Hello bloggers, 

We have had a rough and ready season this year with the sad events of EJ not returning to Loch Garten, paired with the happy events of celebrating our 60th anniversary.  This has been a monumental year in the Operation Osprey project as we have become a victim of our own success. We are situated in the epicentre of a thriving population of ospreys of which we find around 250 breeding pairs in Scotland.…

July is the perfect time to go in search of one of the showiest and fascinating types of wildflower. A good colony of orchids can reach several thousand in number, and often this could be dominated by a single species with other rarer orchids amongst them. Fragrant orchids waft their honey-like scent on the wind in a fine breeze.

Moths play an important role in orchid pollination, with several types of orchid releasing…

As you might remember from my first introductory blog post at the start of the season, my background in conservation is Marine Biology and I’ve studied as a marine biologist for 4 years. I have mainly worked in rockpools, but now I find myself deep in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park, at the wonderous Abernethy Forest. So, what is a landlocked marine biologist supposed to do?!

While I am here, I want…

Hello Bloggers,

The last week at Loch Garten has certainly been exciting. I think it's safe to say we have had more action over the course of the last 2 weeks compared with the previous 2 months. 
For you who are new to the blog or for you who have been living under a rock these last 3 months, EJ (our old female) has failed to return and useless George (the male) was so heart broken he decided to go off and be useless…

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to update you on some recent activity at the LG nest - unfortunately not of the osprey kind, but hopefully of the positive human kind.

As we are painfully aware, this season is proving to be one of the most, if not the most, challenging season we've ever had at LG. The non-arrival of EJ, coupled with the failure of her new partnership last year, has meant that a brand new pair has to be…

Sorry for the A-pollen puns, I bet yew all can't quite beleaf why Fergus still lets me write blogs. Trust me, I'm pineing for him to branch out and ashk someone else to do it, I walnut be able to go on. I'm sycamore blog writing. 

Oaky, enough of the terrible puns. If you haven't guessed already, today's blog is all about the pine forest and in particular, the return of the pine pollen. 

For you who do…

Hello bloggers.  After much deliberation we thought it time to write a blog on our favourite osprey who sadly has not returned this year.  And who better to help me with all things EJ than Alison and Valerie who have been volunteering this week, so over to them...

And hello from both of us!!  Apologies for the length of this blog but we thought we would just summarise EJ’s life, especially for those of you who haven’t been…

Hey guys, here is a little update for you giving you an idea of what our volunteers get up when they are not at the centre. I would also like to caveat this by saying that Liz wasn’t made to write this under duress. All the lovely things she is saying about our team are her own words!

Hi I’m Liz and I am a RSPB Volunteer. Three years ago, I discovered the volunteer opportunity at Loch Garten in the Cairngorms.…

Hola Blogmigos,

How are we all today? I hope we are all still feeling optimistic about the current season and what lies ahead for us. I know I certainly am. This time last year we may have had eggs…but we also had a Useless George. Each day April draws close to an end and May to a beginning, but a quick search through the fact files shows us a pair in 1990 laid an egg 17^th of May. So, plenty of time chaps, no need…

Hi all, 

It's Chris here, the final member of the team to introduce myself, and currently posing as Fergus while the RSPB IT cogs crank into gear and get me a login sorted. To add to the confusion, Fergus and I also share a ginger hair and beard combo, and having been mistaken for him at least twice already, I've decided to answer to either just in case. 

I'm here with Laura as the other long term volunteer…

Hello bloggersphere, I hope all is well and . I would firstly like to apologise to anyone who couldn't find our introduction blog. I had posted it in another forum to make it even more exclusive a scoop for you all. Here is the link to it for those who have not seen it https://community.rspb.org.uk/placestovisit/lochgartenospreys/m/lochgartenospreys-mediagallery/782679?fbclid=IwAR2kWe4ME7376mjq6ymuWf9hAexjCzDe10t5…

  Hey there guys, hope you've all had a lovely start to the new year. Just a wee intro from me to say hello. I am currently stepping in as the Visitor Experience Manager to cover the great loss of Chris. I will do my best to keep you posted on the goings on of the Osprey Centre and the reserve.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Fergus. I was working at the OC…

Merry Christmas everyone!

