On a mission
Hmm, can I get up there?

I can maybe fly.
But I won't

Close-up
OK, that drop-off scares me but apparently not them.

[Good Morning all. Todays blog entryWhat 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.PeterI 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]

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

  Jemison has 1 foot off the ground.
Beauty on the nest box
Archer flew into the nest box.   Yay, I finally get to see him.
Not sure what he was doing in there
Callidora is trying to get anything left on the wing in the nest

Start a new "Antarctica - 2nd Season" thread 

Published on Tue Jun 22 09:48:25 BST 2010

A plot to steal a rare bird of prey has been foiled by eagle-eyed church volunteers.

Four peregrine falcon chicks have been nesting high up in the tower at St Walburge’s Church in Ashton, Preston.

But one of the young fledglings plunged from its safe perch and had to be rescued from the church grounds.

The chick and a sibling that also fell from the nest a few days later have since had to be removed to a secret safehouse to protect them, after two young volunteers who help out at the church overheard a man on a mobile phone discussing selling one of the birds.

Hugh Reid, maintenance man at St Walburge’s, said: “The first chick was exercising its wings when it fell and did not have enough strength to fly back up.

“Someone must have been watching us and saw us put them on the top of the sacristy.

“Two of our lads came round the corner and saw a bloke, asking how much money he could sell a chick for.

“We have had to take them away for now.�

Hugh called out bird of prey expert Andy Bilsborough, who runs Turbary Woods Owl and Bird Sanctuary in Whitestake, near Preston, for help.

The chicks were not harmed in the fall but the birds needed to be taken somewhere safe until they get better at flying, when they will rejoin their parents.

Peregrine falcons are a protected species, meaning it is illegal to disturb their nest.

The chicks will be microchipped and ringed to help keep them safe.

Andy said: “The chicks are capable of flying, but not yet to the top of one of the highest steeples in England.

“We have had to take them into isolation, away from the public, and put them on an intensive diet until they get their strength up and are strong enough to fly up.

“When they first leave the nest, sometimes the birds are on the ground until they build up a bit of stamina.

“But unfortunately there are some unscrupulous people about.�

Police probed the shooting of a peregrine falcon chick in Grindleton Quarry, near Clitheroe, two years ago.

 


In safe hands: Peregrine falcon chicks have been taken to a safe place after a man was heard arranging a deal

Archer just came in with food...Beauty grabbed it again and took off. Did anyone catch it?

  I did!

Pan Cam didn't catch it but did you see the look on Archer's face? I swear he was so bewildered or embarrassed.    He looked around like WT Freak just happened? It all happened so fast. Was the food ever delivered by Beauty or did she cache it for the am feeding?

Archer just came in with food...Beauty grabbed it again and took off. Did anyone catch it?

Wow, more great pics...thanks Jim. That little owl was just too cute. Lucky you.

Very nice Lou, I even  your artsy fartsy pics. The Pooh was great....has anyone been bombed yet? Besides YOU??   

Just a thought...
For next year, would some extra gravel help on the balcony re: pooh?

Maybe, but there aren'te any sides on the balcony, so there's nothing to keep gravel from rolling off and falling down to the sidewalk and street below.  Not a good thing when there are people walking around...  There's a lot of time between nesting seasons for the weather to scour the veranda, so I don't think it'll be much of a problem in the long term.

The nest boxes usually clean up well over the Fall and Winter months.

Finally .... Dakota, Ponca, Kiowa, and Oto


http://woodmen.typepad.com/falconwatch/2010/06/introducing-dakota-ponca-kiowa-and-oto.html

Love the names!!

The rain made it look more like "white wash". It's a painting masterpiece.

Hello up there....BRING FOOD!
"ANYBODY....were hungry.  Boy they sure poohed the plank.