Blogs

The last few days have been tough for our ospreys at Loch Garten, due to the weather. On Monday a freak hailstorm hit Loch Garten. A shower of hail could be seen sweeping across the forest and everything turned white within seconds. On her exposed nest, EJ was being pounded by the elements, one stone hitting her in the eye. She did have a quick snack of a few of them afterwards though.

Since then we have had constant rain for two days. EJ has been sitting low in the nest, looking thoroughly miserable. This is compounded by the poor fishing efforts of Henry. He is finding it difficult to fish in the rain and despite disappearing for hours on end - presumably fishing – the results have not been fantastic. When Henry did eventually produce a fish, EJ took the opportunity to show her hubby how it feels to be abandoned on a high, windy, exposed, wet nest and disappeared for two hours. Good for her!

When Henry proudly arrived with a fish yesterday he had a surprise greeting. EJ ignored him and the fish. He looked most put out and despite his efforts to take over incubation, she would not get up off the eggs and take the fish. Perhaps she just got comfortable.

Despite the bad weather, the centre was brightened up by the arrival of Ellie, Thomas and Katie. Their beaming faces made up for the dreary weather outside. We have wonderful visitors at Loch Garten and their enthusiasm is abundant despite the rain. In fact, we are impressed by the sight of queues of wet visitors huddled under umbrellas waiting to come in every morning.

Thursday saw a break in the weather and Henry got up to his old ways by delivering three fish to the nest, well we say three fish…we left at 6pm and who's to say he didn't deliver a fourth for supper?!

So although our ospreys are a bit behind this year – other eggs are beginning to hatch around the country now – we are still overjoyed at having three eggs in the nest and are looking forward to three weeks time when the excitement will really start!

Though we hardly dare say it, things seem to finally be running smoothly here at Loch Garten, EJ is spending most of her time on the nest incubating the three eggs whilst Henry brings in the food.

He's proven himself a modern man before (feeding the chicks in 2004 and 2006), but this week he has taken another step in the 'house husband' direction, he has been doing more than his fair share of incubating – sometimes physically nudging EJ off the nest so he can nestle down on the eggs – his eggs, those precious eggs. Considering all the fuss he made about making sure they were his eggs in the nest maybe that isn't too surprising.

The only disturbance our pair have had recently has been an intruding osprey and only yesterday this bird was allowed to land on the camera tree, a few yards from the nest. The odd things about it was that neither EJ, nor Henry, seemed to regard this bird as a threat as she made no attempt to alarm call but instead remained contented on her eggs.

Only when the 'stranger' actually tried to land on the nest did EJ begin to mantle her wings in a semi-threatening manner, a short alarm call seemed enough to see this bird off. Parent birds will tolerate their offspring's presence for a while but then nature kicks in and the parents force the young bird to find its own patch.

Had we just seen a returning chick from 2004? Unfortunately we couldn't see a leg ring, not even a colour, but rest assured if this happens again we will be straining every sinew to get an angle on this bird's leg – maybe Baldrick has returned!!!!! *

Our birds are turning out to be an inspiration to people of all ages; class 2 at Colliers Green Primary School have been so enthralled with Henry and EJ's story that they have set up a webcam in their classroom to watch the comings and goings on their own nest (a blue tit box in the schoolyard). We have also had two school friends emotionally reunited after 70 years; they just bumped into one another at the Osprey Centre.

We had a couple of bikers from Holland visit early in the week, they had been following the events on the blog and decided to come over to the centre and see the birds for real – they were even able to quote word for word the events which had been gripping them for the past few months.

On Saturday we had a wedding party on the edges of Loch Garten, the sounds of bagpipes floated across the water, but in true wedding style the weather wasn't behaving itself, the skies opened and we had hailstones raining from the sky – we felt sorry for the happy couple, imagine going to all that trouble only to be battered by hailstones the size of footballs!!!! We felt sorry for the newly weds too.

That's it for now... Our days usually consist of

1. EJ on nest

2. Henry brings in fish

3. EJ flies off to eat fish and Henry takes over incubating

4. EJ finished fish, returns to nest and starts to incubate

5. Henry flies off

6. GO TO 1

Rest assured, if anything major happens we will let you know.

