The Ospreys are back !!
Comments
-
Thanks ADP. I think that most of the nests that are being filmed and/or monitored have their full compliment of eggs now. It will be the wait now for them to hatch, although there could well be some untoward occurrences, which I will post it they result in egg/parent loss.
1 -
ADP, it has been a dramatic day at both LotL and Loch Garten. At the former, the male, Laddie, has now been missing from the nest for nearly 4 days and his partner has been harassed by an intruder. She has left the nest occasionally, mostly for short comfort breaks but she may have managed to catch a fish, as she must be famished by now. She is sitting on 3 eggs and trying to protect them.
At Loch Garten it appears that an intruder KL5, who was also around last year, has chased the male Brodie away from the nest, has had multiple attempts to mate with the resident female, and when she left the nest he landed and ejected the 3 eggs. Should she now pair up with him there may yet be time for them to produce eggs and rear chicks, but it is getting rather late in the season for that.We
I was fortunate today to see one of the Ospreys at a nest on Loch Insh take off and circle before settling back down on their nest. However there was not much other activity while we were there, but fingers crossed for a bit more action tomorrow at Boat of Garten.
0 -
It seems it is all going on Nellie, Laddie needs to face up to his responsibilities. Our feathered friends are using the Big Cat dynamics of life by the sound of it. I love the set up at Loch Garten and have been there on 3 occasions, but living in Herefordshire it is a long haul for us 730 miles and so use closer sites. I live close to lakes that Osprey nesting sites have been installed from1990, but so far have not been used. I was an area sales Rep/Manager for Redland/Lafarge who owned the quarries and they became worked out and so transformed them into a nature reserve and gifted to the Council. A fabulous Wildlife Centre now but alas no Osprey residents as yet,but I remain hopeful it will happen before my time is up. Nellie once again thank you.
1 -
ADP, I don't know if you follow the Loch Garten RSPB Facebook pages but here is there observations about yesterday's occurrences.
"RSPB Loch Garten, Abernethy
pSneotsrodt1t084ga14t46g342980136fa17a37ul4g3mhu53c18mc8m32a ·
Follow up on our Osprey drama...
Yesterday saw Asha defending her nest left, right and centre whilst Brodie, her mate, was nowhere to be seen.
Unfortunately, events turned from bad to worse for our mated pair when KL5 seized control of the nest. His determined actions resulted in devastating losses: one egg pushed overboard, another broken, and a third's fate uncertain... but without Asha's warmth, survival is unlikely.
We know you want answers, and we’re here to give them to you...
Did Brodie return? Brodie returned to the nest briefly at 11:47am yesterday morning. Sadly, he was quickly chased off by KL5 and didn’t manage to regain dominance. He has been back on the nest this morning, bringing Asha a fish before being chased away by KL5 again.
Who is KL5? A known Osprey at Loch Garten, KL5 forced Brodie to defend their chicks last year. His late arrivals stir up trouble, aiming to supplant Brodie and claim both the nest and Asha.
Why, oh why? It’s tough to watch, but Ospreys are fiercely loyal to their nesting sites, and it seems KL5 couldn’t let this one go - driven by the natural instinct to ensure his genes prevail over Brodie’s.
What now for Asha? With KL5 in control, Asha's window for a successful breeding season hinges on accepting KL5’s advances and laying new eggs by June.
But...Brodie? There's a chance Asha and Brodie build a 'frustration nest' together elsewhere. A response sometimes seen when Osprey pairs are disturbed or fail to breed.
What’s next? Love him or hate him, KL5 is one to watch: he might keep the nest for himself and mate with Asha or another female. Or, Brodie could fight for the nest. This power struggle could dramatically affect next year's season and pairings.
It's really hard for all of us to witness the destruction of the eggs and over the last few seasons we've become attached too Asha & Brodie. But we're also in the privileged position of watching a once extinct bird of prey fight their own species. This is a testament to the recovery of the population and seeing these natural interactions is exactly what we're trying to restore.
