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It is really rather windy here at Loch Garten today.  Those of you with access to the webcam, will have seen that EJ is getting blown about quite a bit up there on the nest.  Orange VS, meanwhile, has spent most of the day swapping between his favoured perches around the nest, despite EJ almost constantly food soliciting since 9.45!  Yesterday, VS impressed us all by bringing in five fish during the day, despite the strong winds.  The wind makes the impressive act of catching a fish, even more difficult, as the surface of the water is broken up, making it even more difficult for the osprey to spot a fish to catch in the first place.  However, with VS' performance yesterday, we had high hopes for today, but so far the fish count currently stands at one, brought to the nest at 7.55 this morning!

Meanwhile on the nest, EJ and the chicks are looking well.  The chicks have been stretching out their wings, and they were having a good look around yesterday when EJ went for an exercise flight.  We did anticipate that EJ would have removed the body of the third chick by now, but as we mention before EJ does not read the text books!  We wait to see what she will do over the coming days. 

We did have some very happy news on wednesday, when our second Goldeneye duck, who we had been watching with the nest box cameras here at the centre, lead her five ducklings down to Loch Garten, after they had completed the impressive 12ft jump out the nest box.  So if you are heading up to Loch Garten in the coming weeks, make sure you look out on the Loch for our various ducklings and their mothers!

As usual, we await the next fish.....

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.

I can now confirm that the youngest of our three chicks has died..... The writing was on the wall yesterday afternoon when the female rejected it whilst feeding; we did expect this to happen today but nothing can really prepare you for the moment when you accept the inevitable and admit that it is dead. Having watched the wee one come out of its shell my team and I have followed its progress over the past four weeks and, despite trying to remain professional, have grown attached to it - so we do understand the depth of feeling from our bloggers. EJ will eventually remove the body from the nest, it may take her a day or two before doing so - we know this from previous episodes of a similar nature.

Instead of feeling sad about the situation we should really take the positives from it, the fact that a family of ospreys, and more specifically the plight of the smallest chick, has gripped the hearts and minds of hundreds and possibly thousands of people can only be a positive thing. Many schools have watched the webcam and used what they have seen as an educational tool - again the plight of our youngest being a talking point. Yes it is sad but we have to move on, so let us remember the brave wee chick but let us not lament.....we now have two very strong and healthy chicks on the nest and they are still our concern.

Thinking positively and talking of schools leads me to Miss Briggs of Esh Winning Primary School who told me how Class 2 have been watching the webcam, she said "Everyone in my class is now an osprey expert and happily blabbers to anyone who will listen about 'our' chicks." I would also like to thank Mr Farrell and his class at Gamesley Primary School and Mrs Manwaring at Colliers Green Primary School for their lovely messages.

If any other schools read the blog and need to find out more about what the RSPB can do for schools then please follow the following link http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/teaching/.

I would like to end this with a big thank you from the Loch Garten team for all the supportive messages which we have received over the past few days. Special thanks goes to Mrs and Mrs Bamford who brought in a bag full of biscuits and Mr and Mrs Seago for their kind donation of chocolate.... the girls are very happy.

I will update the blog in the next few days...... Until then.

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.

It appears that the third chicks has died. I will confirm/deny this in a blog later today.

Many thanks for all of your comments and questions relating to this matter. I will address those in the same blog.

Regards

Loch Garten Osprey Team 2008

No matter how I write this blog I am going to be critisized by some of you....so it is best to just say it as it is....the situation for our youngest chick is not looking too good. Will it die on the nest? If today is anything to go by then the answer is undoubtedly yes, but before we all start allocating blame, the chick is still alive and we have to cling onto the hope that it will survive. If OVS starts to bring in large fish again and the weather improves we could return to the scenes of last Friday when the chicks were so stuffed that they were rejecting food and there was no "bullying" on the nest. We should not give up hope.

