into her child…

The season, the year continues. Parents efforts are securely planted and two young new creatures have the world ahead. “Our” male solidly continues to do what he has done; care for his offspring. Yes, there must be a sense of separation amongst all of the individuals. Yes, there must be a sense of the unknown. However the skills, health and fine weather that we continue to have boad well for the “our” three resident osprey at the Loch of the Lowes. Rinchen

Gosh, I'll miss that ole gal. I'll be waitin on her next season.

BIRD lovers bid an emotional farewell yesterday to the grand old lady of Scotland's ospreys on what wildlife experts fear may be her final migratory flight from the Highland loch that has been her home for the past two decades.
Six months ago Britain's oldest breeding osprey, known simply as "Lady", astounded staff at a wildlife reserve in Perthshire when she returned and produced eggs for a record-breaking 20th consecutive year after completing an arduous 3,000 mile flight
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from West Africa.

The osprey - now believed to be 25, more than three times the normal lifespan for the species - successfully raised two chicks in her nest at the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes reserve near Dunkeld.

But fears that the bird would not survive her summer stay in Scotland were heightened in June when she spent days in her nest on the banks of the loch, apparently unable to fly.

Hundreds of fans from across the world sent messages of sympathy to an online blog, after viewing the bird on a webcam in the nest. Remarkably, Lady made a full recovery.

But the trust yesterday announced that Lady has now departed from her annual breeding ground on what could be her last journey back to Africa. Her departure has sparked a flood of messages from bird lovers across the world.

Trust spokeswoman Nicola McGovern said: "Experts now say that there is a 50 per cent chance that the bird will return next year.

"However, following ill-heath earlier this year, it is still unknown whether she will be strong enough to migrate successfully."

Peter Ferns, the manager at the Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre, said watching the osprey leave was "particularly moving" this year.

He said: "This amazing creature has exhibited an unprecedented endurance over the 20 years she has been breeding at Loch of the Lowes, living over three times the average lifespan for an osprey and producing an astonishing 48 chicks. This alone is a significant contribution to repopulating the osprey species, which became extinct in Scotland in 1916."

Charlotte Beskeen, a member of staff at the centre, said: "Usually we see her in the nest about two or three times a day because she was still part of the feeding process for the chicks. However, we haven't seen her since Wednesday morning, which is the longest she's been away."

She added: "It will be quite sad if she doesn't come back because she is obviously a big part of Loch of the Lowes and so many people have been following her story. We will have a long wait to find out though, as Lady doesn't normally return to the nest until late March to mid-April."

The Scottish Wildlife Trust's osprey blog has received almost 400 messages, from as far afield as Canada and Finland, from fans of the "Lady of the Loch".

Martha, posting from America, said: "It seems as if the nest isn't the centre of the osprey universe any more for this year, which is as it should be, I suppose. Let Lady and her family be blessed with good fortune."

Emma Rawling, the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Perthshire Ranger, said: "The support and interest we have received from enthusiasts around the world has been overwhelming and wonderful. It is encouraging to know that so many people care about Scotland's wildlife."

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Old-Lady-of-the-Lowes.6462371.jp (http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Old-Lady-of-the-Lowes.6462371.jp)

How privileged were we to have spent this last season with her!

 :wave:   How wonderful that these and other creatures can be seen all around the world from the comfort of our homes.    :heart:

…a warm & muggy morn…in contrast to last nights’ blazing sunset with “Sir” presiding majestically from atop a pine…

This morning I was greeted by “our”  male on the same perch high above the loch. I have mentioned behaviour and patterns over the many weeks. The male perchs close to the nest now. He has been afar for weeks, save for his reliable fish drops. Yes, to me, he looks majestic. He is in his prime.

I have noted in reply to a couple of comments that the young no longer require as much food as they did 4-6 weeks ago. Do you remember how rapidly they grew during their flight feather stage? The large fish now delivered are serving the juvies well. They will start to catch over the next week or two, I am confident of that.

At the Visitors Centre over the past few days I have noticed beaming smiles by young and not so young. People knowing that “our” female is on her way.

I send a smile to you. Rinchen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_KdhnUlRmk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_KdhnUlRmk)  Mom Osprey's last day at the Loch. She checked the nest, took a few circles around the area, made sure all was OK and left.  :crying: Be well sweet lady.

A beautiful video of a beautiful Osprey.
And it looked some weeks ago very sad for the female.

What a fantastic place she chose to rear her young. May her wings be strong and her food supply plentiful on that long journey. And with any luck she'll return again next year.  :heart:

Many thanks for bringing this site to my attention.  After following the fortunes of the gallant Lady, I am awed by what a magnificent bird the Osprey is. 

I have to admit that I have failed to visit any of these wonderful birds this season. There must be ten nests within a few minutes of my home, so I really have no excuse.  I guess all my birding time was spent with Peregrines.  (It's OK to admit that, since this is a falcon board, right?)

I'll make a resolution to spend quality time with local Osprey next spring.  In the meantime, I'll imagine the Lady soaring over the ocean to West Africa, so there will be Osprey in my dreams, if not in my life.

Paul

Very well said Paul. You never know about any bird or raptor until you watch, hear or see for yourself their way of life. Just like me watching MK for 7 years and totally different A and B this year, we learn. I hope to hear your stories next season. Thank you.

