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The third chick is looking quite strong.... It has had several feeds now, including two this morning ...one at 4.15 and another at 7.15. The weather at the moment is cold and wet so EJ is currently sitting tight on the chicks and keeping them warm and dry until OVS turns up with the next meal.

As promised in an earlier posting this weekend's blog will be a wee bit more substantial and will round up the events of the last week or so.

One final message before I go.... For those readers who have visited the Centre this year you may be interested in the progress of our goldeneye, well, 7 chicks are sitting in the box and will no doubt jump later this afternoon.

Thanks for your kind messages and support.

If you want to specifically help the Loch Garten Osprey Team 2008, 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 (that is zero eight), your membership will be credited to the Loch Garten team.

Third chick has arrived..... don't know when the event actually happened, all I know is that we had an intact egg at 22.12 last night and when she went on an exercise flight at 10.31 this morning the egg shell was broken and three chicks were on the nest. As with the others, we are waiting for the first feed.

I will update with a progress report tonight.

Apologies for the lack of service overnight and first thing this morning.... the system was closed down so that we could finally get to the bottom of the sound problem. Hopefully you now have sound, I know we do here on our PC.

As for the birds, a fish at 5.14 this morning... both chicks fed and OVS disappears.

A full blog will be posted at the weekend..... though I suspect we will be writing a lot earlier than that when egg 3 hatches.

Until then.....

As with the first chick I wanted to see the second chick being fed before reporting on its well being. Since it hatched out of its shell yesterday afternoon it has been fed three times, twice yesterday and once this morning. Both chicks are looking quite strong so we are hopeful that the problems of 2007 are not going to repeat themselves. If everything goes to plan we will be seeing the third chick sometime Wednesday afternoon/ Thursday morning, we will obviously inform you when(if) the event takes place.

There will be a more concise blog at the weekend which will summarise all of the events of the very active and exciting last ten days.

If you want to specifically help the Loch Garten Osprey Team 2008, 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.

Just to let you all know, the second egg has hatched. The chick is still awaiting it's first feed but I am sure it wont be too long.

Update later......

Firstly, apologies for not updating last night as promised....  I wanted to wait until the chick had been fed a couple of times before reporting anything. Those of you who are familiar with last year's events will know that our first two chicks both died within 24 hours of hatching. Admittedly that was probably down to the eggs not being as viable as they should have been, nonetheless I wanted to wait until I was confident that this chick was going to survive - it would have been wrong of me to drum up a euphoria only to dash it a few hours later.

So..... our chick. It does look very strong, after only 70 minutes (10.10am) it was moving around on the nest, it made several contact calls during the day which was a good sign, but the best sight was at 17.15 when OVS landed on the nest with a headless rainbow trout, our chick was upright and calling for food.....EJ duly fed it; the chick had a further feed just after 21.00.

Things are looking good at the moment and we are all looking forward to the second chick....When? Monday or Tuesday I suspect but rest assured, when it does appear we will let you know.

Can I ask a favour of all blog readers? Please be patient about getting your comments posted and questions answered. It is busier than ever at the moment so I can't answer questions or accept comments immediately...... we do appreciate your input so thank you for your comments, messages, questions and of course support.

If you want to specifically help the Loch Garten Osprey Team 2008, 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.

The usual updated blog will be written some time in the next few days.... this entry is merely information for our many viewers and readers.

Firstly, the sound issue...... We are aware that there are problems with the sound from the nest, we are trying to fix this as quickly as we can. The problem has been reported to the technical staff and they assure us that it is a priority. PLEASE DO NOT ring the Osprey Centre regarding this problem as we can not give you any more information that what I have already given you here. I apologise if the lack of sound is spoiling your enjoyment of the live viewing... the problem is being addressed.

Next, the hatching of our eggs. The average incubation period is 37 days, however, we have had incubation periods as short as 31 days and as long as 42 days so we can never definitely say when it is going to happen. We will, of course, post a blog immediately when the hatching(s) take place, saying that, I would expect to see at least one chick by Wednesday morning.