Today three reasonably sized fish have been delivered and the smallest chick has only had a couple of small pieces in total.....the last fish was split between the two oldest chicks whilst the little one sat next to EJ and called for food, she ignored it for a long period of time before offering the smallest of pieces. It may appear strange that a parent will not feed its offspring but this sort of thing is happening on hundreds of nests at this very moment, from goldcrests to white tailed eagles. The parents need to guarantee at least one successful fledgling and will feed the biggest and strongest one first for that very reason. I know it is hard to watch but nature is cruel and the strong will survive.

Many of you have asked about the whereabouts of OVS. Since Saturday (21st June) 17 fish have been delivered to the nest of which OVS has delivered 14. Where is he when he is not out fishing? If EJ is food soliciting it is either because OVS is in the vicinity having just come back with a fish and she is calling him in or he is in the vicinity and she wants him to go off for a fish..... regardless, if she is food soliciting then he is in the area. If she is not food soliciting then the chances are that he is away...Where? I'm sorry I can't answer that one.

The next few days should give us the answers to a lot of questions ...... 

I do hope that our little one will survive but we may have to prepare ourselves for bad news. Please let me be wrong.

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.

The whereabouts of OVS and the situation with the smallest chick being "bullied" will both be addressed, along with some other issues, in a blog this evening.

I understand it is hard to watch the webcam when the "beatings" are taking place.... at least you have the option to turn it off; we don't. It is difficult to sit 250m away from the nest and allow this to happen BUT, I will say it again... this is nature and what REALISTICALLY can we do about it....

Until tonight, let us hope that the weather improves and the amount of food being brought to the nest increases.

 

 

The rain has come to our aid and partially cleared the camera so you can all see for yourself what is happening on the nest, that makes my life easier as I was looking at daily blogs to keep you updated..... Anyway, what happened yesterday?

OVS delivered a fish in the morning and all three chicks had a little bit of food, their crops were still clearly full from Friday's feast. To be honest you didn't miss much during the morning, but as the afternoon approached things certainly hotted up..... it must have been tantalising for those watching, or should I say listening to, the webcams. You couldn't see the action but could quite clearly hear EJ alarm calling.... at one point a pair of osprey landed in the adjacent tree..... but EJ was strong and saw them off. Where was OVS at this point? We believe he was off looking for a fish.

Just like Friday EJ took the feeding duties into her own hands (is that an anthropomorphism?... I don't want to get into that debate) and disappeared, returning 40 minutes later with a fish. There was no bullying on the nest at all, the smallest chick assumed the submissive pose and waited until the eldest fed, and then went to get its fill..OVS arrived with another fish an hour or so later.

So, if you were to pick a day to have the camera blanked out then yesterday wasn't a bad one to pick..... not a great deal happened compared to what has happened in recent days.

And to bring you right up to date...............This morning, (Sunday 22nd), at 7.15 OVS delivered a fish to the nest and again the little one waited until it was time to feed.... at one point it was sitting side-by-side with the biggest chick being fed in peace...... does that constitute harmony? I hope so because that means Newcastle are going to win the Premiership next year. (For first time readers..... no I haven't gone mad... please refer to a previous blog "Tear up the textbooks.... Welcome to the world of EJ).

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.

 

I awoke early this morning and checked out the chicks........ well I tried to, unfortunately the camera is completely covered in osprey droppings..... although we have no control over the actions of our chicks please accept my apologies on their behalf.

What are we to do? Well a nice drop of rain would help, but failing that we may be stuck with what we have for a couple of weeks. If that means no cameras until we ring the chicks then sobeit. Please don't take this the wrong way, we do appreciate all the comments and support which we receive from our bloggers and viewers, but the stars of the show are our osprey chicks and their well being is paramount.... I am not prepared to prematurely disturb them just to clean the camera. In the meantime I will write a blog on a more frequent basis so at least you can read about the ospreys

Once again apologies if you are feeling unappreciated from this side, nothing could be further from the truth. If we can find an alternative solution we will act upon it. I hope you all understand.

