EJ in numbers! Arrival dates

8 Apr 2018

Hello bloggers! I am happy to present to you a new section of the blog “EJ in numbers”. We are very lucky to have an accurate record of all our ospreys’ movements, important dates (arrivals, departures, hatching, fledging, etc.) and numbers (eggs, chicks, fish brought to the nest, etc.). I will be using all this data to give a numerical approach to the life of our beloved EJ and her family.

As many of you know, our resident female osprey EJ has been coming back every season to the same nest for the last 16 years, sharing the place with a few handsome male ospreys. This year we are all wondering when we will see a male in the sky trying to impress her, and when she will accept one. It’s so sad having to see our beautiful osprey all alone in the snow!

We have a good record of the arrival date for EJ and the males she has mated with since 2003, so let’s have a look into EJ's past, analysing the partners she has had and trying to see if she is waiting for her male for longer than usual.

Year	Arrival date					Days between
Year	EJ	Henry	Orange VS	Odin	Blue XD	arrivals
2003	16-Jun	11-Apr				-
2004	25-Mar	03-Apr	27-Mar			2
2005	29-Mar	25-Apr	04-Apr			6
2006	26-Mar	10-Apr	26-Mar			0
2007	04-Apr	22-Apr	05-Apr			1
2008	26-Mar		11-Apr			16
2009	25-Mar			03-Apr		9
2010	26-Mar			03-Apr		8
2011	24-Mar			02-Apr		9
2012	21-Mar			01-Apr	28-Mar	7
2013	27-Mar			07-Apr	05-Apr	9
2014	24-Mar			30-Mar		6
2015	02-Apr			06-Apr		4
2016	21-Mar			27-Mar		6
2017	23-Mar			31-Mar		8
2018	21-Mar

Table: Annual arrival date for EJ and the males she mated with. The days between arrivals show the difference between the arrival of EJ and the first male to get to the nest.

EJ first arrived at Loch Garten in June 2003, too late in the season to be able to breed. That year, she stayed in the nest with Henry, the resident male of that time. For the next four years, an intruder male named Orange VS arrived before Henry and mated with EJ. This affair was completely unacceptable to Henry, who ousted the intruder and ejected all the eggs from the nest in 2005 and 2007. Luckily, in 2004 and 2006 EJ hadn't laid the eggs yet, so when she did, Henry accepted them as his own offspring. Henry didn't come back the following year, so EJ mated with again with Orange VS, now honoured with the title of resident male osprey of the Loch Garten nest. That title lasted for only that season, for he didn’t return the following year. From 2009 on, the new resident male was Odin, the longest partner EJ has ever had. They mated for nine consecutive years, including last season. During this time, EJ had another affair with Blue XD for two years, but true love always wins!

If we have a look at the arrival dates, the prize for the fastest male to get to the nest goes to Orange VS, who once even arrived on the same day as EJ! Henry always took his time to come back from Africa, even knowing that another male could be seducing EJ. Odin did not care too much for arriving early in the first five years, arriving between 8 and 11 days after EJ. From the sixth year on he sped up, arriving between 4 and 8 days after her. He might have been trying to arrive before EJ's lover Blue XD, who was faster than him for two years.

Photo: Odin on a perch next to the nest, April 2015. Osprey Centre behind.

As you might know, Odin disappeared last year after the eggs hatched, so we are not expecting to see him back this year. That's the cycle of life, new males have to come and claim the nest! EJ has been alone on her nest for 18 days now, and this is the longest time she has ever waited. The cold weather in Europe might be delaying the arrival of ospreys and other migrant birds, so we are willing to see the spring hatching and with it plenty of wildlife. And a young handsome osprey for our queen!