There is still time, Paul - not much, but time.  I did get to spend a few hours with a few osprey last Saturday afternoon/evening.  Natural nest - no pics, as we were at a party, but I did turn my chair around and enjoy the osprey  ;)

has anyone heard any recent news about our roc born new
father HURRICANE?

Osprey Diary 9th August
August 9th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  “Over to Dad”

 With our female osprey’s departure to African pastures for the winter, the two juveniles have been left in dads care at Loch of the Lowes. This is the normal pattern- the female invariably leaves first and the male stays behind to ’supervise’ the teenagers. We believe his instinct to provide for his offspring lingers and that there is a certain amount of ‘demonstration’ in fishing technique going on too. Whilst most of the young bird’s training in life skills seems to be instinctive, there can be no harm in watching an adult expert at it to give them some ideas!

 As Rinchen mentioned yesterday, the youngsters need for fish is plateauing as there incredible growth spurt is levelling out. We are also about to enter the ‘tough love’ stage when the male begins to taper off the fish he brings in, to encourage the youngsters to fish for themselves. By later this month the male too will head south and the youngsters will be alone in the world (gulp!).

So our males role as ’super -dad’ is entering its last phase. Aren’t we grateful he has turned out to be such a wonderful first time father! It seems an age ago we were doubting him back in spring, shouting at him neglecting the eggs- I eat my words. Emma Rawling

BTW, both juvies at nest now

The Juvie on the left is trying so hard to steal the fish from it's sib....funny to watch. 

Dad Osprey guarding his domain

 :flash:   Nice pics!    :2thumbsup: :gum:

Osprey Diary 10th August
August 10th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

Both our juvenile ospreys have been on the nest this morning, seeing off corvid intruders quite stridently.  They are both handling looking after themselves remarkably well, although dad is still supplying fish. It is hard to imagine them flying south in as little as two or three weeks, all the way to Africa, a mammoth journey of up to 4,000 miles.

What always amazes me is that, unlike many of our migratory birds, the ospreys do this journey alone, not following a flock or even their parents, but setting out alone. Our juveniles will be setting out at the grand old age of three months or so, into the wide world alone, as nature intends. Once they get to Africa (if they survive the hazardous journey) they will spend a ‘gap-year’ holiday there, fro anything from  a year to four years. When they reach sexual maturity, the instinct to breed will drive them back to where they were born, or close by, to start families of there own.

Just how ospreys navigate is of course, still a mystery- migration is one of natures biggest enigmas. We know they use a mixture or genetic instinct, visual clues, and [probably some sort of geomagnetic perception, but this is an area we are learning more about every year.

Meanwhile, come and enjoy watching our young birds at Loch of the Lowes, as they are still very much visible around the shores form the hides. It will only be a few short weeks until they leave us for another year.

Emma Rawling

Osprey Diary 11th August
August 11th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  Our two young ospreys have feeling pretty soggy this morning with another wet day meaning they are roosting in the trees away from the nest where there is a bit more cover- who can blame them! Neither has had a lot of fish yet today, but we suspect more and more of the fish are being passed over by dad away from the nest, so we could have missed one.

With weather like this you can’t help but think of our female osprey travelling south, hopefully in much better conditions. We know ospreys take anything up to 5 weeks or so in the autumn to migrate, stopping many times on route to rest and refuel. So with her being gone a week now she could already be over southern England or even over the Bay of Biscay or the Iberian peninsular.  Let’s just hope she gets good winds (ideally a northerly wind to speed her on her way) and no stormy patches that could blow her out to sea, or too far in over the desert. Safe travels Lady!

Emma Rawling

Juvies in there now, 1 has a fish as the other cries for some.

Not that The Lady is heading our way (or at least I sure hope not... wrong direction!), but Ireland and GB are expecting northerly and north-westerly winds for the next little while. Hope they give her a gentle shove to speed her on her majestic way...

Also, such conditions usually mean fine weather here - and it is glorious! Harvesters are in the fields, working away - the buzz of machinery went on in the adjacent fields til late last night.

Slainte!

Bobbie

i  never much liked transmitters until situations like this

Osprey Diary August 12th
August 12th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  Loch of the Lowes is a busy place at the moment with our two young ospreys out and about all over, and trying their fishing skills in between rain showers!

As some of you have noticed, there are also quite a few geese appearing on the Loch- the beginning of our autumn and winter influx?  Amongst the Canada geese there have even occasionally been three Barr Headed Geese (a central Asian species, probably escaped from captivity!).

There are also lots of ducks on the loch- Mallards, Tufted Ducks and a few Goldeneye, as well as our Great Crested Grebes which bred successfully here for the first time in a few years (thanks to a lack of summer flooding).

Our ospreys are not the only birds with fledglings learning their flying skills at the moment- there is a large family of jays with young around, as well as dozens of woodpeckers, and many small birds too.

 Amongst the mammals, our red squirrels are doing really well, with at least two young visiting the feeders at the visitors centre regularly- you can tell them by their cheeky antics and the very shiny pelts in contrast to their parent’s rather threadbare moulting stage fur. Our local fallow deer have also been seen a lot around the loch, including our white hind with her beautiful pale faun.