*Baldrick was the male chick from 2004 that many thought wouldn't make it

 If you want to specifically help the Loch Garten Osprey Team 2007, you might consider supporting the RSPB. You can do this online via the RSPB website: http://www.rspb.org.uk/join, if you add the code PR08, your membership will be credited to the Loch Garten team.

This is getting ridiculously marvellous, - a third egg of a re-laid replacement clutch. It is believed that the only other time ospreys have laid a replacement clutch of eggs it was but a mere two, the likely outcome when a first clutch of three were lost, but three is really quite remarkable.

Time will tell whether we get one, two or three chicks from this replacement clutch, but whatever the outcome the extraordinary events of this season at Loch Garten, stand to make it the mother of all seasons, an historic episode in the history of Loch Garten - osprey folklore in the making.

If ever there was a season to visit Loch Garten and support the work we do here, then this surely is it. If you are able to, why not come and see it all for yourselves, share in the excitement, and come and meet and support my team.

All being well, you could see the chicks - hatching should take place from 15 June. Since the latest events made national television, we have been busy at the Centre as people come to see it for themselves. We would be delighted to see you here too.

If you are not able to visit, but would like to support us in our work, you might consider joining the RSPB. You can do this online via the RSPB website: http://www.rspb.org.uk/join

If you want to specifically help the Loch Garten Osprey Team 2007 with their membership recruitment effort, you can add the code PR08, and your membership will be accredited to my team here, which will help them enormously towards achieving our seasonal membership recruitment target.

If you would like to do this, go into the Join the RSPB page and when you reach the form you will see a box at the very top, which asks for any promotional code - that is where to put in PRO8. This would be very much appreciated by the Osprey Team 2007.  RSPB membership works out to approximately 9p per day. What ridiculously good value is that!

So, in theory, for that 10p coin down the back of the armchair, you could be an RSPB member for a day - though it doesn’t of course quite work like that, it’s an annual subscription, but I’m sure you see what I mean. Please consider supporting us. Thank you.

The key function of the Osprey Centre first and foremost, is to bring people close to some of Scotland’s spectacular wildlife and in so doing inspire people. A visit to the Centre often acts as a springboard for what becomes a life-long interest in birds and other wildlife, the environment and our countryside.

Only yesterday, I was with a delegation from a conference on tourism being held in nearby Aviemore and a visit to the Osprey Centre was one of several fieldtrips on offer. One of the group of 12 had been before, as a 12 year old 30 years ago.

In my time here, I have met this so often, so many people who visited as children, then return with children of their own or even with their grandchildren. Such is the enduring appeal of the Loch Garten ospreys and people’s desire to support, and by visiting, be part of this amazing conservation success story for Scotland - the saga and romance of the bird’s demise and extirpation at the hand of man and then their return and subsequent re-colonisation of former haunts.

At the same time yesterday, a school group were at the Centre, sat entranced and beguiled by the story related to them by my staff. Just two very rewarding examples of why we do what we do here at the Osprey Centre.

Richard Thaxton
RSPB Scotland
Site Manager - Loch Garten
Abernethy nature reserve

What a week this has been - On Tuesday morning our ospreys appeared on BBC Breakfast, the egg kicking and subsequent relaying of two eggs was deemed a good enough story to carry such publicity. That was followed by appearances on the midday news and a live feed at 6.20pm - the coverage has been unbelievable, and to top it all the story was even carried on German TV - Ja, dass ist richtig.

If only we had known what was to happen the following evening we would have maybe waited to tell the world; EJ laid yet another egg, a third for her second clutch - unglaublich they may have said in Munich, this has to be a record. As previously stated we are only aware of a second clutch being laid on one other occasion, that being 25 years ago - in that instance the female replaced a clutch of three, which were taken by an egg thief, with a clutch of two - a total of five eggs; EJ has now laid seven - surely there will be no more, but, I must say again, I wouldn't put anything past these two birds.

Since the laying of the seventh egg things have been a little quieter, EJ is sitting tightly on the eggs and Henry goes off to catch fish - this is just like all the other ospreys on the other nests around the country, we have however seen some odd behaviour from our male bird. Usually the only time the male will incubate is after he has handed a fish over to the female and she flies off to eat it - not our Henry, on several occasions this week he has popped onto the nest and allowed EJ to have a wee rest, to fly off and stretch her wings whilst he does his duties - as I say nothing surprises me with these birds.

