As promised, a more detailed update on last week's data on Rothes and Mallachie. Apologies for the unintentional concern I caused on Monday by not mentioning Mallachie - I'll remedy that now. Mallachie is still in The Gambia, in the same area near Sotokoi. She's moving about but isn't get caught doing anything drastically exciting - like going anywhere new, but the area she's in is good enough for her...
Rothes meanwhile had a quiet week near Varela until after 9am on 27th (Friday) when she headed S, reaching I. de Unhacomo soon after 5pm, where I'm assuming she roosted as that's the island she was near on Saturday morning at 9am. On Saturday 28th she headed SW over to Ilha de Orango - the last point of the week. I'll update everything again on Monday. - Alice
Read on for a short exciting bit from Richard:
A man from Gambia phoned our Edinburgh office last week to say that he had seen an osprey. He left his number so I have just phoned him back. About 8 days ago, he saw a bird with a leg ring, with letters LY. Now, as you'll know, one of last year's tagged birds, Nethy was ringed AY, so you can imagine our hearts leaping at the thought that .....just maybe..... he might have read the ring incorrectly. However, the man is completely confident that the ringed bird he saw was definitely LY , bah! Though he was less sure about the ring colour. I've been in touch with Roy Dennis to see if we can identify his bird, and I'll then let the man in Gambia know. He's a very interested birdwatcher of 23 years standing. It was good of him to take the time & trouble to contact us. He saw the bird near Sanyang, Gambia.
There was a beautiful, elegant drake Pinatil on Loch Garten on 30th November, only the fourth reserve record. - Richard
Regular viewers of the osprey web-cam, the red squirrel feeder-cam and followers of the blog, will recall those, all too often occasions, during the past summer and indeed in previous summers when there were interruptions to your viewing. Add to that, that annoying humming noise on the osprey nest microphone and the, at times, less than perfect picture quality etc. All these problems and vulnerabilities have one source – the generator that powers all that we do at the Loch Garten Osprey Centre, powering the lighting, all our camera systems, the TV monitors, web-cam links, nest microphones and our retail operation equipment - all are powered by a generator.
We have been inspiring people about ospreys at Loch Garten for 50 years now, for the first 30 years without power at all, for the next ten years with power from a petrol generator and for the last ten years, from a gas powered generator - at least latterly from a cleaner and greener option. However, as long as we operate with a generator, not only do we remain vulnerable to its failure, but it limits what improvements we can make to the current visitor experience and what future developments can be made. The generator is barely able to cope with and keep up with the changes in technology, for example the demand for faster, better web connections.
To have a mains power supply has been an aspiration of ours for many years - actually more a personal crusade of mine for nigh-on 20 years! It would solve so many of our problems and shortcomings, not least of all security and reliability of supply, but also improve no-end, what we currently do, and create so much more future potential for the Osprey Centre.
The benefits are multiple.
· Reliability - generators are prone to mechanical breakdown, and boy, have we had our share of these, or what? For example during the 2007 season, our gas generator died in the first week of our season. We got it back from a very expensive repair in the last week of our season. The stop gap was an on-hire diesel generator, needing filling with fuel every day and all the faff that that involved – jerry cans, spillages etc etc.
· The visitor experience - without the noise, smell and throb of a generator, the ambiance and thus the visitor experience would be greatly improved. I am sure the wildlife would approve too!
· Technological advances - with almost year-on-year additions to our technology, be it new cameras, web-cam links, the EPOS cash register system in the shop etc, we are getting to the limit of capacity. New technologies like high-definition cameras have come on stream and we would like to move with the times and up-grade our equipment, but to do so ahead of having a mains power supply would be silly.
· Enable RSPB to source and buy “green” energy from renewable sources.
Therefore, we are hoping to install mains power next year. However, it will be very expensive, to the tune of £109,000. Yes indeed, ouch! The reason for the expense is the Osprey Centre's remote location. The nearest transformer from which to take power is 2.3km away and the cable has to be trenched underground all that way. RSPB does have some funds to put towards this project and we are of course exploring all formal grant-aiding channels, but even if applications to these succeed, we are still facing a significant shortfall.
Therefore, we are asking for your help, again. Many of you, I know, very kindly helped towards costs of the osprey satellite-tracking project (thank you, again), but we hope that you may be able to help us with this too. It would be great if the blog readership could raise £7,000 towards the mains power project by February 2010, the date by which time we will know whether the full funding package is in place and that we can proceed.
If you can contribute to this project at all, please click on the following link:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/lgpowerdonate
We will keep you informed as to how this fund-raising effort progresses, but I am though obliged to say that if we either raise more than the sum required, or if we do not raise sufficient money for the project to proceed, then the money will go towards wider work here at Abernethy.
I know we are currently in belt-tightening times and in the run up to the expense that is Christmas, but if you did feel able to help towards this project, it would be very much appreciated, not just by us, but by all those who have a connection with Loch Garten, past, present and future, both actual and virtual visitors. Please help if you can. Many thanks.
We are off to a good start. I recently received a cheque for £200 on behalf of the Loch Garten Bloggers from sales of some LGB merchandise. I thought that this should kick-off this appeal. So thanks to all, who contributed to that fine start.
(The map, of Rothes & Mallachie's whereabouts will be up-dated on Monday 30th, but the blog not until later next week).
Richard Thaxton Site Manager-Loch Garten