Good afternoon. Chris here...remember me?

Firstly, apologies for the long wait on this latest blog. The more cynical among you may say that you hadn’t noticed it was any longer than normal but I can assure you that I have had this blog “on ice” for at least ten days. The problem has been our internet connection – lost due to the lightning storms we experienced last week – so I am sorry it has been so long since I last…

If only Sarah Loudon would write a blog telling us the latest news from Loch Garten. Oh, hang on, what do we have here...

Afternoon folks, Sarah here!

It’s my pleasure to tell you all the good news (although I’m sure there are lots of you who already know this) - we officially have an empty nest for the first time this season because Willow, our youngest chick, fledged just before 9 this morning. The team at the centre…

Hello my fellow Osprey followers. I hope you are all well. Chris here, with some exciting news...

Today at Loch Garten we feel like proud parents who have just watched their child take his first, unaided steps or utter his first words that we are sure sounded like “Mama” (but were probably just wind). This morning Rowan, the elder of our two chicks, fledged the nest and took to the air on his maiden flight. At the time…

Our latest blog comes from Fergus, with a report on some "extra-curricular" activities. Enjoy.

Hi all! Hope all is going well. I thought I would tell you a little about my experiences this summer and fill you in on some Osprey news of late. 

Firstly, it's very clear that spring has sprung and summer is in full flow at the Osprey Centre. There have been a family of Blue Tits visiting the feeders down beside…

Good afternoon Osprey fans! Chris here, reporting on a big day at Loch Garten.

This morning the Osprey Centre has been a hive of activity for a very important moment in the season - the leg ringing of our two chicks. A ring is put on each leg of the birds; a metal ring holding BTO information and a coloured ring with a unique code of letters and/or numbers - as a way of identification in the future. Our own EJ is so…

Here's Sarah White with some information on some (alternative) amazing winged creatures found at Loch Garten! 

Due to our recent spell of warm weather the insects of the forest are out in force. We get a huge number and variety of insects on the reserve from beetles and butterflies to the slightly irritating (bit of understatement?) but no doubt under-appreciated midge!

Last Thursday evening, our lovely Community…

Hello everyone! My name is Fergus, and I am lucky enough to be let loose on the blog to recount to you the intriguing goings-on of the Ospreys and the RSPB Abernethy reserve.  This is my first season at Loch Garten and my first position in my chosen field since graduating university.

I first became interested in Abernethy during my time studying zoology in Aberdeen. The stories of the last remnant woodland holding an…

Hello again Osprey fans! Chris here with the latest Loch Garten blog. Today it feels like Summer has arrived at the Osprey Centre. Everyday, as I’m driving (or, if I can face it, cycling) to work, I love the moment when I turn a corner and Loch Garten opens up next to the road. The sight always makes me happy and puts a spring in my step whatever the weather but when the morning is as nice as it was this morning, it’s…

Tuesday May 24th: A new blog, a new team member. Enjoy!

Hello everyone! I am very happy to introduce myself. I am the second half of “Team Sarah” (we’re making it easy for you this year – if you visit the centre just shout “Sarah” and one of us will answer)! I am Sarah Loudon and I graduated from St. Andrews a few years ago. I then headed to Australia and living ‘Down Under’ is where I realised how much I love birds…

Good afternoon. Todays blog comes courtesy of another member of the team. I'll let him introduce himself to you.

Hello everyone. My name is Nimrod Mifsud and I am back at Loch Garten for the summer. Just like the Ospreys, I was here last year but disappeared over the winter, headed for warmer climes!

Yes, as some of you may know I am not a native of these shores, but from a much smaller (but no less Great) island…

Yay! As many of you will know we now have chick number two (from egg number 3?) hatched at some point overnight (do we have a time, bloggers?) This is obviously a huge relief as we were (well, I was) starting to get a bit twitchy and kept saying to myself "Well, one is better than nothing!" so to have two osprey chicks at the Loch Garten nest is really fabulous. I can't wait to get down to the centre to see the new arrival…

Yes, as many of you will know by now, EJ and Odin are now the proud parents of a little "bobblehead" (that's a new osprey chick to the uninitiated!) - confirmed by our night-shift volunteers at around 7am this morning (ie Saturday 14 May). To say we're all delighted is an understatement - after the bitter disappointment of last year, this news is what we've all been waiting for. We understand that this osprey chick may…

Hi everyone to this blog of two parts. In a minute Sarah White, one of our fabulous Visitor Experience Officers is going to take over from me, but firstly I'd like to take some time to answer some of the criticisms which have been leveled recently at me and my team.