 

There was huge relief reverberating around the osprey world this week, when on Friday, against almost unbelievable odds, EJ the female ospreys at the Loch Garten site, started to re-lay, a replacement clutch for those lost through a fit of jealous pique by the cuckolded Henry.

When the eggs were kicked out we were devastated, it was a huge disappointment and we thought our season was in shreds, but there has been an unspoken belief amongst my staff and volunteers, that something special just might be in the offing.

As we learnt in 2005, when eggs are lost, our hopes rest on the very feint hope and unlikely event of a replacement clutch being laid.  But re-lays are very, very rare occurrences, known only once before in Scotland, 25 years ago.  But watching her behaviour last week had us wondering, but we dare not get our hopes up or even voice our optimism.  There were just some knowing and hopeful glances between us, but no-one dare say anything.

When Henry booted eggs out back in 2005, EJ cleared off in disgust, away for many days for a cooling off period between them, following their tiff, before eventually returning, but with no sign of a re-lay likely.  This time however, she has remained at the nest with Henry by her side and there has been lots of making-up taking place, love-making and nest building together, which all looked very promising.  And lo, she re-laid.

Maybe too, that bizarre laying of eggs three and four, within the space of a few hours, before Henry booted those out too, was a result of shock for EJ, from the trauma of eggs one and two being ejected.  Was she, clearing the tubes, so to speak, in preparation for a re-lay?  Looking back now, with hindsight, it appears that it might have been.

You can't imagine the immense relief and sheer delight amongst my staff, volunteers and I, when we realised what had happened. We were tipped off that something was going on, by the nightwatch volunteers, who reported EJ to be sitting in the nest.  But she had been doing this recently, whenever it rained - to keep her nest cup dry perhaps? 

Anyway we sat around the CCTV monitors in the Centre on Friday morning watching and waiting for a clear sign.  Eventually EJ stood up, but the nest cup was shielded from our view by her body, but eventually as she shuffled around and an egg was very briefly but clearly seen, at which point all present leapt to their feet in unison with yelps of uproarious delight.  It was a wonderful moment.  My team of 2007 are now absolutely thrilled, after such a disappointing start to the season for them, we're back on track.

And as if this wasn't a fantastic outcome, to have a newly laid egg after what has happened, this morning at dawn when EJ stood up, there were two eggs in the nest!

Whether or not we get a full replacement clutch of three eggs remains to be seen.  It's unlikely, but EJ is clearly an exceptional female osprey and she may yet surprise us further.

Though this is potentially developing into something of an exceptional if not miraculous season in prospect, of course for now we can't be sure of the outcome.  The incubation period is between 36-42 days, so sometime 15-21 June, hatching will take place, all being well. If indeed all does indeed go according to plan, it will be a fantastic outcome from adversity.

Osprey diary followers, enthusiasts and the Press too, like us to name our osprey chicks and given the events of this season, Lucky and Precious spring to mind, so in preperation for ringing later this summer, perhaps we should start looking now for leg-rings to use with the letters L and P!

For now though we ought not count our ospreys before they hatch, as we have the sensitive and vulnerable incubation period to get EJ through and that's our focus for now, to watch over EJ whilst quietly willing-on her and Henry to rear two young successfully and make this the season of seasons at Loch Garten.

New infra-red cameras installed this season,  funded by Cairngorm National Park, will enable us to keep a very close vigil on EJ incubating the eggs at night. These are web-site linked so you can watch the somewhat eerie black & white pictures of the nocturnal goings-on at the nest.  These will give us an intriguing insight into what goes on at the nest after dark, probably not that much actually, but will provide hitherto unknown answers to questions about osprey ecology, like simply do they sleep when incubating at night or remain awake and vigilant?

This re-lay is indeed nigh-on a miracle.  Ospreys re-laying has been known only once before in Scotland, 25 years ago, and ironically, I believe it just might have been at the nest site now used by the vanquished VS.  Just a coincidence? Or poetic justice given the trouble he has caused?

On behalf of my team I would like to thank you the viewers and diary readers who, like us have been willing EJ and Henry to relay. Your messages of support have been a great encouragement to my team.  I have seen the highs and lows of many a season that's been and gone before and will see more to come and go, but my seasonal osprey staff team get but one chance to experience a successful season, to witness their charges rear young.  It means everything to them and they thought their chance was over.  They were completely gutted at the egg-loss, but we're back on track now and their heads are high, so thank you for your continued viewing and support for my team.  It's has meant a lot to them these past few weeks.