Blog comments....... (1) Please keep these relevent to the ospreys and (2) Your comments may not be posted immediately as they need to be vetted for abusive language or inappropriate statements. Please be patient, if your comment is appropriate and relates to the ospreys there is little doubt that it will be accepted.

Finally, a thank you to those people who have supported our work this season and joined the RSPB via the blog, it is good to know that all the efforts of my team are being appreciated.

The next blog will be on Saturday, unless of course we have some extra-ordinary events.

Many thanks for all of your comment, e-mails, suggestions and of course support.

If you want to specifically help the Loch Garten Osprey Team 2008, 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.

Three eggs, two fish and an intruder...these are the things that have been getting us all very excited here at the Osprey Centre over the weekend.  The three eggs really do not need an explanation, except to say that we are all getting very excited about the imminent hatching, which fingers crossed should be taking place in roughly a weeks time!  EJ has enjoyed amazing sunny weather this past week while she has been incubating, no repeats of the previous week's thunderstorm!

 Orange VS has been a good fisherman, as well as security guard (more on that later!) over the weekend!  Yesterday (Sunday), he brought EJ two fish - a 12" whole Brown Trout at 9.33 and another fish (headless this time!) at 14.20.  EJ was able to enjoy the afternoon fish and take a well earned two hour break from the nest, while VS incubating the eggs.  However, this was not the case with the fish that was delivered at 9.33, which she had to bolt down in little over 15 minutes, which brings us onto the intruder....

We were all very impressed and proud of VS when he brought in a good sized fish, relatively early in the day.  He handed the fish over to EJ, she went off to her favourite perch to eat it, and VS, after a bit of fidgetting, settled down on the eggs, all was well with the world. 

Then at 9.44 VS started alarm calling, we could see another osprey above the nest!  However, EJ was oblivious, happily munching away on her fish.  At  9.46, the intruder flew over again, and this time VS gave chase, leaving the eggs alone on the nest, as it started to rain.  At 9.48, EJ returned to the nest, with some of the fish still in her talon, she proceeded to eat this as quickly as possible, whilst standing over the eggs and shielding them from the rain!  At 10.10, the intruder returned, and so did VS to chase it away!  However, this osprey was like the wasp that always flies around a picnic, it would not be told, and just kept coming back! At 10.30 VS chased it way from the nest, again at 10.35, VS guarded the nest standing alongside EJ at 10.55, and then flew off again at 11.05. Phew!

When the coast was clear, at 11.20, he flew off, returning in the afternoon, with another fish.  We know very little about the intruding bird, as in never landed for long enough for us to check if it was male or female, nevermind check for a ring!  One things for certain, things are getting very exciting here at Loch Garten!

If you want to specifically help the Loch Garten Osprey Team 2008, 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.

Avid blog readers will no doubt know all about Orange VS' questionable fishing abilities. However, on Monday, we were delighted to see that he brought EJ in  two fish - one in the morning, before we opened, and another at 17:40. Having also fed her on Sunday evening we thought that perhaps he had finally stepped up a gear....?

Staff and visitors alike spent most of Tuesday watching and willing VS to return with a fish for EJ but as closing time drew closer our hopes started to fade. We had barely seen him all day let alone with a fish, but all was not lost! After making her wait for around 25 hours, VS flew in with half a 10" brown trout for EJ at around 7pm.

Today VS brought in a fish at 14:10 and handed it over to EJ. She flew off with the fish and took the opportunity to take a well earned break from incubating the eggs. She left VS incubating for just over 2 hours before returning to the nest at around 16:30.

Aside from the fish situation I should probably mention that on Monday we had another osprey hover above the nest. The bird got quite close and EJ was mantling her wings but it quickly flew off again. Also on Tuesday morning a male and a female intruder were spotted at around 8:30am but neither of these cases caused EJ too much concern.

The next blog will be posted on Saturday unless anything extraordinary happens. In the meantime....

If you want to specifically help the Loch Garten Osprey Team 2008, 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.

