Hey osprey fans,
I hope all is well with you and you have been enjoying the season so far. I have been away the last week and so have missed the controversy around naming the ospreys. I am excited to see that there are so many passionate people that care about this subject but I was saddened to hear that some would choose to cancel their memberships over this. This subject brings lots of debate on all sides where some believe that we shouldn't be naming ospreys at all. The idea of anthropomorphising a bird to make it more human is seen by some as a way for us to misunderstand the lives of these birds. Others believe it brings us closer to understanding them.
Personally, I like having names for the birds. If we spend months watching and talking about the same birds I feel like I do have a personal connection with them and I like that I can see their characters develop over time. It is also much easier for our team to describe what is taking place and for visitors to connect with the birds they are looking at. There was strong disagreement within our team about calling the male Axel but we thought it nice to recognise the name given by the online supporters, some of whom may never get a chance to visit the centre but follow avidly online. Many in our team preferred the name Affric in recognition of where AX6 was ringed but the name doesn't change the significance of the birds we get to watch on the nest.
I know some of you are sad about our osprey female not being called Mistle but found when we were saying this name in the centre there was some confusion and joking around with the play on words with 'missile'. We didn't think this would be appropriate if this female osprey became as long-standing as EJ was and so the name was removed from the selection. I am sorry if this has caused any pain or thoughts that we were not being considerate.
I know some of you will agree with my sentiments on this issue and I know some of you won't. This is the beautiful thing about life, we are all able to share our thoughts and opinions and have strong debates that incite change. The work of the RSPB has always been about inciting change, let us not forget where we need to focus our energies.
I find it difficult to understand why people feel this strong about the naming of ospreys that they would cancel their membership. Their loss.
I love the idea of naming Ospreys, but I also appreciate those having ring numbers remain not named.
No apology needed , I am happy about unringed ospreys being named , but ringed birds are ringed for a reason and that is the fact we can identify them on their travels - names constantly get mis-spelt - I have seen Axle Axl and Mistel Missile etc not good . And let face it in the old days Loch Garten birds were not named so the unringed female is in fact Female N as White EJ was female M , this male I think is male P !!!
I'm so sad that you have had flack about naming our Ospreys, Fergus. I like names but also respect the decisions of osprey nest providers and protectors if they don't. No need to criticise.