Watch this space!

Richard Thaxton,
Site Manager

EJ has, this morning, just laid another egg in the nest - what a remarkable female bird we have on our hands. As previously mentioned many didn't believe that we would have a first replacement egg never mind a second. Are we being greedy by asking for a third? I wouldn't back against it. As one visitor said this morning at Caper watch - "That is one awesome bird you have there!".

Concerns have been voiced as to whether she will ever stop! We hold the belief that this has got to be the last and she surely hasn't got the energy, or indeed calcium, to produce a second 'complete clutch'?! Anything is possible with this female.

Despite 48 hours having passed since EJ started her replacement clutch, beaming smiles and proud maternal feelings are still clearly evident amongst the staff. Visitors have questioned just exactly what ingredients we are using in our home-baked biscuits. The euphoria we are experiencing is being felt by people across the land. Our pair even made the creme de la creme of British broadcasting, Radio 4's Today Programme! EJ, completely oblivious to the media frenzy surrounding her, is not looking her best. Over the past two days she has had to cope with frequent heavy showers, unable to leave the nest and her precious egg.

What the media haven't been mentioning is that Henry is still trying to have his cake and eat it by attempting to mate with EJ whilst she is incubating his bloodline! Despite this ungentlemanly behaviour Henry is making up for past misdemeanors. Visitors who had previously demonised him are now being made to eat their words as he brings in fish after fish and takes his part in incubating.

Given EJ's extraordinary egg-laying skills expectations were high for a sixth egg this morning. Greedy you may think, but having broken every other rule left, right and centre, anything is possible with her! Only one egg was revealed as she stood up, but just to see that egg safely nestled in the cup was enough for us to want to break out the champagne....again!

Today, at just after 5am our female, EJ, laid an egg. Nothing exciting in that I hear some of you saying – and that is true, it is not exciting, it is MONUMENTAL. Very few people thought this would ever happen, we’ve had our critics and doubters – but all the staff at Loch Garten believed. We saw how she was interacting with Henry, we saw how she was preparing the nest, we saw how the bond between these birds was getting stronger and stronger – and we believed, and today, that belief became a reality.

This is only the second time to our knowledge that a second clutch has been laid in Scotland, the last one being 25 years ago – I feel that I cannot put into words the enormity of this feat, the feeling of elation amongst our staff and recent visitors is immeasurable, against all odds we HAVE AN EGG.  Will Henry kick this egg out of the nest? – Not at all, he has already been seen turning it and incubating - it is his egg. This moment has brought all of his previous actions into context.

So our season starts now – our true resident pair are together, they have an egg and we now look forward to hatching and fledging.  If you have not been to the Centre yet then now is the time to come; this is a historic egg, it will be a historic chick and the best fledgling yet. What will we call the chick? I’m sure you’ve got a few suggestions, but for now, let us just enjoy the fact that, yet again, the birds at Loch Garten are doing us all proud. This has to be one of the best seasons in Loch Garten’s history.

If the power of positive thinking is anything to go by we should have eggs in the nest very soon - unfortunately, positive thinking isn't always a good indicator as to what actually happens.

Second clutches are rare, but so is laying two eggs in the space of two hours - I don't really want to predict anything about these two birds. We have a chance, and as we watch the birds more they seem to indicate that an egg is on the way.

This morning both Henry and EJ brought in loads of moss, grass and lichen and started to prepare the nest cup - yes SHE, EJ, was preparing the cup, she must be in the mindset to want to lay. We don't want to build everyone's hopes up that this is a foregone conclusion - far from it, as mentioned second clutches are rare - but let's not lose sight of the fact that these birds are bonding very well together.

On Saturday Henry brought in his biggest fish of the year so far, easily 22 inches, he continues to feed her well and she has been very receptive during mating. All the signs are there, we just have to believe that when the time comes to lay EJ will be in good enough condition to deliver the goods. As ever, we will keep you informed as and when it happens.

My team and I are enormously encouraged by the Loch Garten Osprey diary fellowship, the thousands of you out there following events and willing Henry and EJ on to rear young ospreys this season.

