Blogs

Just more & more exciting and amazing, Alice.  So many thanks from us all, who are still gripped by this drama.

Thank you for that eagerly awaited update, Alice! Wow. 5km! If they only knew how close they had come to one another - fortunately we do!

Thanks, Alice ... what an amazing saga this is turning out to be ... can't wait for Monday's episode of the drama! Have a good weekend everyone.

Thank you Alice and I hope you have a great weekend. How amazing is that? To come within 5 kms of each other after flying thousands of miles is truly remarkable. There is every chance that EJ and Garten are around in the same area.

thanks for the update Alice, wow 5km from each other you have a nice weekend

Wow!  Just couldn't stop myself shrieking out.  That really is amazing - when you think of the journeys that both have undertaken prior to that.  It's worthy of a film plot!!  Thanks Alice - you must have got excited too! x

Thanks so much Alice. We are learning so much from these girls:)

Thank you very much for the update Alice.  It's great that Rothes and Mallachie are so close to each other.  It would be nice to think that Garten is also somewhere nearby.  Have a great weekend Alice.

I will never cease to be amazed and in awe about what we are learning.

Can't wait to see the map later when it updates....I am away for a while so will catch up on Wednesday night.....a lot could happen in that time,or, nothing much........take care Alice and thanks for the update........much appreciated.

Don't forget to watch Autumnwatch tonight folks :)

Wonderful, wonderful. So exciting!  Thanks.

Read the 'updates' every day, thought it was about time I added my thanks to Alice, so...Thank You Alice, you really are appreciated!!

Alice - you deserve your weekend to recover from the excitement - have a good one - we look forward to Monday!

Still chuckling away in my head - 5 Km - wow.  just the kind of learning we hoped for from our tagged "chicks".

Thank you Alice. So near and yet so far if only  they knew where each other were!!! Have a great weekend!!

Thanks Alice - how strange that they came so close!

Wow!  Thanks so much for the update, Alice.  This sort of news speaks volumes for all chicks from the same beood being tagged, doesn't it? Since they are coming so close together sometimes, surely during their 2-3 years in their chosen region they will meet up?  I've marked a tentative point for Mallachie on GE, pending the update.  From what you have told us, it looks as though it was a deliberate and purposeful move inland, as though she knew where she was going.  Perhaps she actually DID meet up with Garten, who took her back to HER chosen spot?  Those two were very close at the nest after Rothes left.  Nice thought, anyway.

Hi Alice, thanks for update. It does look pretty exciting doesn't it - maybe they are going to meet up!!  Hope the weather up there at the weekend is not too horrendous - the weather forecast for Scotland was pretty grim for tonight and tomorrow!!

Thanks Alice. These birds continue keeping us on the edge of our seats!

Oh thank you Alice, that is just amazing!

Wow amazing!! If they came a little closer to each other their eyesight is so acute they may have seen each other . They took  different routes to their destination, but came to the same area. It is possible  that EJ, Odin or  Garten are also in the area. I  dearly hope EJ saw Rothes to know she is fine. I remember the day  that Rothes left and EJ sat all night alone on the the nest with the remains of a fish for Rothes. She looked so lonely sitting there waiting.

Oh Barbara Jean. I forgot that about EJ.  Does anyone think Odin is in the same general area, or do the boys go somewhere else?

I kept the following from last summers blog in my "osprey diary".  Now seems a good time to remember.  I trust Cirrus won't mind my resurrecting her thoughts.  If so, I apologize.  Even now, at the end of their journey, this still brings tears to my eyes.  AJS

[On this particular evening EJ sat erect on an empty nest through the gathering  gloaming , until eventually her body  was visible only as a white blur  that  weakened  as the darkness deepened.  Across the various time zones of ospreyland  faithful fans watched as she waited  --  for what?    Earlier  that day she fed Garten, then Mallachie from the same gigantic fish, what many  thought was her method of saying goodbye to them. Now as she sat with remains of the same fish, many thought she was waiting to say a final goodbye  to Rothes, who unbeknownst to us had already started her migration south.  The fans watched until morning light revealed that sometime during the night EJ had left the nest. AJS]

By Cirrus

Posted on Tuesday, 11 August 2009 at 22:40

Written looking at EJ on the nest in the darkness with an unfinished fish in her talon

                                                   Farewell to EJ

White glistened the head feathers in the star light

Far seeing eyes scanned the sky

Something she was seeking lay beyond her eye sight

A gift of fish was her sigh

Patiently she waited for the night to pass

Hoping for a glimpse at dawn

One proud look at a daughter we named Rothes

Before she flew abroad

........this is so emotional at the moment, waiting for them all to go.

One part of you wants them to stay a bit longer........then you realize, that it is the best thing for them to go and go when it is the right time for them.

I pray that the weather will be good to them too, not too windy to drive them off course.

It must be amazing when they do finally make that move.......suddenly they know it is the time and they fly up and up and up until they reach a great height with all the land below like a huge map...then some instinct must kick in and off they go, in the direction that they feel is right.

How amazing is that.... to experience the land below and the sky above you and to soar as only a bird can!!

Yes it is right for them to go... they were made to soar through the heights and fish where they will......... beautiful birds that they are...... and as I write this I can hardly read the keys for my tears. so had better finish.

God speed, our amazing osprey family, as you leave one by one, on your way to Africa or wherever you go joining Rothes, although apart, on your awesome journey.

Just back from my short holiday and trying to catch up now.  So enjoyed my visit to Denbury Farm, feeding the horses, emus, chickens, a pet turkey called Dennis and Thornton the sheep that thinks it is a dog. Unfortunately couldn't get into my laptop while I was away so I was worried all week.  No need though as marvellous Mallachie is doing fine as is Rothes.  A belated thanks to Alice for the updates which I have just read and hopefully you are having a good weekend.

