Sad news for the 25 yr old Osprey mom in Scotland, still has chics in nest

[Donna]

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. “Ourâ€� 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 “tableâ€�. 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 “ourâ€� 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

[Donna]

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

[Donna]

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

[Donna]

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... Amazing to watch how they develop their own habits. The other 2 are drooling over that fish. Mom just took off, kids watching.

[Donna]

he's still clutching that dern fish...

[Donna]

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 “ourâ€� 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. “Greedyâ€� acts just that. Perhaps some of us noticed “Slimâ€� driving off a crow twice yesterday and a grey heron with terrific intent, whilst “hisâ€� sibling gorged away. “Ourâ€� 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

[Donna]

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!

[Donna]

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

[valhalla]

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.

[jeanne]

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

[MAK]

I love her eyes!

[Donna]

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!   

Emma Rawling

Perthshire Ranger

[Donna]

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

[Bobbie Ireland]

Thanks for the latest Osprey info, Donna. 

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! 

[Bobbie Ireland]

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