The support you provide is all the more heartening at the present time, whilst the season hangs in the balance, following the tension and high drama at nest-side in recent weeks, the emotional roller-coaster of having eggs one minute and then not the next and now the nerve-wracking wait to see whether EJ will re-lay a replacement clutch of eggs. It's a very tense time for all concerned, Osprey Centre visitors, web-cam viewers and most of all my staff team.

Understandably, up to a point, we are getting an increasing number of requests to up-date the diary more often than we curently do. So far we are meeting our commitment to up-date it twice a week and have exceeded this lately by up-dating it every three days.

Whilst we fully appreciate the hunger there is out there for news from Loch Garten, and do strive to up-date as frequently as possible, especially when anything of significance happens, but to up-date twice a day, everyday as has been suggested by one viewer is simply not possible.

My staff team work a very, long, hard day, on their feet all day, every day seven days a week at the Osprey Centre. Their primary role and responsibility as Osprey Information Assistants is to the viewing public visiting the Osprey Centre, engaging fully with hundreds of people per day, thousands per week and 35,000+ each season. It is very demanding work. Up-dating the diary is just one of many evening add-ons to their already very busy working days. Check the times the diary is posted? It is often late into the evening.

Please bear this in mind, and be patient for up-dated news. Rest assured that any events of significance at the nest will warrant an up-date, but to up-date every time a fish or stick is brought to the nest, would make for somewhat repetitive reading and could be off-putting for readers.

My team are thrilled that the osprey saga unfolding at Loch Garten attracts so many avid followers, and many of you hang on their every up-dated word, but repeated pressure to up-date more frequently is exactly that - a pressure, at a time when they are already extremely busy in their work.

I accept of course that for some of you out there, it might not be possible to visit Loch Garten in person and witness the action as it happens, but for some, if you cannot wait for an up-date. why not come up and visit, meet the team and live it all for real. They would be delighted to meet you.

Your support and following would be appreciated, your patience will be too.

Thank you

Richard Thaxton
Site Manager - Loch Garten
Abernethy Nature Reserve

The silence has been broken here at Abernethy. More and more migrants are returning bringing the sunshine with them; cuckoos echo throughout the forest and willow warblers sing their sweet descending song from the very tops of the fresh-leaved birch. With no eggs to incubate EJ has been spending more time perched in adjacent trees. This has led to Redstarts giving her home a thorough inspection; and as usual chaffinches a-plenty. Jets have been giving the birds a bit of a headache and one paraglider came near enough to the nest for Henry to kick up a bit of a fuss and demand an ASBO.

In terms of Osprey not much has been happening! Our pair have been mating frequently and, promisingly, continuing to build up the nest. Henry's been bringing in a lot of soft furnishings as well as oddly shaped sticks of no use whatsoever to EJ. Bless him, he tries!

 

 

 

Loch Garten has been experiencing amazing sunshine much to the delight of staff and visitors.

EJ and Henry have been enjoying the weather too, spending long periods of the day perched in the camera tree...ahh what a life!  But, concerns started to spread through the centre yesterday afternoon as Henry had still not bought in a fish.  The one thing everyone has agreed on is that Henry was an excellent provider of fish. 

So where were they?  

Was he ill or was the heat getting to him?  What ever it was EJ definitely still needed feeding and made food soliciting calls for most of the afternoon to tell him so.  The situation was becoming desperate!  John, one of our volunteers, felt compelled to have a man-to-man chat with Henry that evening to get him to buck his ideas up. 

Well what ever John said to him seemed to work!

How could we have doubted Henry?  He arrived on the nest with the first fish, a whopping great big Brown Trout, at 7.20am this morning. EJ was so hungry that she took the fish from Henry without even waiting for him to remove the head!  She devoured nearly the whole fish, just giving Henry back a little piece of the tail.  This must have put Henry's bill out, because by 10.00am a second fish was bought back to the nest, which Henry consumed by himself.  Then late afternoon at 5.20pm, Henry again impressed staff and visitors by bringing EJ a huge Rainbow Trout to the nest.  Again she relieved Henry of the whole fish, flying off to the camera tree to eat her supper.

 Lets hope he keeps up the good work, if not, we'll have to get John to give him another man-to-man chat!!