We know it’s hard not to pick sides, but remember, this is nature taking its course: heart-breaking but fascinating. "1 -
Nellie thank you for such an amazing update. Your update is brilliant and reads like a a gangster fued but as you say it is the way of the world of wildlife and sometimes difficult to watch. I have to say although being an ornathologist for many years( at least 80 as I am 83 ) I was not aware of quite how aggressive the Ospreys are, you certainly opened my eyes, vicious devils for sure. Nellie through your brilliant updates I will certainly follow the Ospreys more as I said before The Boat at loch Garten was our favourite viewing and Bunree site was our favourite site to travel from. Once again Nellie thank you.
0 -
Wherenext...... before the quarry was handed over to the Council it had a very good fish stock, Pike,Perch ,Dace,Chubb,Roach, Carp,ect, this was because HADAA had the use of the River Wye best Salmon beats to hold competitions with the understanding that the course fish caught would be removed in tanks/bins and Salmon,Trout also Grayling left. The course fish were then transferred to the quarry lakes/pools where they thrived and specimen Pike are now abundant. It is known as Bodenham Wildlife Park, Herefordshire, a now beautiful place with a fantastic array of seasonal birds and resident Otter families.
1 -
Thanks again, ADP. I just pinched the update from a post on the RSPB Community web site. Here is the link to the specific one for Loch Garten for May, and as you will see there are links to post about most of the other nests which have video cameras relaying the daily activities.
0 -
More bad news! A dead Osprey has been found near Loch of the Lowes, and the police are appealing for any information. On the community posts they are saying that it would appear to be Laddie, the resident male who had been missing from his nest for 5 days now. There is also an article about it on STV, see below.
Edit
The news has recently been posted on the LotL's FB site too.
0 -
They haven't yet said, but with the police involved it perhaps suggest full play.
More had news today as Maya, the resident female at the Rutland Manton Bay nest was seen removing one of her 3 eggs from the nest! No reason given so far but perhaps it has got stepped on and the shell broke. She has returned to the nest and is incubating the other two eggs, so hopefully she and her partner will raise 2 healthy chicks.
0 -
More news from Loch of the Lowes.
NC0 the resident female has been on and off the nest during the last few days however she left the nest at around 11:50 today and has not been back since.
"At about 14.00, one of the many intruders who have been visiting the nest landed and started nest scraping purposefully. The young unringed male sets to with enthusiasm, and by the time he departed around 14.50, had turfed out two of the eggs and left the third off to the side. Now NC0 won't have to make any decisions about her three eggs following the shocking unexpected death of Laddie, she will be able to move on and perhaps take another mate this season. If she paired up quickly, there is an outside chance for a second clutch, but more realistically, the new pair would spend time bonding and start a family next year."
0 -
Let’s hope things improve for those ospreys.
The higher up the chain the fewer in number of apex species, that’s nature. As such the more susceptible to rapid and catastrophic consequences these creatures experience. Unfortunately we humans can have a devastating influence very quickly on these species. Some don’t understand or even care about how precarious their existence is. I guess hoping is not adequate, we really need to act.0 -
ADP here is another blog, from Border Osperys, that should interest you, complete with a couple of interesting videos on the newest page.
0 -
More good news from late yesterday. The first egg to hatch, on a nest that is being recorded, happened at 22:23 last night at Manton Bay. It was from the 2nd egg laid and the chick is already feeding from the fish given to it by it's mother, Maya.
0 -
Nellie- the perfect storm is just arriving. We have over introduced Ospreys. There is now savage competition for viable nest sites. Ospreys feed on high in the water fish, primarily Rainbow trout in the UK. Where as there has been a good supply, paid for by fishermen things are changing rapidly., The biggest provider of fishing in the Midlands has gone into liquidation,no more stocking. Pressure is being applied on the Water companies to concentrate on their basic services of water and sewage, giving up recreation. This has already started. According to the eco lobby our rivers are sterile, the sea depleted of life and the returning salmonid almost at extinction. No other food source. Coarse fish in our reservoirs are bottom feeders and too deep for Ospreys. Once the RSPB made Ospreys a cash cow but failed to,provide any of the food cost they lost the support of fishermen who initially were their biggest supporters. I regret to say but your earlier post will become the norm. Web cams will show starving and dying chicks. The rewilding exponents have a lot to answer for. You wont get realism like this from the woke programmes like Countryfile and Spri ngswatch but its is the future of these birds unfortunately. As a curiosity does anyone know what the population number was of the Ospreys in their natural heyday.