Apologies for the title but when we had an intruding bird with the leg ring "HP" landing on the nest I simply couldn't resist. Yes, that is right, yet another intruder. This 3 year old female landed on the camera post just above the nest at 5pm on Friday evening and stayed there for several minutes whilst EJ covered her eggs, mantled her wings and alarm called - the intruder, who was rung on the Black Isle in 2005, didn't hang around for too long before flying off. There was another intruding bird which divebombed EJ on Saturday morning, but it only happened the once and happened so quickly that we couldn't positively identify the bird.

Apart from that things are very much the same, OVS is bringing in fish (not a great deal I hasten to add) and doing his bit on the eggs, our resident goldeneye is happily incubating in her nestbox and the capercaillie are showing well, throw in regular (though infrequent) sightings of the crested tit and you can imagine that the visitors to the Centre are very happy.

Before signing off I'd like to thank the children in Class 2 at Colliers Green Primary School, Kent for their keen interest and support.

The next blog will be posted on Wednesday, unless of course......

If you want to specifically help the Loch Garten Osprey Team 2008, 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.

Many thanks for all of your comments on the blogs so far. I think it is about time that some of the questions and speculations were answered. Before I answer the questions raised I thought I would give you some information on our birds and a little bit of recent history – hopefully this will answer many of the most frequently asked questions.

The Birds

The three main players in our blog are EJ, Henry and OVS. Both EJ and Henry were ringed as chicks – EJ in north-east Perthshire in July 1997, Henry just north of Inverness, on the Black Isle, on 9 July 1998. OVS, on the other hand, was caught and ringed at Rothiemurchus fish farm on 16 August 1994; he was considered to be a two-year-old bird at the time; this makes EJ almost 11, Henry almost 10 and OVS approaching 16 years old.

The History

In 2001 EJ paired up with OVS on his then established nest in Rothiemurchus Forest, they bred there until 2003 when EJ lost her nest to a more aggressive female, forcing her to find new accommodation, which happened to be our Loch Garten nest.

Our 'resident' pair – Henry and EJ first got together on 16 June 2003 – too late for eggs but they did stay together at the nest site pair-bonding. In 2004, EJ and OVS mate at the Loch Garten nest before Henry arrives, OVS leaves the scene and our couple fledge three chicks, they are given yellow leg rings with markings 27, 28, 29 – Yellow 28 was a male whilst the other two were deemed to be female.

In 2005 EJ and OVS mate at the Loch Garten nest - EJ lays an egg, OVS disappears. A four year old Strathspey bird comes to the nest (Red 8T) but proves to be inadequate at providing food for our female. She lays two further eggs before Henry arrives on 25 April, he is covered in oil and almost skeletal. He succeeds in chasing off Red 8T and then kicks the eggs out of the nest, a fourth egg is laid but that is also ejected by the male, no further eggs were laid.

The pattern repeated itself in 2006, EJ and OVS mate before Henry arrives. On 10th April he returns, chases off OVS and re-establishes the bond with EJ. Three eggs are laid, three chicks fledge – they are all considered to be female and were given yellow leg rings 8U, 8V and 8W.

2007 – History repeats itself once more as EJ and OVS mate yet again before Henry arrives. EJ lays an egg on 18 April and another on 21st. Henry arrives on 22 April and kicks the eggs out of the nest. On 23 April, OVS appears above the nest and is seen off by Henry. On 24 April EJ lays two eggs in two hours, Henry kicks these out of the nest too. This year was remarkable as our couple went on to produce a second clutch, eggs being laid on 11, 14 and 16 May – all three eggs fail; two eggs hatch but the chicks die within 24 hours, the third egg seems to have failed mid-hatching.

2008 is well chronicled in this blog.

Now to answer some of the many questions that the blog has raised so far.

Many thanks to Katie from our web team and the members of admin for answering some of these questions. I will attempt to answer the rest of them here. If you do have a specific question please e-mail me directly on david.gascoigne@rspb.org.uk and put in the subject box 'OSPREY BLOG QUESTION' thus leaving the message board for comments only.

Sue asked – how high is the nest

The nest is approximately 50 feet from the ground, the confusion with it being 60 feet comes from the commentary in a DVD saying we use a 60 foot ladder.