 And you thought it was just all about ospreys here at Lowes! Even after our youngsters leave us in a few weeks, there will be plenty of wildlife for visitors to enjoy, and to console us ‘osprey addicts’ until the spring.

 Emma Rawling

Osprey Diary August 13, 2010
August 13th, 2010 by rboardman

A grand morning it is at the Loch! Beautiful light, flat water.

As the days pass, I ponder migrants everywhere, gathering in groups, in flocks and as individuals. “Our” male must be very aware of the changing light, perhaps even aware of the warmer water as he steadfastly catches for himself and “his” young. Will he be one of the males that stop over in Spain or does he fly to the Gambia and catch flying fish far offshore?

The juveniles must surely be wondering what is in store for them. Although they do not require as much food as they did 6 weeks ago, they must be senseing that more is expected of them in order to survive. Survival is an amazing motivator. I inwardly cheer on these two birds. The learning curve continues. Late yesterday afternoon, a very welcome rainbow trout put a smile on my face. Food for life, food of encouragement.

It is often the simple things that are the most profound.

I absolutely love how these blogs are written, so tender and informative!  How could we not hope for the best for this osprey family as well as the other animal families we so cherish :heart:

Thanks so much, Donna, for finding these wonderful links!!!! :wave:

Your so welcome jeanne, you have a great day!

 I agree Jeanne. I love the way they word their posts on this website. I especially like "it is often the simple things that are so profound". That's so true.  Like this morning with Dan, we saw no falcons over at the Frontier parking lot, but we had sparrows at our feet eating weed seeds. We both agreed that was enough to keep us smiling. Seems we're always seeking bigger and better when the little things that go unnoticed sustain us. As always thank you Donna! :handshake:

Me too!  Love these posts.

There is always something to see.  Something to put a smile on your face.  You just have to look.

amen

Osprey Diary August 15, 2010
August 15th, 2010 by rboardman

Light shrouds of mist in the basin as I came to work, heavy dew on meadow, and a wren singing its’ heart, and of course mine…

It has been clearing as I have done my chores and now the loch is crystal clear and quiet, save for the occasional groaning of great crested grebe and the quacking of mallards. It feels as if it will be a bright warm day. We shall see. This is Scotland, on an island…

I pondered at the end of yesterday the whereabouts of  juvie 1. I do not believe that we have seen two juvies at one time since Friday. They were flying over the Loch. So, at present I can only conject, which I am sometimes uncomfortable. Has “our” greedy juvie started to fish? Is it fishing and has drifted off? I will note that the timing may be within the range for fishing, and we do know that this bird can eat and is aggressive in action. However it seems rather early for the bird to have flown away. The other juvie has been feeding well in its’ siblings absence.

So, we will be diligent about our observations today, as ever.

Enjoy your moments of sight, sound and touch today. Rinchen

Good morning bloggers near and far!

The heat and blue skies of yesterday have left us and been replaced by grey, but as of yet, no rain.
No sign of any ospreys this morning, at least not by us staff. I will however be spending a fair amount of time out in the hide in search of our flying friends. We are all pondering whether they have decided to follow mum or are still hanging about, just out of sight? Only time will tell.
As in years gone by, we will continue to see a number of ospreys over the loch right up until mid September, with young and experienced birds alike heading south from northern climes. We can only speculate as to their identity, but I like to think that our remaining 3 birds will hang about as long as they can to watch over their loch, and bide us a fond farewell we we’re not watching!

Keep a weather eye on the horizon; that osprey passing overhead could be a familiar friend!
Fiona

I can hear 2 near the nest right now, sounds like the Juvies.

Osprey Diary 17th August
August 17th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  Good morning all, Emma here , back after another wee four day break, which means I have been busy catching up this morning on all our wildlife news with the team here at Lowes. I am so glad to hear our male was still around yesterday- I have become very fond of him this season and wouldn’t have wanted to miss saying ‘goodbye’. He has more than proven himself as a father and proved me wrong as his biggest doubter!

 The chicks however are conspicuous in their absence from the nest, but who can blame them- the draw of the wild world to explore must be strong. Only the need for food will be strong enough to tempt them back to the nest. However, in the local area, chances of seeing young birds are very good indeed if you have the patience to stake our local waterways.

 Our general sightings of ospreys locally will now start to climb too, as more and more birds start passing through the district on their way south.

 Hopefully more news today of our osprey family- I’ll keep you posted.

Thanks Emma Rawling

Osprey Diary 19th August
August 19th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

Update: Camera problems again folks! Bare with us! Also, 3 ospreys have been seen flying around, although we have no idea if they are ‘our’ ospreys or visitors!

  Thanks to everyone who has sent osprey sightings from around the UK, and we hope you are enjoying seeing them in your neck of the woods. The next month or so should be a very productive as far as sightings go, except for those of us in the far north whose sightings will dwindle.

 As the wonders of migration unfold this autumn, we are lucky to be able to follow some osprey’s journeys in real time via tracking technology. We did not have the opportunity to satellite track our ospreys here at Lowes this year but there are young birds being tracked by Roy Dennis of the Highland Foundation for wildlife from Speyside and at the Lake District Osprey project (www.ospreywatch.co.uk). Check out their websites for detailed updates of the chick’s progress this migration season. You can also follow some birds all winter via Roy site: www.roydennis.org.

