Osprey blog

There has been no sign of EJ since Thursday, so it looks like we can safely say she has started her migration south! The chicks have been left unsupervised since Friday, with OVS also being absent since he flew in with that fish,which he proceeded to eat the whole thing himself.

Although this may seem worrying at first, he may be employing an advanced parenting method, know as the 'starvation technique', to kick in the natural survival instincts of the chicks. This is quite normal behaviour, and actually quite understandable. After all, why would a youngster go to the bother of getting its own dinner if its parents keep on providing...sound familiar?! However, this is obviously a critical time and there is always the risk that a chick may be continually unsuccessful when fishing, become weaker and weaker and eventually starve to death. Many other ospreys and indeed other animals are taking similar risks as I type...although that doesn't make it any less nerve racking for us!

Nethy's behaviour over the last few days has been very encouraging as she has spent very little time on site and presumably has been gaining strength and perfecting that fishing technique (we hope!). The satellite data shows that she has flown over both the nearby lochs, Loch Garten and Loch Mallachie and as you already know she has returned to the nest wet and muddy. The adults don't actually fish on these lochs (they are very peaty) so we wouldn't expect her to have much success on either.

Although we are all eagerly awaiting the day when one of our chicks returns with a fish the fact that they haven't doesn't mean that they are being unsuccessful. Think of it this way.... if one of the chicks catches a fish (I imagine it's pretty tiring!) why go to all the extra effort of carrying it back to the nest AND trying to keep it from your hungry brother or sister when you could just eat it somewhere nearby?

Deshar has been spending a lot more time on site than Nethy, but from his satellite data we know he has been flying as far as Loch Garten - has he been attempting to fish here too? Over the past few days we have seen a number of intruding ospreys fly a little too close to the nest for Deshar's liking and he has successfully defended the nest and sent them on their way by mantling his wings to make himself look bigger.

Hopefully by the end of the week we will have some more satellite data and will be able to update you on where the chicks have been flying to. And please be assured that if Nethy or Deshar returns to the site with a fish we will update you as soon as possible.

In the meantime....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 expect Nethy and Deshar are feeling rather hungry today. The last time we had a fish brought to the nest was 10.20 yesterday morning, delivered by EJ (who else!!). EJ has not been seen since (has she started her migration? We are not sure but watch this space!). Earlier on this afternoon we watched Orange VS land on Henry's perch with a big trout. Our two chicks also spotted this, and promptly flew over to the nest and began to beg for a bit of lunch. However, OVS was having none of it, and proceeded to eat the trout from head to tail, leaving nothing for our two bemused chicks. You could accuse OVS of being greedy, or maybe it was a lesson in tough love. The hungrier Nethy and Desher get, the more likely they are to head off and find their own supper. And I am sure they are feeling pretty hungry by now!

So has all this food deprivation worked? Well, as yet we have not seen either chick come in with its own fish, but it is just a matter of time. Both chicks have been seen looking somewhat wet and muddy, presumably from failed attempts at fishing! This is very enouraging for us and we know it wont be long before one of the two catches its first fish. My money is on Nethy first...

The osprey nest is looking quite empty and neglected now that our Osprey family are no longer residing there However, give it a closer look and you may just spot a few new residents that have moved in.... we have been informed that a crested tit was spotted on the web cam, flitting around the nest, probably looking for insects. We also found a spotted fly catcher sitting on the top of the nest yesterday morning. So not as empty as it may seem!

The title of the blog explains the situation that we have here at Loch Garten.  Despite Deshar being eleven weeks old today, we still await the first fish being brought in by a chick!  However, Nethy did return again yesterday with muddy legs and a muddy chest, so she is obviously trying, its just that so far the fish have all managed to get away!  The co-ordinates from her satellite tracker back up this theory, showing that she has been down to the loch at least four times recently.  The main reason that she is being unsuccessful, is her choice of water to fish in.  Those of you who have visited the Osprey Centre, hopefully also had some time to enjoy the beautiful loch, and you will therefore have noticed that it is incredibly peaty, making it very dark, and therefore difficult for an osprey to spot fish in.  Indeed, our adult birds do not use Loch Garten to catch fish, prefering other small local lochs, the River Spey, and of course the fish farm.  Hopefully, Nethy will realise soon, after her failed attempts, that if you are feeling hungry, Loch Garten is not the way to go!