Kathyj was concerned that OVS was looking at the eggs strangely and wondered if one of them was cracked.

The eggs are fine; OVS could have been doing several things when you saw him looking strangely at the eggs. He could have been tidying around the nest cup or maybe just taking a rest from incubating. We will be the first to comment should something untoward happen to the eggs.

Carol asked if the chicks were calling from the shells.

There is usually a contact call from the egg to the female just prior to hatching, it is a little early for that to be happening at this present time.

Tiger was worried that the eggs were laid after only 8 days and asked whether some off camera matings had taken place prior to 11 April.

It is highly unlikely that any matings took place prior to OVS’ arrival. Eight days is not out of the ordinary from first mating to the laying of eggs, a lot depends upon the frequency of mating and the condition of the female.

EJ had been back almost a fortnight, had fed herself well and had fully recovered from her migration before the initial matings started so I have no worries about the timings. Infact several other nests which we observe had similar timings this year.

Wild Freckle asked 'how long is the incubation period'

As Katie from our web team stated the usual incubation period is 37 days, however it can be as short as 34 days or as long as 43. This is dependent upon several things, how well the female is, weather conditions, the amount of food the female is getting.

John B (not the sloop) asked if we were going to give OVS a proper name

I think we are more concerned with the raising of chicks this year. If it is a success and OVS returns next season it is something we could consider.

Maureen McCann asked if there is still time for Henry to come back

At this stage I would suggest that Henry will not be coming back, it is exceptionally late.

Gareth C asked how we can distinguish male and female.

The female has a brown bib on her chest whilst the male is a lot whiter.

Year 5 Gamesley Primary School are very avid viewers and have asked several questions

How will all the birds fit on the nest when the chicks are born?

The nest is almost the same size as a double bed. When all five birds were on the nest in August 2006 it looked very crowded, but they managed it.

What would happen if Henry returned after the chicks were born?

The chicks will hatch at the end of May, if Henry is not back by then he is not coming.

Why does EJ sometimes fly off and leave the eggs?

The female often takes exercise flights; she is rarely away more than 30 seconds. On occasions when she leaves the eggs for longer, she is sitting close by in the camera tree taking a break from incubating. The eggs are quite safe as the female is close by to defend them.

Do we know what colour leg rings the birds will have?

Very good question….. As yet we are not sure what colour leg rings the chicks will have. We will mention this in the blog when we hopefully ring three chicks.

Apologies if I have missed anyone out.

Please help us keep the blog running smoothly by only posting Loch Garten-related comments on the blog and sending specific questions to me. Many thanks.

If you want to specifically help the Loch Garten Osprey Team 2008, 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.

It is ironic that in the week that "Henry the Navigator" found his way home in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket we at Loch Garten have come to the conclusion that our Henry will not be coming back. Some people are still holding out for a miracle but all the signs suggest that he will not be seen, possibly, ever again.

In his absence all is quiet at the nest, there is the odd buzzard which gives EJ a reason to leave the nest and give chase, but apart from that she is sitting tight and awaiting fish from OVS. She received two decent sized fish this morning which was good to see.

I will post another blog at the weekend just to let you know what has been going on.

Today has been fairly quiet compared to the last few days... OVS brought in two average sized, headless, fish and they swapped over incubating as expected. What was strange today was the arrival of an unknown bird. EJ did not alarm call when the bird landed, infact she gave a contact call as it approached. The question I was immediately asked was "Is it Henry?" Well I can't say for definite that it is not, however, I suspect Henry would have landed and stayed a while and staked a claim to his throne. I think it is more likely to be a returning chick than Henry. That is of course speculation, but the fact that EJ was very welcoming to this bird is a little strange. The bird was only on the nest for a couple of seconds so we didn't get chance to catch any leg rings..... 'Tis a mystery.

If this bird returns, and we can get a positive ID, we will let you know.

If you want to specifically help the Loch Garten Osprey Team 2008, 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.

An unidentified osprey (sex unknown) has been around the nest since 7.55am this morning. It landed very briefly on the nest at 8.25 only to be chased off by OVS...... are we in for a repeat of yesterday?

We will keep you informed of developments.