PLEASE DO NOT RING THE CENTRE REGARDING THIS MATTER....... WE ARE VERY BUSY WITH VISITORS AND WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU ANY FURTHER ADVICE THAN WHAT YOU HAVE READ HERE.

 

 

I was getting myself prepared for writing a catch up blog at the weekend, but today's activities mean that I have to write one tonight. Our female, EJ, is determined to leave a lasting legacy of her time at Loch Garten....... On Tuesday, (17th June), she flew away from the nest on what we believed was an exercise flight only to return a couple of hours later with a fish, this is not the norm. She repeated this performance on Wednesday, again taking a couple of hours before returning with her prey. On both occasions the fish was immediately fed to the chicks.

This behaviour is unusual but not unheard of...... In the past we have known of female ospreys flying off to get fish, but that is usually because the male is no longer around or is not providing enough food, that is not the case on both counts for our male. At least OVS hung around at the nest on both occasions, close at hand, should he be required to protect the chicks against potential intruders.  On Thursday the weather wasn't great and EJ spent most of that day brooding the chicks and protecting them from the rain...... that brings us to today.

This morning started as we would expect, OVS brings in a large (16") pike for breakfast. The youngest chick used brain over brawn and placed EJ between itself and the eldest chick and therefore did not have to endure the "henpecking" which it usually gets at feeding time. The next fish arrived around noon, again delivered by OVS, and this time the pecking order was restored as the youngest chick was forced to the back of the queue and received little or no food at all, another fish was delivered at just after 2pm, again the pecking order was observed but this time the little one did get a small feed once the other two were satiated..... NOW, tear up your text books and welcome to the world of "EJ and the Loch Garten Ospreys"... not the new Harry Potter book...... this story is even more magical than that.

After the 2pm fish was consumed EJ immediately started to food solicit, OVS was perched on a low branch to the left of the tree taking no notice when a couple of intruding ospreys flew over, EJ mantled her wings and alarm called whilst OVS took off and chased these birds away, he continued his pursuit and wasn't seen again... obviously taking this opportunity to come back via the fish farm to keep EJ happy.  EJ settled down for a few minutes before going off for what we thought was an exercise flight..... NOPE, she was away for a few hours leaving both the chicks and the nest unguarded.... this is OK when the chicks are 6 or 7 weeks old, but not at this early stage.... unprecedented behaviour.

At 17.35 she returned to the nest with a massive rainbow trout, six minutes later OVS follows her in with an equally large brown trout, he hands it over to her and flies off.  We now have EJ on the nest with a fish in each talon trying to feed our already full chicks..... the little one just sat back until the other two had their fill before stepping forward and getting a full feed. All three chicks settled down after that with very evident full crops. But it doesn't end there...... another fish was brought in, by OVS, just before 7pm and this is where the magic lies, the youngest chick sat next to the eldest chick whilst EJ distributed the food between them, not one sign of "henpecking" was observed........I'm not saying that the bullying is over, but for that brief half hour on the nest harmony prevailed and it was a joy to watch. The seventh fish of the day was delivered late this evening, again by OVS, and most of it was left on the edge of the nest as the chicks could not eat anymore.

I have consulted several people about this recent behaviour, our Site Manager, Richard Thaxton, has been watching the Loch Garten ospreys since 1986 and has never seen this happen. For both parents to leave the chicks and the nest unguarded for such a long period of time, especially when the chicks are so young is, without doubt, unheard of......EJ certainly has left a lasting legacy.... and she still has many years left in her yet.

Will there still be harmony on the nest tomorrow?  Will Newcastle ever win the Premiership? I think the answer to these two questions is the same......... BUT... for that half hour on the nest this evening it was magical and that image will stay with me for a long time.

I want to take this opportunity to mention a few people..... David and Aprille have been following the blog since it started in March and decided to come all the way from Newcastle to see the birds for themselves.... that is Newcastle, New South Wales by the way. We also had a couple from Belgium who met 30 years ago at Loch Garten and this was their first return visit since, they assured me that they will not leave it so long next time. And finally I would like to thank the 15 people who have joined the RSPB via this blog.......It means a lot to my team.

