EJ the resident female osprey at Loch Garten retrurned today, for her 8th season. But I guess you all know that already!
It's confession time, as I suspect we were the last to find out, it would seem the world knew before we did. You'll mock us for this, we know, but we were eating cake at the time! Well not entirely true. We were all in our pre-season staff meeting, discussing the season ahead, Osprey Centre procedures and practices, staff team working arrangements etc etc. So we missed EJ's arrival. Ooops! Shameful some will say, but hey, we knew you'd all be watching and would let us know if anything happened, and you did. I came out of the meeting went back to my desk, took an answermachine message from Carole F-W and an e-mail from Pru, both to say EJ had returned. Thanks both. We then hot-footed it down to the Centre, and lo, there she was sat in the dead tree adjacent to the nest, scoffing a freshly caught fish. The relief amongst the team was palpable and the glee on our faces, a picture. Mobile phones were going off, texts coming in, as this great news spread amongst our avid viewership. EJ looks to be in good shape, though the light was fading by now, we'll take a closer look tomorrow.
So strap yourselves in folks, as here we go, another Loch Garten osprey season in prospect and a rollercoaster of emotion all over again. All we need now is Odin. The weather forecast for the weekend is not brilliant and yet more snow is forecast for next week, so how soon will we see other ospreys at our nest. More anon.
Meantime, whilst EJ's arrival is of course fantastic news and, like us, you'll all be very excited, but as previously mentioned, if you're minded to visit us at some point, please be patient. The Osprey Centre will open for visitors on Thursday 1st April, not before. These early days after the bird's arrive are vital, to give them every chance to settle. If we get Odin back, then he will have seen it all before, and like EJ, will be more readily accepting of the site, but if we get a new male, he will have to get used to things - the nest site, the camera, the Centre building etc, and could so be easily be spooked. Please help us with this by resisting the temptation to visit before 1st April. Thank you.
It was remiss of us, we know, not to be there when EJ arrived, but it was an important meeting for us to have, and the cake was particularly good. And given that none of your cakes have arrived yet........
Richard Thaxton.
Once again I'm late getting the data in - though this week it was because the satellite wouldn't let me connect to it to download the data. Don't know what was wrong because it worked today, so sorry for keeping you all waiting. Rothes hasn't left Ilha de Unhocomozinho. She's moving about, in the same area of the island. But that's all I can say about her.
Things are slightly more exciting here at Abernethy (not that knowing Rothes is still alive and well isn't a good thing, but I have to say the anticipation of 'our' ospreys coming back to Loch Garten is more exciting right now). With reports coming in of ospreys seen on their way back it's only a matter of time... The new team at LG are busy with all the preparation for the new season (with one eye to the sky no doubt!).
There are a million and one things to do before the end of March, goldeneye nestboxes need preparing for the coming season, signage that gets taken down over the winter found and put back up.... The list seems never ending!
Stewart, our longest serving member of staff (34 years) is retiring at the end of March. He was the first permanant warden at Loch Garten from the 70s when rspb first bought land there (though obviously rspb had a presence there from the 50s, though back then the wardens were seasonal and migrated with the ospreys). He's seen the reserve grow from just a relatively small area to the massive site it is now. We'd all like to wish him well, and I'm sure the time he no longer has to spend in the office will be enjoyably spent in the forest and wider reserve finding more species new to the reserve.
More next week - though all being well, the new osprey team will be taking to the helm to bring you all the up to the minute (so to speak) happenings from the nest.
Rothes has had another uneventful week on Ilha de Unhocomozinho. She's staying in a pretty localised area, hanging round the west coast of the island. She seems to have a few favourite perches - at least as regards the numbers I get through from the satellite. That's about all I can say about her...
...Here at Abernethy it's gone manic. With the snow really shifting, we've been trying to get out and do all the things we haven't been able to do for months, with a deadline for getting them done fast approaching. Tracks are only just becoming driveable - but now we can we need them cleared...
The Osprey Centre is on its countdown to the new season. The new team arrived at the weekend, I'm sure before long they'll be blogging about all things Osprey. We've been installing the cameras (apparently the really good view of crossbills - one sat in the Osprey nest while Ross was still up the ladder a metre away from it) is quite normal for the day the nest cameras go up, but it was the best view I've ever had and I was standing on the ground. Richard's been doing all the millions of things that need doing before the start of the season as well as dealing with the powerline installation.
And to top it all the water's stopped working again. Hopefully that'll be back tomorrow...
Finally today is Douglas's last blog contribution - but he's had to go to get some emergency drinking water, so I'll put that up tomorrow when he's had time to write it...
That's it for now.
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As promised here's Douglas' last blog... Enjoy.
GOODBYE, SO LONG, FAREWELL
So, this is it, my farewell post. I am worried about mentioning the weather as one day after my last ‘blog’ the snow came down again! Surely, we are past the worst now.