1 -
Fisherman, as you well know, but choose to ignore, not all Ospreys feed soley on your precious trout, with those near the coast taking different salt water species such as flounders for food, and the inland ones feeding on Pike, Perch and Graying. There is bound to come a time when the number of Ospreys reach an optimum and viable population throughout the country, which is what is being aimed at by all the interested parties.
2 -
Enjoyed Anglesea, now back on the mainland. Headed to Glaslyn to see the ospreys either today or tomorrow. The birds here will feed on ‘seafood’ with grey mullet being a significant part of their diet.
What amazes me that the total number of these birds in England and Wales is positively minute with just 5 breeding pairs in Wales and 30 pairs in England. Now compare that with approximately fifty million non-native young pheasants released annually into the UK for shooting. Now I wonder which of these two species has the greater impact on our wildlife.1 -
Once again the strident noises are from those who make no financial contribution to the bird life. Things have moved faster than anticipated with a vast reduction in the food chain likely over the next 2/3 years. That will have a detrimental effect on the Osprey 's welfare. I've pointed out the scenario and we will have to wait to see the outcome.
0 -
Thank you Nellie for the information. Fisherman you are clearly a good conservationist and I agree with many of your comments but bottom feeding fish also rise to the fly as I have caught Pike and Eels on a fly. Living in Herefordshire when I do and seeing the destruction of the River Wye and Lugg from Chicken Mannure's and other fertilizers' pollution is heartbreaking and all caused by the deadliest predator.......MAN.
1 -
In some respects I do hope you are right, fisherman! Nature has a natural way of sorting the food chain and numbers within it. Humans eradicated the osprey and now they are doing what nature intends because some helped them in positive ways.
It’s not about lack of nesting sites, I’ve seen ospreys nesting on roadside poles just outside towns in other western countries, folk encouraged them to do so despite having relatively large populations of them in the wild. Ours could and hopefully will spread further a field. Currently we are witnessing some ‘healthy’ competition because the birds are relatively scare in number and in distribution but with newcomers drawn to fellow birds and possible mates that conflict is natural.
The next five or so years could be positive for our populations, of course those with other vested interests will argue otherwise.
Let nature take its course but let’s help repair what we’ve damaged. Let’s give ‘it’ the best possible ‘fighting’ chance.1 -
There is no such thing as "wild". Everything is managed in one way or another. We left Deer go wild and reality is there needs to be a cull of 10,000's of thousands to revert to a proper healthy population. The only way to achieve this is with a rifle. Introducing a few wolves would have no effect whatsoever.Its the same now with Badgers and Foxes. The countryside is over run by them, to the detriment of other species. Leaving it to nature will not work without there being drastic consequences along the road, far better enlightened management, taking in the whole flora and fauna gambit. Of course it will not happen as there are too many vested interests and we go from one crisis to another.
0 -
That’s precisely why we should try to help! Why we should promote and provide ‘wilderness’ where possible and practicable. Other countries are succeeding with that little bit of helpful and thoughtful management. Afterall, history shows we haven’t done very well in our management of ‘things’ have we. We could and should do much better.
1 -
I could point out the exact opposite. The gentry introduced non native species of flora and fauna., The gentry shot everything out of existence, not management. The single issue groups ie Badger Trust just dont see or care about the damage caused to other species by the lack of number control. Blame everything on the farmer who puts food on your plate. etc .etc.
1 -
Some farmers, maybe not all, please don’t tar all with that same brush.
Yes manage badger populations where needed, cull or better still vaccinate but not eradicate but do so in with that balance in mind. There are formers who tolerate and work alongside badger populations.0 -
https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/farm/bovinetb
Here is some information which helps the understanding of those issues associated with Bovine TB. Having read and digested this I have today modified my stance and now see no benefit from blanket culls or any other kind of cull what so ever.
0