 Our male osprey has been around on the nest at Loch of the Lowes over the last day or so, but still no sign of the chicks- they must be out and about in the area , so we will let you know of any sightings today.

 Emma Rawling

 Perthshire Ranger

Osprey Diary August 18th
August 18th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

Update: Sorry for the interruption in viewing! Seems to be a problem with our internet connection. We’re working on it! On a positive note, our Laird has been seen for a while this afternoon, so they are still with us…well dad is anyway!
Fiona

A beautiful morning here at Lowes, with blazing sunshine and a light wind- a perfect late summer day. But what is noticeable is how much the evenings are already shortening, with dark now falling well before 10pm, a sure sign the year is turning fast.

 We know that most animals and birds respond to day length, rather than temperature as triggers for migration and other seasonal behaviour. So little wonder that our ospreys thoughts are all turning south!

 This time of year with ospreys from all over Scotland are migrating,  so those of you who live in southern areas are in for your twice yearly chance of seeing an osprey locally. The birds take all sorts of routes over the UK and can be seen , not just near water ( where they stop and feed and rest up on route) but flying over even built up areas- a couple of years ago, Roy Dennis even satellite tracked on osprey flying right over Heathrow airport!

 So, here is our guide to spotting an osprey:

 Look for a bird about the size of a buzzard (roughly five feet in wingspan) or a very large gull ( such as a black back).

 Look for a distinctive raptor silhouette, with classic ‘finger-tips’ on wing ends, and a slight elbow in the wing- Buzzards have a very straight front wing edge.

 Look for a pale white under belly (not just pale elbow patches like buzzards) and if you can, a pale head- a buzzard always has a darker head. .

 Good luck and be sure to let us know where you are seeing birds!

 Emma Rawling

 Perthshire Ranger

Thought I posted yesterday's  ???

Loch of the Lowes Osprey Wildlife Diary
The Wonders of Osprey Migration
August 20th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

The wonders of migration.

We have been getting a lot of questions about how our ospreys will make their way to Africa this autumn, so I thought I’d share with you what we know, but bear in mind this is still something of a mystery and an area with lots left to research!

We know most UK ospreys travel south via a route that takes them over England, (though some go west over Ireland) and then usually over western France, then Spain or Portugal. They often cross near Gibraltar, then hug the African coast to their eventual destination, as too far inland means crossing desert.

We know most ospreys take between 4-6weeks to make the journey in autumn, but are considerably faster on the way up in spring (the breeding instinct is strong and they must get to the nest first!).

Young birds make more stops and wander more before settling down to habitual yearly pattern.

Most birds go to the same over-wintering area each year routinely- creatures of habit!

 They stop many times on route and can spend up to a week or more on a particularly good estuary or river, especially if weather is unfavourable.

They can fly at considerable heights, at up to 100km a day and can even fly up to 48hrs non stop!

 Most miraculously of all, we still do not know exactly how they navigate- probably some combination of visual clues (we know they fly more on good clear weather) and certainly genetic instinct, and probable some form of geomagnetic perception we do not yet understand.

I often ask our younger visitors if they could walk to Africa at age 10, with no parents to follow, no map and catch all their dinner with their feet on the way! It does put our young ospreys achievement in perspective- migration is truly miraculous!

It surely is miraculous! :bow: :notworthy:

Osprey Diary August 21, 2010
August 21st, 2010 by rboardman

How do they know?

I have been able to answer many queries from past experience in handling, monitoring, gathering data, writing, working with “experts”, and learning. One of the questions that continues to baffle me is “how do young ospreys know when they have arrived on their winter grounds”? If they have not experienced migration before, why do they either keep on flying or reckon that they have arrived? Fortunately for me, most visitors do not ask this question. It is easy for me to talk about many migrants, whether they be cariboo, monarchs, warblers, many raptors, terns, etc. for they mostly gather in groups and have past experience as a collective mass. Ospreys seem not to flock on migration, they fly as individuals. By stating that they have done this for “eons” is not correct, in that only 6 or 7 thousand years ago glaciers were receding in most parts of the northern hemisphere. The few years that osprey have been occupying this part of Europe surely is not sufficient time to allow for “eons” of imprinting.

I do not know.

The important aspect of us knowing is that we do have a profound impact on all migrants by being responsible for protecting waterways, breeding habitat, safe stopover/rest areas, food supply, air and land space.

This we know. Rinchen

Osprey Diary August 22, 2010
August 22nd, 2010 by rboardman

Sometimes I wonder how I, as a human, fit in to this place.

I arrive disturbing jays, robin and chaffinch as I walk along the wooded path. A fox barks at times, moths flutter. Bats are roosting. I peruse the loch and marvel at the water alive with insects skimming the surface and the occasional breaking of the silver sheen by pike, or the wind pushing waves on shore. There are fungi in the woods and flakes of late blooming flowers in the air.

