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=IwAR2kWe4ME7376mjq6ymuWf9hAexjCzDe10t5qmfFKmv1itJV5YFfa_gUW9c
A small update on the osprey front. We have been having intermittent visits from ospreys that have been making an appearance early in the morning. Yesterday was a really sunny day and as such attracted the attention of another possibly male osprey to the nest. This season we have seen a slow return for ospreys to nests in the Highlands and so our season has not kicked off with its usual gusto! I have been informed by higher osprey authorities than myself that we should not be worried yet. Many ospreys may be pairing up and this point with solitary ospreys using this as an opportunity to disrupt active nest sites. This is an important process so that the strongest ospreys are breeding within the population. With the Loch Garten nest currently being unoccupied, it does not have the usual allure of a fertile female to bring the boys flying! As it is looking more likely that our EJ has retired from her fruitful career in chick production, we might see a new pair take over the nest. But we might have to be patient to let all the ospreys return and settle down.
Luckily for us this means we have been seeing a wealth of other visitors onto our nest.
It appears to have been a good year for crossbills making them a regular visitor to our nest and around the centre. We have also seen lots of young red squirrels around the centre which is usually linked to a good pine crop over the winter. It is more common to see young red squirrels in July for us, but we have already had many bold squirrels climbing over our feeders.
Special thank you to all the blogger who have been capturing video footage of the visiting ospreys. Your vigilance gives us hope. We will keep you posted with any more osprey news when we get it!
See you all soon,
Fergus
Thank you, Fergus, especially for passing on the wisdom of the Higher Osprey Authorities - we're watching and waiting faithfully, entertained by the little visitors.