This morning, in the centre, we having been playing some footage of EJ feeding Nethy and Deshar when they were one and three days old respectively!  Although, we are still awaiting them catching their first fish, it is amazing to think how much they have grown and achieved in the past eleven weeks.  We had all three of them on the nest for those first four weeks, with Nethy and Deshar growing fast, from the tiny chicks that hatched out of the eggs, into their reptilian stage where their feathers came through, and it was almost possible to see a daily growth.  We saw EJ bring in the huge 17 inch fish on the 17th June, the first of many that she has brought for the chicks from her very impressive fishing missions.  We had the sad loss of the third chick on 26th June, followed by the excitement of the ringing on 5th July, where Nethy and Deshar not only received their leg rings and satellite trackers, but also their names!  Recently, we have witnessed the maiden voyages of both Nethy and Deshar, on 20th and 22nd July respectively, and they are both now accomplished at flying with a fish in theoir talons.  It is just a matter of time and practice until we see a chick return to the nest with a fish.

 VS brought in a fish at 11.20 this morning, which Deshar took to one of his favourit perches, so that he could eat it in peace, away from his sister!  However, as usual EJ had beaten VS to it, bringing in the first fish at 6.15 this morning!  As I write, EJ is away from the area, possibly fishing, whilst VS is perched underneath the nest, so just a normal day at Loch Garten!

We await the next fish...but who will bring it in, EJ, VS, maybe Nethy, or possibly even Deshar?  I know who my money would be on!

In the meantime....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.

Firstly, apologies for bringing this blog to you later than planned! We have had some issues with the internet here but they seem to be resovled now. Thank you for bearing with us and once again thank you all for your continued support and interest.

Extract from Tuesday's Log Book:

12:35pm EJ delivers 10" brown trout to the nest. Deshar starts to eat it. VS flies in and tries to steal the fish.

12:57pm EJ delivers 13" rainbow trout to the nest.

Yes, you did read that correctly...in the space of 22 minutes EJ flew off to the fish farm, caught a rainbow trout and delivered it back to the nest!!! That must be some sort of record! It is certainly the fastest time this season in which EJ has successfully fished, with her previous record being 35 minutes. So, not only do we have EJ down as a bit of a rule breaker this season, it looks like she is also a bit of a record breaker.

EJ has continued out-fishing VS over the last few days and this morning at 10:30 delivered a massive rainbow trout to the nest. Just as this happened she began to alarm call as an intruding osprey flew close to the nest. VS promtly gave chase and eventually warded the determined intruder off.

 We are still waiting for the juveniles to begin fishing for themselves and are all eagerly awaiting the moment when one of them returns to the nest with a fish. As all you webcam viewers will know they are spending more and more time away from the nest and it probably wont be long before this happens. My gut feeling is that it will be Nethy who does so first, closely followed by Deshar.

We are also keeping a close eye on EJ who we think could begin her migration anytime soon. Now that the chicks have fledged her job is pretty much done and she could head off in the coming days. The female osprey can lose condition throughout the season due to spending lots of time on the nest and therefore needs to gain weight and build up the strength and stamina that she has lost over the past few months before migrating south. Generally, the female will head off first, followed by the juveniles and then finally the adult male. However, with EJ's rule breaking behaviour it is anyone's guess who will go first!

As I said at the start of the blog thank you all very much for your continued support and interest in the ospreys at Loch Garten. We also appreciate your concern about the hobby nest in the New Forest but unfortunately we are hundreds of miles away at Abernethy Forest and can't really comment on any specific questions. General questions about birds of prey however are fine and we will do our best to answer them!

Anyway...when will Nethy and Deshar bring back their first fish to the nest? When will EJ begin her migration? And will she go first? Only time will tell....watch this space!!

In the meantime....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.