Hello Bloggersphere, hope all is well. Since we have had Peter in from Carnyx upgrading our camera you have been able to watch our ospreys in (almost) HD! I actually didn’t think we were going to see EJ again after all that snow but was glad to see it melt away. Our ospreys are hardy Scottish birds and a little bit of snow isn’t going to stop them.

Over the past few days we have been trying to ID the interloping…

Well, well, well, it has been an exciting few days here at Loch Garten! With a drop in temperature, we have seen the reserve covered in blankets of snow, which has only added to magic of the center's peaceful setting. Monday and Tuesday, our ancient pines adorned a soft coat of thick, bright white snow...along with EJ and Odin's cosy nest!

Pines in the snow by Julie Quirie, RSPB Loch Garten.

We were utterly…

Hello everyone.

My name is Blair and I'm one of the new visitor experience interns at Loch Garten this season. If you ever see me don't be afraid to say hello.

Anyway, this is my first year working with the RSPB. I'm still currently in college in Aberdeen so I'm looking forward to the challenge of juggling work and college for the next few months. I am originally from the west coast of Scotland, but the rain and…

Hello lovely Osprey fans!

It is an absolute joy to be sat, back in the kiosk, staring at a blank piece of paper and wracking my brains to find a way to introduce myself to you lot. Thankfully it is only a reintroduction! After having the most brilliant summer up at Loch Garten last year, I was far too head-over-heels in love with the pine forest to even contemplate leaving and returning down south. So I didn’t.…

As EJ and Odin settle in to their incubation period, after successfully laying their three eggs last week, the Osprey Team are also relaxing somewhat, after a very busy and fun Easter holidays. The past two weeks have seen the center alive with children whizzing around, enjoying their time off by learning all about EJ and Odin and the lives of ospreys, and using their activity sheets to tick off all the wonderful wildlife…

Good morning everyone. I hope you're all having a lovely Easter weekend and enjoying plenty of chocolate treats! We have certainly had a busy Easter here at the Osprey Centre. Indeed, as I made my way into work this morning, I passed a very tired looking rabbit carrying a decidedly empty looking basket. I stopped to have a word with the little creature (I'm fluent in Rabbit - night school classes, twice a week) and found…

Hello everyone! Ellie here, with very exciting news from Loch Garten...WE HAVE TWO OSPREY EGGS ON THE NEST!!!

Two, you ask? Yes, Odin and especially EJ, have been very busy so I will give you an update on all the exciting events that have happened in the past few days here. We were delighted to see on Sunday evening that EJ laid her first egg of the season.  She had been sitting amongst a great pile of nesting material…

Hello!

My name is Alice and I am new to the Loch Garten team this season. I am joining the team as a Visitor Experience Officer and I can't quite believe my luck! EJ and Odin are two very encaptivating, endearing characters and I love watching what they get up to everyday. There are currently many mating attempts, so like you all, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first egg. 

Just like the Ospreys, I myself…

Hello all!

Chris here, with the latest news from Loch Garten. Before I start, I must say, that there are times in an osprey breeding season that are slightly delicate to describe and extremely tricky to write about. Now is one of those times! Although Valentines Day has long since passed, our ospreys, EJ and Odin, are obviously feeling very romantic at the moment after their long winter apart. Frequently over the past…

An update from Stuart Benn on the BBC Countryfile Magazine Reserve of the Year Award we asked for your support with back in February. 

We are the champions - thank you!

Abernethy has seen off all comers to be voted the BBC Countryfile Magazine Reserve of the Year 2017 – a fantastic accolade for all the tremendous work that goes on to make it even better for wildlife than it already is.

The reserve had its origin…

 Supporters of Loch Garten F.C. are celebrating today after receiving confirmation that one their heroes, Odin, has returned to the club after a winter-long absence. Since his high profile move abroad towards the end of last season, it was always touch-and-go as to whether we'd see Odin back at Loch Garten for another spell but, after the web became awash with rumoured sightings yesterday, the news was today confirmed by…

She's back! Our favourite feathered female, EJ, has returned to us from her winter sun

EJ with her post-flight meal!