June Spradin read your post and poem from earlier this year and it did bring tears to my eyes.  I so hope EJ and Odin are OK though and of course Garten although I am sure she is a survivor bless her.  Off now to catch up with all the chat.

Wow!! Is this exciting or what.  Maybe Rothes thought 'here's the kid, think I'll disappear for a while'. Just can't wait for more data updates.

Alice - thank you for your wonderful report.

June Spradin/Cirrus - all the happy/sad emotions came flooding back when I re-read that piece.  Thank you for reminding me of it.  Little did we know then that they would come so close to each other and in Osprey mileage, 5km is nothing - they may even have been 'aware' of each other.

Of course the 5km mentioned is the closest point that we know of. With hourly updates it is entirely feasible that they came even closer than that between signals. Looking on GE it is amazing the way Mallachie "homed in" so directly on Rothes' position before swinging away to the East, as if she just visited to say hello!

I can hear Mallachie:  "Oh-oh, there's that big sis bully! I don't need any more of that. I'm doing just fine on my own, thank you!" and off she goes in another direction.       So much we are learning from the tags and presumibly the experts are learning even more.   But still so much more we want to know.  Why and how have they come so close together? remember they are not far from Nethy's last known position.  Is this a family thing (similarly programed genes) or just an ospry thing?  Did they arrive at these particular spots by choice or coincidence? What characteristics of sight, hearing, flying ability and maybe some sense we are not yet aware of enabled them  to make the journey? What judgement, choice,  do they have as to when to leave & move forward, which  air current to catch, which direction to take, etc.  Is there any familial recognition or feeling for each other?   And of course the big question  -- are Odin, EJ and Gartin nearby?

Alice, thousand thanks for all your updates, so appreciated!

Wow... I must have missed that poem of Cirrus earlier, how beautiful! It sure bring back those feelings this  summer held, easy to forget the "roller coaster" that was.

Thankyou, Alice, for all the updates this last week.  I have just returned from my holiday in Wales  and was so impatient to catch up on the news.  I was not disappointed - how wonderful that Rothes and Mallachie came so close!  Like others, I wonder if it really is 'in the genes' to take a particular route, or just coincidence?  We may never know- but that's ok, a little mystery is good!

As for Wales-  I can't get enough of the red kites, they are awesome.  We had great afternoons at two feeding stations with around 200 kites present at each - wonderful!

Wee Jeannie, how right you are.  Yes, a little mystery is good.   And their African stay is just beginning.  How much contact will the future bring - by chance or intent?

I dont post so much these days.........but I still follow with a keen interest.  

Incredible that two birds from the same nest leave the North of Scotland on separate days and end up so close to each other so many thousands of miles away.

Fantastic.

It looks as though Rothiemurchus has decided to keep Morven company in her lonely and harsh looking spot on the coast of Mauritania, at least for a while.  He certainly zeroed in on that spot with precision.  I don't know if there is a 'family' link between him and Morven.  It will be interesting to see if Rothiemurchus stays with her or moves furter down the coast to the area where 'our' girls are.

June Spradlin it was lovely to read what Cirrus wrote.

The part that said......One part of you wants them to stay a bit longer until the end of the piece you copied on here.... was in fact written by me and not Cirrus :)

I just checked and it was posted by me on 12th August at 09.40 am

Lorraine, I am so sorry about my errors.  Many of the entries I particularly liked or related to I copied onto one document for my own use & enjoyment later. (like now &  this winter when the nest is empty & news is scarce). For the most part I just kept the words with no date and no author.  BIG MISTAKE , I see now.  In my notes your entry & Cirrus's poen run together & so I thought the same person had written both.  Thanks for correcting me.  I truly apologize and ask your forgiveness.   As you can see I very much liked & agreed with your thoughts.

Annette in SoCal, you answered a question, asked by Kittenface, stating that Rothes would "probably stay for the next three years" in her West African wintering grounds.  Roy Dennis, Rob Bierregaard and Allan Poole all say ospreys return from their first migration as two year olds.  I'm curios.  I'll check a few more sources, where did you get your information?  Interesting.

Jazzel26 : Usually juveniles are 2 years old when they return but it has been recorded that some return in their first year. The Rutland Water site has some really good info on this.

www.ospreys.org.uk/individuals.html

I bought a very informative DVD from Rutland water all about ospreys well worth watching gives you a lot of information

Jazze126: I probably got it from all the wrong sources (my faulty memory for one!). Alan has posted a link that I'm sure gives more reliable info than me.

It would be better if the plotted positions for R & M were shown on GE as they are for the Finnish osprey Jukka. Then we would know exactly where they were at the exact time of the plot. Maybe there are technical reasons why this cant be done.

Cirrus my apologies I was in such a hurry to catch up with things after nearly a week away that I got it wrong about the poem.

Allen, thank you for your response.  I am very familiar with The Rutland Osprey Project, and I agree the site is a great source for information.  I'm also aware that Roy Dennis has recorded two, one year old ospreys returning from migration.  Typically ospreys return from their first migration as two year olds, after 1 1/2 years on their wintering grounds.  In nature there are always exceptions.  If an osprey were to spend an extra year on the wintering grounds ( 2 1/2 years ), it would return as a three year old.  I don't think it's possible for a three year stay, it would have to be 3 1/2 years, returning as a four year old.

Annette in SoCal, you may be confusing first breeding with time on the wintering grounds.  Ospreys are ready to breed as three year olds, but usually don't until four years or older ( Roy Dennis has recorded one female breeding at two years old).  Thanks for replying.  

Hoping all the osprey have a safe migration and return.

NEW BLOG