On the Loch itself, are the plentiful, and might I add, fanciful great-crested grebe with now increasing numbers of tufted duck  and goosanders, a solitary pochard. They are all relishing small invertebrates, perch, trout and pike. Grey herons are doing the same from shore. Of course there are the “up-enders”; mallards, Canada geese and mute swans seeking their vegetatation and invertebrates. I could go on…

Yesterday afternoon we were graced by “our” stalwart male at the nest, for moments only, but exciting ones to us. Monitoring of any kind has its’ merits, sharing of information beneficial. Perhaps as mused earlier he and his two young have been seen on thursday morning. I was certain that we were seeing one juvie roosting on thursday evening.

As I marvel, I wonder, as a human, how I fit in… Rinchen

As I marvel, I wonder, as a human, how I fit in… Rinchen

[/quote]


I saw that post, Donna... how poetic many of those Osprey rangers are!

 :yes:   They surely do have a way with words.    :notworthy:

Osprey Diary 23rd August
August 23rd, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

Camera Update: Peter is working frantically on the camera  problem again this morning- sorry folks!

 There is definitely a wee autumn chill in the air in the early mornings here at Lowes- and a beautiful mist today in the lee of the hills. Although we are still be treated to some glorious sunshine, ideal for outdoor work and play, the nights are drawing in and the odd local cottage now has wood smoke curling from the chimney of an evening.

The time of mellow fruitfulness is upon us here in the Highlands , and with it the change in all our wildlife- our summer visitors are already leaving – Dunkeld village seems quiet without the swifts screeching cries- and those that remain are beginning the frantic quest to fatten up and store food for the winter. Many, having had a very favourable summer season, are looking very healthy and plump, like our wee fat and sleek red squirrels, and should be well set for a winter ( even if it is early as predicated).

Our ospreys too should be well set for the time ahead- dad has done a great job as we all know and having remained right up until late August, he has ensured his offspring have not struggled for food and should be a  good weight. Incidentally, observations of osprey chicks have found that it is not necessarily the fattest ( at fledging)  that have the best chance of surviving migration- though a little extra fat as insurance against fishing failures on route can’t hurt!

Our male osprey has been seen just yesterday at the nest- as if looking for his errant teenagers! -and one of the juveniles was seen briefly over the loch yesterday. Keep your eyes open today for these lightening quick snippets of ospreys before they disappear all together.

Emma Rawling

 :(   I'm sad to see things winding down at the Loch. I will miss the lovely reports. Thanks for posting Donna!   :wave:

Archive for the ‘Diary 2010’ Category
Osprey Diary August 24th August
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Well folks, it looks like our young ospreys are on their way- with no sightings for a few days we can assume they have begun their wanderings, that will hopefully lead them safely south to their wintering grounds in Africa. Our male too must be on the cusp of migration, having fulfilled his role to perfection.

The satellite tracking studies that have been done with ospreys so far, indicate that most young ospreys tend to have a good wander in the few couple of weeks, often zigzagging across their home territories and a little further afield, before settling down into a southward pattern.

 Some researchers such as Roy Dennis speculate that the Scandinavian ancestral genetic origin of our Scottish birds has left them with a tendency to fly west first (which would have kept them on a coastal course from Scandinavia). This can lead to some birds getting into trouble, especially if they end up to far out to sea- an osprey can catch a sea fish after all, but without anywhere to stop and eat it and rest, they soon die of exhaustion at sea.

Lets hope that our two Loch of the Lowes youngsters are exploring Perthshire and getting fully fit before choosing a safe and direct route south over the UK. Safe journeys wee ones!

Emma Rawling

Be strong and fly well young lad & lassie. :(

As Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, wrote:

So fare thee weel, my only Luve
And fare thee weel, a while!
And I will come again, my Dear,
Tho’ 'twere ten thousand mile.

Seems appropriate as we say good bye... especially to that magnificent Lady of Lowes...

That was BEAUTIFUL and so fitting. Thanks Bobbie. I'm going to miss that whole family.

Ditto on that!   :clap:

Osprey Diary August 25th
August 25th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

  The osprey diary today is no not so much about our Lowes birds, who haven’t been seen on the Loch at all in the last 24hrs, probably having started their autumn migratory wanderings. Other local birds, however, are still around, and reports are coming in thick and fast of osprey beings spotted travelling through. I myself saw an adult osprey fishing at another of our reserves, Stormont Loch, yesterday which doesn’t have a breeding pair, which just shows it is worth keeping an eye out in all sorts of local waters.

Our webcams are still plagued by technical problems- how grateful are we that this didn’t happen in the middle of the osprey season!!! Most of you will sympathise with the endless contradictory answers we’ve been getting and the ‘on hold’ phone queues we’ve been enduring trying to sort out the problem, which now appears to be phone line and electricity related. Our sincere apologies for the lack of visuals and we assure you are not missing a great deal on the nest- just the sad sight of grass growing on it now there is no one home!

Emma Rawling

 Thursday, August 26th, 2010

 Empty Nest Syndrome

 Here at Lowes we are all starting to suffer from empty nest syndrome, with all our ospreys having left on their autumn migrations. There are still occasionally ospreys being seen nearby, mostly birds passing through on their way south using nearby Lochs as ‘lunch breaks’.

