Hello
Knowing where to start with this blog is a bit of a challenge. I’m aware that the silence has been deafening from Loch Garten since Jen posted her final farewell from the Osprey Team 2015 and for that I apologise, but technical challenges have thwarted me, so please bear with me...
I’m Jess Tomes and I’m the newbie here at Abernethy. Well, not exactly the newbie, but more of that in a bit. I’m just chuffed to bits to be able to say that since the beginning of September I’ve been in the new role of Visitor Operations Manager, not just for the Loch Garten Osprey Centre, but for the whole of Abernethy National Nature Reserve. To say that I’m delighted by this turn of events is understatement of the year. I’ve dreamt about working in this, my favourite place on the planet, for twenty years (I kid you not) and to think that I’m sat here typing this to you gives me such a thrill.
My relationship with Abernethy and the ospreys started in 1995 and though I didn’t know it then, it would change my life forever. It was a scorcher of a summer and I volunteered at the Osprey Centre for the first time in June of that year – loving it so much that I returned in the August for another week. Fast forward a year and I was back again for another couple of weeks in 1996. It’s difficult to put into words how I felt about the reserve, the ospreys, the team of staff and amazing volunteers – all I knew was that Richard Thaxton had the best job in the world and I was more inspired than I had ever been. It was then that I decided that the RSPB was the organisation I wanted to work for. Oh, and there was one more significant life event in those first two years, in that I met my husband, Dan, who was working at the centre as an Information Assistant in 1995 and as the “Osprey Warden” as we called the team leader then, in 1996. We’ve now been married for 17 years.
So, in the intervening twenty years, apart from dreaming about working at Abernethy, I’ve spent the last ten years working for the RSPB at the North Scotland Regional Office in Inverness – firstly as a field teacher and latterly as Communications Officer. In that role I was able to work quite closely with Richard and the team here, and even wrote a couple of articles for the RSPB magazines, “Birds” (as was) and “Nature’s Home” (as is) all about Abernethy, the ospreys and Richard ‘hard-act-to-follow’ Thaxton. Being able to work with Richard and the team here cemented my love for Abernethy and the ospreys, but I never ever thought that one day I’d be working here myself. It was just a dream, and we all know that dreams don’t come true...except this one! And I’m so, so glad that it did.
You might be wondering why I’m telling you all this? And the truth is, because I know how much the reserve and the ospreys mean to you and I want to reassure you that I haven’t just been parachuted in from somewhere else – I have an Abernethy and a Loch Garten history too and I will work tirelessly and will do my absolute best for them. It’s going to be a steep learning curve and I’ve no doubt that things will slip every now and then (because I am only human!), but believe me when I say this job is too important to me to do anything other than my absolute best.
There’s a quote from George Washington Carver, an inspirational black American botanist and inventor born into slavery in the 1860’s, which I came across many years ago and it immediately made me think of Abernethy. It still holds true for me today and it is this “If you love it enough,anything will talk with you.” Well, that’s how I feel about this place. I do love it and it talks to me in a language like no other place I’ve ever been.
So, I’m looking forward very much to the next chapter in the life of the Osprey Centre and I’ve got my fingers crossed for some better times for our pair next year. I have to say an enormous thanks to the Osprey Team 2015, but in particular to Jen, who after four seasons at the Osprey Centre has moved on, and always approached her work with her characteristic passion, enthusiasm and dedication. She was, and is, a star and I wish her and the rest of the team well and hope to see them again soon.
News of Breagha
Oh my. It’s been a couple of days since I wrote the above and I can’t quite believe what I’m going to have to tell you, but I’m afraid it’s not good news from Breagha. This morning I heard from Mike and this is what he had to say:
“Our apologies for not providing information on Breagha’s movements over the last two weeks or so but as some of you have already guessed silence from us on tracking data does not always mean good news. And this is no exception. Sadly, we have to report that Breagha’s tracker is no longer sending data. We have been investigating why this has happened, as you may remember the tracker did seem to be in a ‘transmission black spot’ on occasions over the last month or so and it is never easy to be absolutely certain as to whether the transmitter has failed. It now seems clear that it is not a transmitter failure and that Breagha has met his end in some way. His last recorded location was at 13.00 GMT on 14 September in a wooded area 2.8 km from the east bank of the Gironde River and 2.3 km west of the town of Saint-Dizant-du-Gua in France. His location had not changed since 07.00 GMT that morning.
We have some people who are doing survey work for RSPB and are close to this location and we have been in contact to see if they can visit the area. We have not had any feedback yet but as soon as we do we will let you know.
It is particularly sad that we have lost another two year old bird which seemed to show so much promise for a successful return to Scotland. He seemed to be a smart osprey (if you can say that from afar) who chose a good spot in Senegal to live over the last two years and made a really smart about-turn over the Bay of Biscay on his return to France this year, when he could easily have perished in the Bay.”
This isn’t the news which I wanted to be sharing with you at all. I had high hopes for Breagha making a return to Scotland next year maybe, and I know you did too. And what a celebration we would have had. The latest tracking data will be posted on Google Earth on Mike’s return from holiday this weekend. There hasn’t been a good enough internet signal to update the data from where he is staying in a small Yorkshire village. If we get any more news we’ll pass it to you as soon as we can.
Jess