Yes, we've just spotted Loch Gartens' long serving female osprey perched underneath the nest devouring a nice, big trout. For the past few days, I've been hopefully sticking my head out of the centres' viewing slots every couple of minutes, like something from a "Whack-a-Mole" game, eagerly scoping…

Our woes continue, and whilst we had a great day for putting up the cameras last Tuesday, we have a problem with the main camera which goes on the tower. When we tested it, the colours were wrong and it's been sent off to get fixed. So, Plan B has swung into action, just in case, and Peter is supplying us with a camera which he hopes to be able to install early next week. Fortunately we were earlier than usual with getting…

Hi there,

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that the feeder-cam is now up and running on the Carnyx webpage but not, as yet, on the RSPB Loch Garten page.

Typically, there are no birds to be seen - but it's cold and sleety here at the moment.

I've just got back from annual leave today (it's half term up here) and whilst I was off my colleague, Phil, managed to sort the satellite internet with help down…

A guest blog, from Stuart Benn, Communications Officer, based at our North Scotland Regional Office in Inverness.

Voting has been in the news rather a lot recently or, rather, the consequences of voting have – it pays to use your vote wisely!

But, at the risk of inducing voter fatigue, there is another poll underway just now, in which you may wish to consider marking your choice - for the Countryfile Magazine…

Where has 2016 gone?? I can’t quite believe I’m sitting here with one day left at work this year, but that’s apparently the case! Things are starting to wind down for the festive break up here, with many staff off already, but the schools don’t break up till Friday, so I’m making hay while the sun shines, so to speak.

It’s been a mixed December so far, weather wise, with some days when the…

A treat for you this time, bloggers. We recently played host to a small group of long term residential volunteers from other reserves in the region - giving them valuable experience of different habitats and management, and helping us out at the same time. I'm delighted to say that Ben agreed to make a guest appearance on our blog. Many thanks to Ben and the other vols (Steve, Gillian and Michael) - it's always a pleasure…

Hi folks,

I hope this blog post finds you all well. I’m well and truly back in the swing of things since my holiday – amazing how quickly normal life resumes after two weeks of sunshine and relaxation. As predicted, we didn’t get round to as much wildlife watching as we had hoped – and the one time we made a special effort and booked on a three hour whale and dolphin cruise, the sea was so choppy, we saw absolutely nothing…

Well, even though the Osprey Centre is now closed for the season, work carries on here at Abernethy. It already seems a long time ago that my wonderful team left in mid September, as so much has happened since. I have to admit to feeling a little bereft now that they’ve gone – it’s a strange position to be working so closely with a group of people for six months and then they all disappear in a matter of days. I guess…

Hi everyone,

Well, the team are busy packing up the centre for the season and we're all trying not to think about tomorrow, which is their last day on contract. I am intending to do an Ode to Team 2016 in due course, but as I have a minute now, I thought I'd just quickly drop you a line to explain (as if you didn't know) that we're still having trouble with the feeder web-cam and at the moment, we're unsure where the…

Hello everyone. This is a long blog but as you read it just remember, never again will you have to put up with my witterings. Maybe, one cold winters day not too long from now, you'll think to yourself, "I wish I had one of Chris's blogs to read". Then again, maybe not.

So another Osprey season at Loch Garten has come and gone. It seems like only yesterday that the team and I were readying the centre…

Good morning all from me (Chris) and the team.

Today started like any other - the team arrived at the centre at 9:30 sharp (Nimrod's away at the moment) to prepare ourselves for another day of meeting and entertaining visitors. As we skipped gleefully up the path, anticipating a fun filled day, Fergus was even singing a little self-penned ditty about the joys of wildflowers. We unlocked the doors to the centre and began…

Good morning everyone. Chris here with a quick update from the Osprey Centre.

It appears that our oldest juvenile, Rowan, has departed on his migration. We have not seen him since Tuesday morning and it is very likely that he has made the most of this spell of fine weather to follow hot on EJ's heels. For most of yesterday morning there was a large portion of fish lying unattended on the nest (the remains of Willow's…

Morning bloggers. Just a quickie to say that your suspicions have surely been confirmed, and our precious EJ hasn't been seen since Saturday morning (August 13), when she brought the remains of a fish to the nest. After that she presumably began her migration and hopefully will be able to make the most of the fine weather which is forecast. It doesn't need saying that this is a bitter sweet moment - she's had a great…

I recently asked Sarah White to write a blog about the most annoying organism found at Loch Garten. Although her article on Nimrod was well written and informative, it wasn't quite what I meant. She then rewrote this fascinating piece that will make you look at a certain creature in a whole new light...Enjoy!

Hello blog readers! Sadly, summer is marching on and our wonderful Ospreys are spending less and less time…