 The nest here, high on a Scots pine on our Loch shore, now looks rather forlorn, with its wide bowl of sticks now looking rather dishevelled. During the breeding season so much care is lavished on it by our ospreys – a constant tidying of sticks by mum and refreshing of the bedding material by dad- that it seems odd to have it untidy! The soft lining consists of grass, moss and dried pond weed, which accounts for the nice crop of greenery now sprouting on it.

 The nest is in fact a huge structure- about six foot in diameter , built by our ospreys over many years, but is secured on a metal base put up by staff here at the reserve many years ago to provide stability. This should ensure it will survive the winter storms and snows weight, and next spring our ospreys will only have to do their usual renovations and stick additions to make it ready for another breeding season.

 Ospreys are legendarily site faithful and even if a nest is blown down, they will usually rebuild on the same place. The prefer sites with excellent visibility and have been shown to readily take up artificial nesting platforms- effectively starter kit homes! During the autumn and winter is the time that conservation groups, rangers and enthusiasts all over the UK will be looking to erecting more of these to attract more young ospreys to take up residence in new areas- helping them re-colonise more of their former historic range and help the species recover.

 Emma Rawling

 Perthshire Ranger

1pm Update: the camera are back!!! We’ve had line engineers here all morning and the great news is that our cameras are back on line! Let’s hope it stays that way!

 Friday, August 27th, 2010

Update: the camera problems persist! BT have been informed again and we’re just waiting on a reply (don’t hold your breath!) It might be a long black-screened weekend! Sorry folks! Fiona

Who said Osprey season at Lowes was over? Nature always has the capacity to surprise and delight us- the most certain thing I have learned about ospreys after four years studying them, is that they surprise you somehow every year! Though we often talk in generalisations about’ normal’ behaviour, there is always room for individual variation and, if I can anthropomorphise for a moment, birds do seem to have unique personalities.

 But back to the excitement at hand- a visiting osprey spent a couple of hours with us at Lowes yesterday afternoon, and led us on a merry dance trying to identify it! At about 4pm, a large adult bird (solid chocolate plumage, not a speckled youngster) flew in and perched on one of the pines across the bay from the nest. The bird was very large, and so probably a female, but we did not recognise the head markings as one of our local birds.

 The osprey then frustrated our attempts to catch sight of its legs, to see any distinguishing rings, but to no avail. Perhaps it was an unringed individual, and so we will never know were it visited from. The Bird spent a good half hour preening- probably a sign it had flown quite a distance, before fishing on the loch for tea. Our Loch is exactly the kind of valuable safe stopping place for birds on the move that are crucial in their migrations. It left later in the evening to either perch up for a night, or continue its journey south.

 This reminds us that many ospreys from further north are still to pass us and that there are many more sightings to be had on migration routes this autumn. If you do se ospreys, be sure to try to get a view of leg rings- particularly the coloured Darvic rings, and report them if you can – Roy Dennis is always “extremely interested in sightings of colour rings and would be very grateful if reports of colour rings, including digital pictures showing the colour ring are sent to my email address: roydennis@aol.com ”

 Emma Rawling

 Perthshire Ranger

Update: 11am  Sorry folks cameras down again- it still appears to be our internet connection.

Osprey Diary August 28, 2010
Saturday, August 28th, 2010

A grand morning at the Loch! Crisp, calm and clear.

Last night I was gazing north over the Tay valley, rolling wheat  beneath my feet, tall deciduous trees along the wide river banks, and up to a few, as they are called in the Western Isles, “papps”, Beinn Mhor and others at more than 1000 metres/ 3300 feet. Above, were determined swallows in a large continuous flock heading directly south aerial foraging as they went. I use the words “determined” and “directly” with intent; as I intend to underscore the drive of migrants, their ability to pool their resources and skills to one end/destination/goal.

There are salmon thrashing up the rocky gorge of the Braan just west of Dunkeld these days. A drive far stronger than the downward thrust of the cold water and gashes of stone on scale.

And so, ospreys move from this large island. As some of you know we witnessed the presence of an osprey for about two hours on Thursday afternoon on the Loch. Surely a “she” popping in to a no doubt known (to her) territory of a prime osprey nesting site. Perhaps this bird knew that if an osprey nest was nearby, fish supply and security was guaranteed… Yesterday morning too, I saw an osprey fly through the area from the crannog hide, moving south.

One of “our” blog people posts recent U.K. osprey sightings. I encourage you to scroll back to yesterday for an update. Good stuff.

These are determined times; flights of birds overhead, mass feeding sites, along shore, woods and water. The magic of life surrounds. We too are driven. I hope that we “know” why.

The best of wishes for all migrants, including human ones today. Rinchen

Osprey Diary August 29, 2010
Sunday, August 29th, 2010

And the wind blows cool this morn.

I would like, at this juncture to express a few thoughts about the committment to this blog and this osprey season at the Loch of the Lowes by Emma the Ranger. As many of you are aware, the “nature” of many conservation positions is a seasonal one. Her position here too is seasonal. Emma will be moving on in about a weeks’ time. She is moving a wee bit south of here to continue to do some very exciting conservation work. I wish to personally acknowledge my recognition of her diligence and care of the osprey file here in 2010. Initially, she was the human focal point for the monitoring of three absorbing eggs and coordinated many a volunteer over the 24 hour incubation period. Once the eggs hatched, although her main duties were consumed by oversight of the other 6 nearby reserves, she continued to have a third eye on “our” ospreys. The word dedication comes to the fore. I would like to say that she believes.

