A date with nature

Three become two

2013-05-18T10:00:00Z

We only told you about their arrival on Wednesday, but there's some sad news from Cardiff I'm afraid. It seems that the last week of torrential ran and colder temperatures has taken its toll on the peregrine chicks and one of them hasn't made it. Luckily the two remaining chicks are looking very healthy and very big, so will hopefully be ok. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for some warmer and drier weather for these little guys!

The latest from Lincoln

2013-05-17T16:22:55Z

Getting the nest cam up for the Lincoln peregrines has been far from straight forward as we told you last week, but I'm pleased to announce that the nest cam is now live! You can now keep up with all the action from the nest even if you're not there. And even better - we can now confirm that there's three chicks in the nest. Good news all round for a Friday afternoon.

All paired up at Aberfoyle

2013-05-16T15:00:00Z

A couple of week's ago, we brought you an update from the Aberfoyle ospreys where a new male osprey had taken up residence in nest 2. The team were hopeful that he would find himself a mate in time to rear chicks this season and it seems their dreams have come true - the lone male was joined by a female on Saturday. However, the road to romance hasn't been that straightforward. Our woman on the ground, Lucy, tells us more:

"What's interesting is that the male chose to ignore the female at first. She stood on the nest and called at him for ages. He just kept his back turned to her, as if to say "I'm not interested!" It's possible he was waiting for another female that he'd paired up with in the past. Luckily later on in the day the pair were spotted mating so hopefully they've sorted out their differences."

The lone male playing hard to get!

The original pair of ospreys are doing well and are on track for chicks arriving in early June.

The team have just linked up to a camera watching a peregrine nest too. So far there's three chicks, but one egg remains unhatched and as the chicks are now a few days old, it's likely to stay that way.

Chicks a-plenty!

2013-05-15T15:00:00Z

There's been a bit of a baby boom for our Dates with Nature this week.

The three Manchester peregrine chicks were the first to arrive, with the first two chicks making their appearance on 4 May and the third on 6 May. We can't confirm whether the fourth egg has hatched or not, and many people are wondering if it'll hatch at all.

This year's new arrival at Manchester courtesy of the nest cam.

The Cardiff peregrines have welcomed some new arrivals too - another hat trick with three happy, healthy looking chicks.

9 May saw the debut appearance of two goshawk chicks down in the New Forest. Our man on the ground, Jeremy, has been watching the nest cam, keeping his eyes peeled for the chicks' arrival:

"Having been watching the nest cam expectantly over the past few days, we've been reowarded with the sight of two new goshawk chicks hatching, the first appeared at around 11:20 am Thursday morning. In the afternoon, I was watching online at home and saw the second chick hatch at 4:20pm."

The Glaslyn ospreys have welcomed their first chicks of the season too. The female did a sterling job and sat tight on the eggs all through a hail storm with the hailstones bouncing off her back, then the news came through on Monday night that the first egg had hatched at 9.40p.m. The second egg hatched at 8:15 this morning.

Last, but by no means least, it's not just the birds of prey that are celebrating new arrivals this week. The first lapwing chicks at Loch Gruinart have also arrived, though they appear to be the only spring thing that's happening on time up there! There's signs that one of the chough pairs on the Oa and a pair of golden eagles are busy feeding chicks too.

Lights, camera, action in Lincoln

2013-05-10T15:00:00Z

When the web connection went live at the Lincoln peregrines back in May, the team were really excited to see the peregrines were back and nesting on the south west corner of the cathedral tower. It's just a shame that they decided to set up home in the nest without the camera...

The female appeared to be sitting on eggs so the team couldn't move the camera to the new nest and they would need to get a new license. This week, however, both the adults have been seen leaving the nest and returning with food so there must be at least one chick in the nest. This means the team are now able to move the camera and we'll be able to get in on all the action. We'll let you know when the feed goes live!

Photo by Ben Hall

All change in the Lake District

2013-05-09T15:00:00Z

It's only been two weeks since I told you about the new pair of ospreys in the Lake District, but it now looks like it's all change again with the female from the pair being ousted by a new arrival last week! The victor has set up home with the male and things seem to be going swimmingly according to Fran Currie from the Lake District Osprey Project:

“The unringed male seems to have been charmed by the new female, as he has been mating with her and bringing lots of fish to the nest There's also been no sign of the unringed female she has ousted."

We know a little more about the new female thanks to the ring (white KL) on her left leg. Fran tells us more:

"She has been seen and photographed in Senegal in 2011 and 2012 by colleagues from the Rutland Osprey Project, which is amazing. She was ringed north of Fort William on June 19, 2009, so at four-years-old, this could be her first year of breeding.”

The whole team were keeping their fingers crossed for the arrival of some eggs and they didn't have to wait too long as they've confirmed this morning that there's at least one egg in the nest. We'll let you know when we find out more.

Sea, sand and peregrine falcons

2013-05-08T15:00:00Z

The Scarborough peregrines are back! The friendly team of RSPB experts will be on hand on Marine Drive from 10:30am - 4:30pm every Wednesday and Sunday from now until 28 July. So if you're heading to the coast for a little seaside fun this summer, stop by and see us.

Bank Holiday weekend egg watch

2013-05-07T10:00:12Z

Last thing on Friday, I posted a quick update to let you know the exciting news that the first Chichester peregrine chick had hatched. Well, chick number 1 was quickly followed by chick number 2, who arrived a short while after. The second egg was only laid an hour after the first, so it's no big surprise that they should hatch so close together. Chick number 3 made its debut on Saturday, leaving just one egg in the nest. It's too early to say whether the last egg has failed, but the team on the ground are keeping a watchful eye on the nest to look for any behaviour from the female that suggests it has. If she moves the egg off to one side, away from where all the action is happening, then it's probably not going to hatch. In the last 13 years, there's only been six failures so fingers crossed this won't make it seven. We'll keep you posted.