Until next time........

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.

No...... you haven't accidentally found yourself on the Big Brother site, we are talking about our osprey chicks. I arrived back from my holiday yesterday to find a multitude of blog comments from people concerned about the bullying which chick 3 is receiving.... it is only right that I write a blog to address these concerns.

Sibling rivalries will always occur in nature, what we are seeing on the nest is not uncommon, in fact in 2004 we had bullying scenes probably worse than what we are witnessing this season. Our youngest chick that year, Yellow 28, had so many feathers plucked from his head that we christened him "Baldrick", yet he survived and successfully fledged and subsequently migrated.

It is a concern to watch these scenes in front of our eyes whilst feeling helpless and unable to assist the youngest chick, we feel the same way too, but when we look at the alternatives we realise that the best thing to do is to let nature take its course.

Early this morning (19th June) all three chicks fed well and there was no sign of any bullying at all, that is not to say that it has stopped but more to say that it isn't as constant as it has been in previous years.

I will publish a selection of the blog comments, but not all, so apologies if yours isn't published.  A blog will be posted at the weekend giving a round up of what has happened over the past week, including our female, EJ, going off to catch a fish for her chicks for the second time in two days...... forget the text book, Loch Garten is rewriting it.

If anything extraordinary happens before the weekend we will obviously post a blog, in the meantime do continue to send in your comments, they are very much appreciated and without the interest of our readers this job wouldn't be half as enjoyable.

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.

It is a new age in Osprey ecology!

EJ our female Osprey disappeared earlier this afternoon...we thought this absence was a well overdue rest from looking after three troublesome chicks 24/7.  She left OVS in charge; he dutifully perched on a tree nearby.  However the half and hour turned into and hour, an hour turned into one and a half hours.

Where was she?  Osprey staff were becoming slightly worried...was she perched out of sight or had she gone fishing?

All was answered when she returned to the nest at 3.15 pm with a whole, freshly caught 18" fish!

Well done EJ, although slightly unorthodox as the male is technically supposed to provide for all the chicks and the female.

Loch Garten does like to be different from other nests! 

Hello from the team here at Loch Garten!

Since our last posting, things have been running fairly smoothly on the nest. OVS is continuing to do us all proud, and yesterday delivered four fish for EJ and the chicks. As I write this at about 10.30 am he has already delivered one fish today and is sitting nearby with another!

All these fish mean a LOT of eating for the chicks and they really do seem to be growing and changing day upon day. You can really see the feathers coming through on the oldest chick, and even make out the buff tips that he or she will sport for 2-3 years! The youngest chick is still noticeably smaller, but given that he/she is 5 days younger than the oldest chick this is nothing to worry about.

On that note, I can hopefully allay the fears that some of you may have about bullying on the nest - we do sometimes see interactions between the chicks that look slightly vicious - please be assured that this is normal behaviour and that all of our chicks are looking healthy.

Since the dramatic events of Friday we have seen intruders every day near the nest. On Saturday what we can only assume is the same gang of three ospreys put in another appearance, whilst on Sunday and Monday we had a number of individual ospreys fly over the nest.

Already this morning we have had an unidentified osprey fly over causing EJ to make her usual alarm call and also mantle her wings. The chicks seem rather unaware that when mum alarm calls they should play dead and sometimes continue to roam around the nest! Our hero, OVS, has continued to play his part in defending the nest, at least when he's not away fishing!

Now on a less serious note, yes - that is poop on the webcam!! This is one of the hazards of having three chicks that can projectile- poo in all directions! Luckily, it's not right in the middle of the camera.

There is nothing we can do about this right now, but please be assured that clear vision will soon be restored, we will clean it when we go to the nest in a few weeks time to attach leg rings and satellite-tracking tags, to the young ospreys. To clean it will mean having to turn off the camera for a short time. We apologise in advance for the interrupted viewing that this will cause.