Amazingly, it’s that time of year again already! 2018 has simply flown by, in a whirlwind of osprey drama, scorching summer heat and incredible news revelations. The announcement of the ground-breaking Cairngorms Connect project followed by the news that Winterwatch, Springwatch and Autumnwatch are all coming live from this area in 2019, came after another summer soap opera that is the Loch Garten…

Hello again everybody,

It’s been a while since my last blog. I know that many of you will have spent much of the time sitting patiently at your computer or staring wistfully at your phone hoping that a new blog will suddenly appear, all the while muttering, “Come on Chris, we need to hear about the blimmin’ Goose Roost event”. Well, at last your wait is over. Not only am I here to tell you all about the Goose Roost event…

Hello again to everyone in Blogland,

It has been a month since we closed the doors to the Osprey Centre but, far from being our “quiet season”, we have in fact been very busy at Loch Garten over the past few weeks. In early September I spent a couple of days with Peter from Carnyx as he worked on our feeder cam. I’d love to say I helped but I think that would be pushing it somewhat! Effectively, I sat and watched as…

Wow.

Another season has come and gone. We have officially closed the Osprey Centre (the pit traps and electric fences are all in place), we’ve removed the cameras from the osprey nest (carefully trimming the newly sprouted lawn at the same time) and we’ve tidied EJ away in her box (that’s a joke, of course – we actually rent her a room in a hotel in Aviemore for the winter). We’ve also been busy preparing the reserve…

I’ve not written a huge number of blogs over the years – Chris and the team do the vast majority, but of all the blogs I’ve ever written, this is by far the hardest.

Those of you who have visited the Osprey Centre in the last few weeks will have seen that this season we have had to say goodbye to one of our trusted and valued friends and volunteers – Rob Ballinger, who has passed away after a short…

Dear bloggers,

You’ve not heard from us in a while so here we go with a short update of the situation in Loch Garten. The highlight so far is that EJ has finally gone! She was spotted for the last time on the 3rd of August, so after a week we can say for sure that she is definitely gone. Farewell EJ! We wish you a safe travel and favourable winds. We’ll all be waiting for you in March! George has not been seen recently…

Hello people of the blog,

I trust you are all well. It's been a while since I wrote to you so I thought I'd send a quick update from Loch Garten. Osprey-wise, it's very much as you were. EJ is still in residence, spending her days perched on a low tree behind the nest, often slowly devouring a large trout. Today, she has been onto the nest once or twice and was even joined by George for a short while. He is coming and…

Hello!

It's been a busy morning here at the osprey centre, with my questionable camera skills put to the test. There have been two intruding ospreys: one male (PP7 aka Cromarty) and one female (unringed). You may remember PP7 from last year: he was the male that was around when Odin disappeared, so it is interesting to see him around again. Notice the satellite tracker on his back: this no longer works but helps us to…

Hello!

My name is Lorna and I am the new intern at RSPB Loch Garten, strolling in from Glasgow halfway through the season. Better late than never, eh? I have recently graduated (last week in fact) from the University of Glasgow studying Geography, covering the likes of Biogeographies of Europe, Nature Conservation and Coastal Erosion. However much I loved my degree, there comes a time that you can no longer learn about…

Hey Bloggers, it's Emma here again with a brief weekly osprey update!

Firstly I would like to clarify a few things with regards to the osprey and the mallard scenario reported in last weeks blog. There was a lot of confusion around whether EJ was mobbed by a mallard, and it turns out that she WAS. Pesky ducks. The photographs published showed an unringed osprey, but it turns out there were a few angry female mallards…

Good Afternoon Bloggers!

It's been a pretty exciting week here on Abernethy - well as exciting as things can get without having osprey chicks! EJ has been around the nest on various perches, preening and munching on fish as she always does. We have had a few intruding ospreys around and we have had a number of visits from our favourite male osprey - George! Intruder 'Blue NU7' appeared back on the camera tree, after…

Hello Blogmigo’s.

I hope you are all doing okay? For those you that are wondering, I’m doing just fine, a bit frustrated with how the season is going, but I still feel lucky to work in such a wonderful place with some beautiful wildlife.

So let’s cut to the chase then.

George has been visiting EJ less and less often, so much so that we’ve only seen him twice in the last week and a half. Although to…