And the wind blows cool this morn.

Air moves with heat rising from earth and sea, in layers, in concentrations of different pressure areas, moist air, dry air. It is often during or after strong winds that migrant birds appear to us. Somehow, having partaken in this spectacle over my life, birds seem to “return” to earth. It feels as if they are not always connected to the world in which we reside. The strong connection to flight allows them to inhabit another “world”, somewhere other than our own. Perhaps this is one of the fascinations that we have for these beings.

“Our” young ospreys, I have commented, relished the wind before even being able to fly. They held out their wings to truely feel the resistance of feathers against the air. Once they were able to fly, they seemed most active on breezy skies. Avian migration is well under way with millions of feathers exploring “their” world.

Sail on. Rinchen

Wildlife diary 30th August
August 30th, 2010 by fiona, osprey HQ

Good morning to you all!

It’s another glorious day here this morning, but there is a definite chill in the air. Autumn is just round the corner it seems.
This month has flown by and it’s now that time when seasonal visitor start to make their next journey, including our staff and volunteers! It’a always a sad time for us who stay and have to say goodbye, but happy in the knowledge that they are moving on to start their next chapter with happy memories. We wish Emma and her team of volunteers well on their future ventures and thank them for all their hard word and dedication over the season.
We were reminded that autumn has not yet taken over as an osprey was sighted hunting on the loch this morning. No doubt a migrating individual popping in for a quick fish supper before heading on it’s way. We will continue to see sporadic sightings of visiting osprey right up until mid to late September, by which time ‘our’ birds should finding their ‘feet’ in their wintering grounds.
We have noticed an increased number of geese on the loch of late, but have since been informed that it is a gaggle of feral geese who have been hanging about the area all summer. The group are mainly canada geese, but there are also 4 bar-headed geese, some greylags, a few hybrids and one that looks like a snow goose. Quite the rogue bunch of misfits!
The squirrels continue to entertain us, and I’m quite sure there is at least 1 new kit has appeared in the last week! Squirrels, being mammals are quite capable of having 2 or 3 litters a year and can reproduce throughout the seasons, although it is less likely young will survive during the winter.

Still plenty to see folks, so stay tuned!
Fiona

Archive for the ‘Diary 2010’ Category
Wildlife Diary August 31st
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

How can it be the end of August already? This morning is cold and msity here at Lowes, a real taste of autumn, but I’m sure the sunshine will soon burn through! Fionas’ delightful description yesterday gave you a  good tate of the changing wildilfe here at the Lowes- it is perhaps the most beautiful times of year in the highlands.

We’ve had almost daily osprey sightings here at Lowes, of birds  passing through, which is a nice reminder of how many birds are further north than us are breeding. Thankyou to those of you posting details of other ospreys on route in the UK- fascinating reading.

Excellent news this morning about one of our previous ospreys chicks born here at Lowes, which has been sighted in Dumfries andd Galloway. The female chick was hatched here in 2001 and is a daughter of our wonderful lady and her previous mate ‘Eric’. Isn’t it wonderful to think of her descendants out there helping repopulate new areas of Scotland!

Emma Rawling

Perthshire Ranger

Wildlife Diary 1st September
September 1st, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

Well folks, a new month brings new excitement here at Lowes. Congratulations and thanks to the eagle eyed webcam watchers who spotted early this morning, our first Pine Martin visitor for a long time, at our window feeders.

We used to have a resident family here at Lowes, but over the last year they have been consicuously absent, theories have ranged from feral cat competetion , to local clearfelling being the cause.

This pine matrtin which apeared this morning appears to be a juvenile, probably dispersing from its birth family at this time of year, looking for a teritory of its own- which is good news for us as it might decide to stay around!

There was great excitement in the office this morning as we rewound the overnight camera recording and watched the wee beastie filling itself up on peanuts- Fiona tells me its their tradtional favorite around here! lets hope we get return visit soon.

Wildlife Diary 2nd September
September 2nd, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT

The staff at Lowes were so excited by the Pine Martin sighting on Wednesday morning, that some of us stayed up very late watching at the feeder window hoping…..no such luck last night! It brought back memories of all those long nights back in the spring doing osprey nest protection watch ( can that really only be five months ago?) when you get a previledge view of the nightime world of Loch of the lowes.

At night there is the errie call of the geese calling on the loch, and the quiet footfall of the deer in the woods. The tawny owls are quite vocal and the loch surface seem to buzz with daubentons bats scimming for insects. Lots of feild mice scrurry around the base of the feeders and our resident hedghog ( who lives under the VC) shuffled out to go about its business in the dark.

Alas, the only thing msising was a pine martin, but we hope it will return soon- keep your eyes peeled and be sure to let us know if you see it on camera!