It's not just down south that we're celebrating the arrival of peregrine chicks - it looks like there's good news from Malham too. Last week, we told you that the Malham peregrine eggs were due to hatch soon, and our man on the ground, Jon, confirmed there were chicks in the nest over the weekend. From the top of the Cove, he managed to see into the letterbox shaped gap where the nest is and saw three chicks, which he estimates are about a week old.

Breaking news from Chichester

2013-05-03T15:50:13Z

The first egg has hatched! There's three more in the nest so shouldn't be too long before they hatch too. What a cracking start to the weekend!

This was the female about to leave the nest yesterday afternoon. Photo by biteyourbum.com

The hidden treasures in Aberdeen Harbour

2013-05-03T15:00:00Z

The has been full of ospreys and peregrines over the last few weeks, but the Bank Holiday weekend sees the arrival of a very different kind of Date with Nature.

If I said bottlenose dolphins to you, what do you picture? Warm tropical waters and dolphins playing in the bright blue waves? Now what if I said bottlenose dolphins in Aberdeen? No, seriously. Very few people know this, but one of the best locations for spotting dolphins in the UK is Aberdeen Harbour. Working with the Aberdeen City Council, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Scottish Natural Heritage and Visit Aberdeen, our team on the ground are celebrating the Year of Natural Scotland by showing people the best views of the dolphins that call the harbour home. Not only that, they'll be helping to monitor dolphin activity at the site too.

Starting this weekend, our friendly experts will be on hand in Torry Battery car park every Thursday to Sunday between 11 am and 6 pm until the end of August. So why not try something different this Bank Holiday weekend and come on by to see us.

Photo by Chris Gomersall

Following a New Forest false start...

2013-05-02T15:00:00Z

The New Forest goshawks team thought they'd hit the jackpot back in March when they set up a camera on a nest site where a male goshawk had been busily doing up an old nest. Unfortunately, it appears his DIY skills weren't up to scratch and the female decided the new nest wasn't to her liking so they moved on.

After the false start, the team managed to locate a second pair of nesting goshawks and luckily this time the couple were happy with their digs. A camera was carefully installed and views are beamed live into The Reptile Centre, near Lyndhust, for visitors to enjoy. The pair currently have three eggs and the first chick is expected to arrive any day now. We'll let you know when it makes an appearance!

Our friendly experts are on hand to answer all your questions and show you all the action at The Reptile Centre everyday from 10 am to 4:30 pm until 1 September so why not pop by and say hello! If you can't make it to the New Forest then don't worry - you can always catch up on what's going on in the nest by watching the webcam.

A waiting game...

2013-05-01T15:00:00Z

It's a week of waiting for the anxious parents at our Date with Natures. Up on Mull, the first of this year's white-tailed eagle eggs is due to hatch on Friday. It's Iona and Fingal's fourth year nesting at the site so fingers crossed it's a good one!

A little further south, the team at the Malham peregrines are expecting the pitter patter of tiny talons this week, but they can't be 100% sure. The peregrines have chosen to nest in the same letter box shaped cove as last year so it's really tricky to actually see what's going on.

Stay tuned for the announcement of the new arrivals as soon as they happen.

All's well at Aberfoyle

2013-04-30T15:00:00Z

Things seem to be running smoothly for the Aberfoyle ospreys so far. The female is currently sitting on eggs and the team think there's two, but it could be three. The pair have got themselves into something of a daily routine - the female takes the first incubation shift in the morning, the male comes in around noon to let her have a lunchbreak, then the female arrives back to do the rest of the afternoon shift. It's regular domestic bliss. Even the arrival of an intruding male at the nest last week didn't shatter the domestic harmony as he was soon seen off by the female.

And it looks like they're not the only ones looking to set up home in the area. On Saturday a new osprey took up residence in the other nest that we've set a camera up on. The team think it's a male so hopefully he'll pair up in time to be able to raise a family this year. We'll keep you posted!

Islay's winter stragglers

2013-04-29T15:00:00Z

Spring's late arrival has been playing havoc with migration all around the country over the past few weeks and it's meant some rather unusual (and rather spectacular!) sights at our Islay wildlife Date with Nature.

Large flocks of geese are usually a winter spectacle, but a big flock of barnacle geese (more than 900 individuals with some brent, Canadian, white-fronted and greylag thrown in for good measure) is still hanging around at Loch Gruinart nature reserve. In fact it's the latest these birds have been recorded on site since 2005!

The cold weather and windy conditions have meant a number of birds have had to make a pit stop at the reserve until travelling conditions get better so if you head over to the reserve soon you may well see almost 900 black-tailed godwits who should be en-route to Greenland for the summer.

If the weather gets better over the coming days it could all change again so get over there quick to grab your last glimpse of winter.

As for the summer visitors, corncrakes have turned up on the island down at Portnahaven. There's still a way for them to go, but hopefully they’ll start being heard at Loch Gruinart soon too.

Photos by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)

Back in the north west

2013-04-26T15:00:00Z

The Manchester peregrines are back! For the seventh season, peregrines have chosen to nest and raise their young high above the city centre and we'll be there every step of the way. The event kicks off tomorrow and our friendly experts will be on hand in Exchange Square every weekend from 11 am to 6 pm and across the city during the week showing people all the action until 21 July.

Photo by Ben Hall

There's currently four eggs in the nest, which the pair are busy incubating, and they should be hatching in the next couple of weeks. We'll let you know as and when things kick off, but until then you can watch everything live on the webcam.