I would just like to end this blog by saying a big HELLO to Doris and her colleagues at Aberdeen Press & Journal, I hope the 'Granite City' is sparkling despite the dull weather! Doris has been an avid visitor to the centre this week and it is always a boost to meet such enthusiastic and interested people.

Until next time...

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.

Greetings once again from the team here at Loch Garten!

As I write this blog OVS is sitting on a branch behind the nest having a well deserved rest and preen. He has delivered 2 fish so far today. This may not seem much, but considering the cold and windy weather conditions we are experiencing today, fishing is not so easy and we think he has doing a grand job. As do our three chicks (now 20 days, 18 days and 15 days old). They are currently sleeping off their last two fish suppers and their crops are so stuffed full of fish that they look like they have each swallowed a tennis ball!! As you can see from the web cam, they are growing by the second and amazingly, they will be fully grown ospreys in 2-3 weeks time!

However, I have a hero to tell you about.Yesterday we had several unwelcome visits from a group of 3 intruding ospreys. They flew over our nest 3 times in total, once at 10am, again at 10.30am and then a third visit at 3pm.

EJ  first alerted us to this roaming gang of ospreys when we heard her alarm calling and looking aggitated on the nest. Looking in to the sky we could see three unknown ospreys overhead. One was quite aggressive, diving bombing the nest and at one point landing on the nest. All this activity could have potentially have been disasterous if EJ was left to defend the nest and three chicks on her own. But no fear! My new hero, OVS also spotted the 3 intruders and promtly gave chase. However the intruding birds did not give up too easily and at one point OVS was seen locking talons with one of the other ospreys. Very dramatic, but eventually they decided to quickly fly away.Hurrah!

But this was not the last we were to see of this group of birds. Just half an hour later they were back. Luckily for EJ, OVS had just returned with a fish (good boy!) and was able to make short work of these determined intruders. Things went back to normal and we did not see any more of the 3 ospreys. That was until 3pm that afternoon. These birds did not seem to take the hint that they were unwelcome, and once again OVS stepped up to the challenge and gave chase, flying over the centre and sending the birds packing once and for all!

What a day! It was great to see OVS defending the nest so well, and very encouraging for us after all our initial doubts about his abilities. And to top it all off, not only did he protect EJ and our three little ones, he also some how managed to find time to bring in 5 fish. What a hero!

All is well on the Osprey nest here at Loch Garten. Our male, Orange VS is on top form at the moment and managed to prove his worth yesterday by bringing in six super large fish! This was even more impressive because it was such a windy day; so fishing conditions were not ideal.

EJ and the three chicks are doing extremely well and are being well fed! We have also had a bit of excitement at the Osprey Centre already today, with OVS bringing in a 12" fish for EJ and the chicks at 9 am, but we have also had two different intruding ospreys flying above the nest. OVS set chase and successfully sent the intruding ospreys on their way!

For those of you watching the live webcam this morning, you would have seen EJ alarm calling telling the chicks to 'keep their heads down' but as typical youngsters, they ignored her!

Now, back to our little reptiles!

The chicks are all doing extremely well, they are 17, 15 and 12 days old respectively. They all vary in size so it is easy to determine which is which, but are all at different points of their 'reptilian stage'. This is the stage between the chicks loosing their cute, fluffy, downy look, and gaining their more mature feathers and looking not-so-cute!

Chick 1 is nearly out of the reptilian stage.  It has developed red eyes, which should appear orange as it grows larger.  Feather quill tips are becoming more apparent every day, so its not looking as dinosaur-like as it was a few days ago.  Chick 2 is in the middle of the reptilian stage. Chick 3 is just entering the reptilian stage; it is losing its downy feathers and turning darker. 

All the chicks are growing rapidly which is noticeable every day, and poor old EJ is now finding it hard to fit all the chicks underneath her to brood them! That is about it for now, but another blog will be published in a few days time, to keep you all up to date with the events at Loch Garten.

Just a quick hello to Miss Philip who visited the Osprey centre earlier this week and to all her pupils in P3 at West End School Elgin, who are avid followers of the webcam and blog. Thank you for your support.