Archive for the ‘Diary 2010’ Category
Wildlife Diary 3rd September
Friday, September 3rd, 2010

  The pine martin is back! At about ten to six this morning the same wee juvenile pine martin appeared on the feeders outside the VC. It stayed for  about 10 minutes and stuffed itself with peanuts- we  are going to have top start putting out a more mixed and suitable diet for it in the evenings-dried fruit, and some meat too. It appears to have a wee white spot on its left shoulder – individual markings on pine martins are very useful identifiers. Lets just hope this become a habitual visit!

This will be my last blog post, as it is unbelievably my last day at Lowes. Soon I will be joining you lovely folks on the ‘reader’ side of the blog community, which will be a great way of keeping in touch with my friends up here and the joys of the coming seasons on the loch.

I just wanted to say one last thank you to you all for all your kind comments and good wishes- they have been very much appreciated. All the staff here have found the blog an enormous morale boost and it has certainly helped us through some difficult times this season knowing there are so many of you out there who care! Thank you all and see on the blog- look our for “ex ranger Emma!”

Emma Rawling

Osprey Diary September 4, 2010
Saturday, September 4th, 2010

The fog will burn off. It is quite warm this morn.

On Thursday morning I had the opportunity of going to the base of the tree which provides so much for ”our” osprey nest. I tagged along with some electronics people assessing our system of cameras and security. It was my first stroll over.

We walked through some old sessile oak, through reeds taller than ourselves, avoiding muck underfoot. It was not a long hike through the sweet scent of bog myrtle and overstepping wee clusters of sundew  implanted in soft sphagnum. They were awaiting insects for lunch. And then the air opened up to us humans, into a small patch of magical Caledonia forest. Lush green on earth with orange trunks rising high and out above; Scots pine. Only a few hundred years ago Scotland was thus covered. It was a quiet glade below a nest that one could miss if not aware of its’ presence. Light, bright and full of space.

I searched for the remains of fish, for I knew that at least two had flown overboard, out of the nest this breeding season. I was only hopeful, in that I knew that fox or crows would have carried or eaten the free meal long ago. As the expression goes, “not a sausage”. In my search I located only three osprey feathers.

I also looked at an area by the canal that has had otter presence. There is a tall leaning pine which offers a cavity under its’ roots. Badger also could use these places for security. No activity to report. Perhaps the autumn and winter is the time that otter relocate here. Let us hope.

Habitat is crucial. Let us remember that. Rinch


I love how they describe nature.

"I love how they describe nature."    :yes: Me too!   ;D

Archive for the ‘Diary 2010’ Category
Osprey Diary September 5, 2010
Sunday, September 5th, 2010

Greying skies and a strengthening breeze are moving the loch about this day. I only had a brief view and noticed only a few waterfowl bobbing. Yesterday we enjoyed a new arrival of wigeon to accompany the many tufted duck, hundreds of Canada geese, great crested grebe and at least three coot. In the sound department (as many have commented), Canada geese, jays, crows and robins (both male and female), honk, screech, caw, and twitter.

When I arrived, a red squirrel tumbled uncontrolably down a high birch  catching itself only a few metres from the ground, ungainly. There was a yellow moth flitting about the observation window. Still plenty of time to pollinate flowers.

It is not a still morning as would appear at first sight.

On the blog; good news and numerous views of pine martin. At evening and early day. Pine martin are active throughout the night prowling about  large territory. Perhaps the visits here are the beginning and end of the nights’ rounds and the young one has found a secure place to rest nearby…We are a happy folk.

The trials of life surely press us. We are a happy folk here. Rinchen

Archive for the ‘Diary 2010’ Category
Wildlife Diary 6 September 2010
Monday, September 6th, 2010

Good morning all, This is Stephen From The loch of the lowes Visitor centre some of you might have heard about me others not. This is my first post on the blog And its great to see how much people care about our scottish wildlife and how much people like interacting with us on the blog and in the VC.

More exciting news here at LoL as a juvenile pine marten was again seen this morning stuffing its face with peanuts. Hopefully with some luck its here to stay and we MAY be able to start to hold some pine marten evenings up at the VC.

The weather has been very windy up here and there have been some nasty clouds approaching menacingly some of the leaves have started to fall from there trees Autumn is very much HERE…

I hope everyone has a excellent day and get those comments pouring in!

Stephen

Wildlife Diary 7 September 2010
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Good Morning all.

Oh what a dreach (horrible) day it is!

High winds and driving rain, not great for wildlife watching but the birds will still be at the feeders but I would imagine all the wildfowl will be hiding in the reed beds on such a horrible day.

I did notice that no one mentioned the pine marten in their comments from last night, Steven is looking back over last nights recording, if he finds anything we will let you know.

Tomorrow Fiona and I will be attending a meeting about our blog and how we progress with it over the coming year. If any of you have any Ideas on what you would like to see on the blog please let me know. We will not be able to implement everything but I think it would be good to get your feedback on this.

Peter

Since the Osprey's have all migrated, the cams are now on the feeders. This Sparrowhawk was caught on one of them. He never did catch anything but he tried.



another feeder visitor.

I never heard of a pine martin. I thought it was a badger or wolverine. :wave:

That's OK, I thought a Pine Marten was a bird til I googled it!!   :silly: :stupid: ::)

well it sounds like a bird...purple martin, pine marten

Purple Martin

Pine Marten...what the??

What an adorable face on this little one. Thanks Donna! :thumbsup: