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!
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