Thank you for all your comments regarding the ospreys and our blog.  If you have any questions, please send them directly to: - david.gascoigne@rspb.org.uk titled 'Osprey Blog Question' and we will answer them personally as quickly as possible.

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.

This is a very quick blog post just to answer some earlier questions.  We do not know the sex of any of the chicks at this stage and will not be able to ascertain whether they are male or female until we ring them at approximately 5 weeks old.  At 5 weeks, we would expect the females to be slightly heavier than the males, a difference that will remain throughout their lives.  It was a accident on my part, when I referred to chick 1 as a male, a slip of the keyboard, and for this I apologise.  We will all just have to wait a few more weeks.

Also in answer to another concerned comment.  We cannot verify whether it was a mouse that was on the nest at 2.45pm on Friday.  If it had been a mouse, which is always a possibility, there is no need for concern as EJ rarely leaves the nest for any length of time.  We have seen mites occassionally crawl accross the nest camera lens.  The osprey regularly have mites in their feathers, this is why they enjoy having a good preen.  Hopefully this answers these two questions. 

VS has delivered three fish already this morning!  We await the next fish.

As I write this blog, EJ and the chicks are enjoying the sunshine, after some early morning refreshing rain.  They all look fairly content, and quite rightly so, as they have already had their first fish of the day.  At 6.37, Orange VS delivered a 16" Brown Trout, head included, which EJ quickly started dishing out to the three chicks.  Those of you who were slightly concerned about VS fishing capabilities, will be delighted to hear that this early morning delivery is not just a one off!  Over the past two days, we have been delighted to see VS deliver five fish each day!  Although it does not make for exciting prose, I will tell you the time of each fish, as we here at the centre are all very excited and proud of VS!  On Thursday the first fish a 16" Rainbow Trout with its head still on was delivered at 5.57, an 18" Rainbow Trout followed at 8.34, a 17" Brown Trout with its head still firmly attached came in at 12.05, another Rainbow Trout 10" at 16.10, and finally a fish supper of an 18" unidentified fish at 19.50!  Yay, what a great day, and he did not disappoint us yesterday either!  The first fish a 14" Rainbow Trout arrived at 4.50, he delivered a small fish at 9.32, another at 13.53, a 16" Rainbow Trout at 17.23, and finished the day with a 12" fish at 19.43!  What a star, and on those timings the next fish should be due any minute!

The chicks are thriving with all this fish, which is essential as they have alot of growing to do over the next few weeks!  They are now 14, 12 and 9 days old respectively, and just those few days put them at very different stages of development.  Chick 1 is very much in its reptilian stage (this is the official term for the look that he is currently sporting!),  it has lost its light brown down, which has been replaced with darker brown down, and it really does have the look of a reptile at the moment with its orange eyes clearly visible, but rest assured it will be transformed once again into a beautiful osprey in the next 10-15 days!  Chick 2 is at the difficult transition stage between cute and fluffly to reptilian and gangly, whilst chick number 3 remains in the cute and fluffy stage for the moment!  It is amazing to watch them grow and change so quickly out there on the nest!

I would feel rude not to mention EJ in my blog at all!  She is doing well, and as the chicks are growing well and the weather is good, she has been able to not only enjoy more exercise flights, but also nip over to the camera tree and have a good preen, which is essential when you are being broadcast 24 hours a day on the webcam!  We have been contacted by several people concerned that EJ is not feeding the third chick, but you will be pleased to hear that while chick1 and 2 often get the first morsels of fish, 3 is definately getting its fair share too!

 Those of you who have been following the progress of our Goldeneye, will be delighted to hear that yesterday we caught a glimpse of a Goldeneye on the loch, with six ducklings in tow!

And finally a mention for St Denys Church of England Infant School in Leicestershire, Ms Hines contacted the centre this week, and told us that the children have all been following the events at here with interest and excitement,  via the webcam and the blog, so a big hello and thank you from us all here at Loch Garten Osprey Centre.

We await the next fish.....  

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.