Some of you may have visited the Osprey Centre, if so you will be aware that we have a team of immensely driven and enthusiastic staff.  Their – and…

Hi everyone. This being my first blog of the season, I should probably introduce myself. I’m Chris Tilbury and I am the Visitor Experience Manager here at Loch Garten for the summer. Now, the “Osprey-eyed” among you may think that I look vaguely familiar and you’d be right! I was previously a part of the Osprey team in 2014 (remember Millie, Seasca and Druie?) and some of you may even have met me last year, getting my…

We like THREE of them with an EJ on top! Yes folks, as many of you will know by now, EJ has proven herself, yet again, to be a three-egg-girl and produced her third egg at around 10.20pm last night (Wednesday). Apologies, as I think the camera was off at the time due to a power cut at Carnyx’s end...but we got some beautiful night shots later on of EJ revealing her clutch to the world. This third egg is the 45^t…

TWO please!! Yes, that's right folks! EJ laid egg number two at around 6.30pm this evening (Sunday). This is obviously fantastic news and we're all delighted! There'll be a real buzz about the centre tomorrow! Thanks to those of you who have messaged the news. You're all on the ball! 

The eagle eyed amongst you will have seen that EJ has laid her first egg!! We reckon this was shortly after 8pm this evening. We'd thought it was on the cards as she's been visiting pools to have a drink over the last couple of days, but it's still a relief that she's layed. So, watch this space to see if there's another one coming! Fingers crossed everyone. And everything else too! 

Yes! We can confirm that we're 99% sure that the bird who has been on the nest is our Odin, returned for another year (let's hope!) with his EJ. After arriving for work this morning he was helpfully not to be seen, so we had to wait for him to return before Julie Q, Julie Smith and Rachel could get a good look at him. Of course, without the useful addition of leg rings, it's always a bit of an elaborate process, checking…

Well, what an exciting drive to work that was! My phone rang just as I entered Carrbridge and after seeing that it was our new Visitor Experience Manager, Rachel Coyle (yes, Rachel from 2014 and 2015!) I pulled over and she cried “GUESS WHO’S BACK?!” Apparently Julie Quirie (our fabulous returning Retail Manager) had turned up for her first day at work, opened the flaps at the front of the centre and there was EJ, perched…

But not literally, you understand. The wintry weather continues to dominate, though we are being treated to the occasional day of spring sunshine, which always makes me want to burst into song. Waiting for spring to spring, so to speak, is my absolute favourite time of year. There is so much to look out for and to look forward to. The first burst of chaffinch song is a particular joy of mine, as are the repetitive tunes…

First of all, after months of waiting,  I can finally let you know about Breagha’s tag. Our contacts at Microwave Telemetry have emailed our Lodge colleagues and confirmed that there was no more information to be had from his tag. It was irreparably damaged and had already yielded all available data before it was found by Hazel. I know that this will come as a disappointment to many of you, but I’m afraid it was always…

New Year Greetings from a decidedly chilly Abernethy. I do hope you’ve all had a good festive break and are feeling fit for whatever 2016 decides to send your way. After a fortnight of making merry, spending time with family and friends and being totally off (and I mean OFF – no emails, no facebook, no Twitter, no blog! Bliss!) I returned to work this morning and have discovered two things: 1) The Christmas blog I uploaded…

Hi there,

Well, as I said yesterday, today we had a meeting with our sat tag expert to see what, if anything, has come from the exploration of Breagha’s tag. And I’m afraid to say that the tag hasn’t even charged – it’s been sat on a windowsill for over a week and absolutely nothing has happened.

So, the only option now is to send it to Microwave Telemetry over in Maryland and see if they…

Hi everyone, 

Just a quick note to let you know that despite repeated attempts to fix the problem with the webcam we're still struggling to identify the root cause. Peter from Carnyx has been advising us and we're doing all we can amidst our other work. We do apologise for the frustration this is causing. Believe me, we're as frustrated as you are with this technology! I have one more thing to try tomorrow and after that…

What a lot can happen in two weeks! I returned to my office on Tuesday to find the parcel from Noisette, containing the tracker, on my desk. I’d like to echo Jeremy’s words in saying many, many thanks to you Noisette, Alain and your helpers for your determined efforts, resulting in this precious find. This week seems to have been a very hectic one for everyone here at Abernethy (so what’s new?) and it’s only now, Thursday…