I have been busy updating my c.v. as well as applying for jobs when they have appeared on the various web sites I have been searching; with all my newly acquired skills I have now been for several interviews and……I’ve landed a six month contract with the RSPB doing habitat enhancement work for the Slavonian grebes, I am very happy as it keeps me in this wonderful part of the world for a wee while longer.
Over the last few weeks, I have been watching a Pine marten from my kitchen window; these animals have been on my ‘want to see’ list for a long time and I have enjoyed their company on three separate occasions now. I think the severe weather had maybe forced it closer to the buildings to forage for food.
The forest is looking green again and the birds are in full song on a daily basis, I think it has been a long enough winter for everyone. The college where I gained my conservation qualification had a visit to the reserve today; it was good to see a new group of budding conservationists enjoying this place too.
So, to my thank you’s, first and foremost to all the team at Abernethy/Loch Garten for making my time here so enjoyable, to the RSPB for giving me this opportunity, to my college lecturer for his encouragement and of course, to all you people out there who care about our environment too, keep up the good work.
I don’t think my next post will involve a ‘blog’ but I have enjoyed doing these ones. I am now looking forward to building a successful career with the RSPB.
Best wishes to everyone
Douglas
.......before you plan to visit us, for the next few days!
Winter has returned with avengeance. The webcam picture of the Loch Garten osprey nest says it all. A full 2ft (I'm an imperial sort of a guy), that's 60cm in new money, fell last night and still it is piling down. Roads are blocked again, buses and trains are off, there are power outages everywhere - but ironically, because we still have a generator, we are fine! (Progress with installing the mains supply has now ground to a halt, again!). The car parks are blocked with deep snow and we are not likely any time immediately, to get them clear, with other priorities to focus on, like trying to keep roads open, removing the latest fallen branches and limbs from the roads and just trying to keep everything together etc. Basically, it is weather-caused chaos here, again. Radio Scotland this morning singled-out Badenoch & Strathspey as likely to get the most of the further snow that is forecast widely. Bah!
Tomorrow, 1st April (Thursday) is when we plan to open, and we will try too, but the weather has hampered our last minute preparations, so if you do brave the elements, and get here by dog-team, you'll just have to take us as you find us. If these conditions persist, you will though struggle to get to us, so my advice is to postpone your visit. Many of you I know were planning to come and see us on our first day, which would have been great, and of course you are welcome, but please think twice before you set off. Not just my advice, but it chimes with Police advice too.
And besides, we haven't now seen EJ since 2pm yesterday (Tuesday). As you can see on the webcam, her nest is consumed by deep snow. Is she under there somewhere perhaps?! No, my guess is that she will have cleared off to somewhere more sheltered. By doing so, and leaving her nest unoccupied, she runs the risk of another insurgent osprey taking over, but in this weather? I think that's unlikely. I reckon EJ has made a calculated decision to go off to shelter, and take care of herself and leave her nest for now, knowing that her age, experience and dominace at Loch Garten will enable her to oust any chancer that happens to move in. I suspect she might be hanging around a good fishing site somewhere, close to food, but will not bother to bring fish back to her nest to eat it, but eat it on site where she catches it.
Similarly, Caper-watch starts tomorrow, but frankly I'd forget it, in these conditions. We haven't been seeing birds yet, and are unlikely to whilst we have all this snow. We start on 1st April because we have to start at somepoint, but it is early for there to be much , if any activity, even in the best of conditions, but when it is like this, no chance. Also, at this rate, Caper-staff might not make it through to work anyway. Give it a day or two, I'd suggest.
We'll keep you posted on developments. Meantime, now where's the snow-shovel.......
Rothes has stuck on Ilha de Unhocomozinho for another week. She's flitting about, but hasn't yet found the need to travel further afield.
Here at Abernethy we've had more snow - about 2 feet more snow. The week started freezing with temperatures of -17 C, then warmed up on Wednesday night and snowed continuously into Friday. Last night it was only -8 C but it's going to get colder. It's great during the day - the sun really has some warmth in it. This is prompting some birds to sing. I woke this morning to the sound of a Starling imitating a buzzard and then a curlew. Richard has received a couple of e-mails of possible osprey sightings - which is very, very early, but not entirely impossible, though there can be an excited tendancy to have an osprey search-image in one's mind, when you're so desperate to see one, as a sign heralding the advent of Spring, that in the excitement, oh so easily a buzzard or other similar sized bird can be misidentified. Here in Starthspey, large gulls, like Greater Black-backed - like ospreys, dark on top, pale underneath, seen flying along the river, at a time when you dearly want to see an osprey , can be mistaken for one. I've been caught like that myself. Given the weather both here and further south, it would make sense, I'd say for ospreys to delay moving north for a while yet. More snow and low temperatures are forecast for us here in coming days, and weeks!
The weather is confounding our efforts to get the mains power trenching underway. The trenching line in places will run close to an exisiting buried telephone line, plus with the need to be sensitive anyway, we need to be able to see quite where we're digging, so we desperately need a significant thaw, and quickly, if we are to complete on time for the season's start on 1st April. It's all getting a bit tense. More anon.