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 few days I have found myself tactfully avoiding questions from some of our younger visitors such as "What are the ospreys doing now?" and "Are they playing leapfrog?". Hmmm...if they are, they're not particularly good at it.
EJ and Odin love each other very much
In any case, we hope to have our first egg laid within the next few days. EJ is spending very little time away from the nest, suggesting she is getting ready to lay. She has therefore handed over fishing duties to Odin who has been regularly delivering fresh fish, along with some very nice clumps of grass, mud and lichen for interior decoration of the nest! But moving swiftly on, I hope you feel suitably privileged, dear readers, as you are witness to the grand unveiling of the official team photo for this season. We call it "The Ascent of...Man, look at those idiots!"
Osprey Team 2017 (l-r): Sarah, Fergus, Alice, Ellie, Blair and Chris
What a good looking bunch! I'd like to take this opportunity to begin a series of blogs introducing the 2017 Loch Garten Osprey Team. I'll start with myself and another familiar face followed, over the next couple of days, by the rest of the team.
So, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Chris and this year will be my third full season at LG and the second as Visitor Experience Manager. I first joined the team in 2014, sharing in the excitement of the 60th anniversary celebrations and the fledging of the 100th Loch Garten chick, Millicent. Originally, I'd not looked any further than the 6 months I would be working at LG but here I am, 3 years later, still absolutely delighted to be working in such a magical place and with such incredible birds. Not everyone has a commute that consists of cycling into the Caledonian pine forest! I have only fairly recently come to the world of nature conservation (my undergraduate degree was in Sport Development) and, although this is not strictly relevant to my current job, I'm sure I could help the ospreys improve at leapfrog! Over the past winter I have been busy volunteering with a number of conservation organisations and projects, including conducting a Pine hoverfly survey. You haven't lived until you've walked around a forest, plunging your hand into freezing cold, dirty water, looking for maggots. I've been living the dream. I'm really excited to see what happens over this summer and what adventures lie in wait for EJ, Odin and any potential youngsters. I hope that many of you will come and visit us at some point over the season and those that don't, will continue to follow our amazing ospreys via the webcam. See you soon!
Here's Fergus....
Hello Osprey enthusiasts! I hope you are all as happy as I am to have our ospreys back safe from Africa. For those of you who did not meet me last year, my name is Fergus and this is my second year as part of the LG team. I am a massive fan of trees and pistachios. Ironically, the pistachio tree is fairly low on the list of favourites, with Scots Pine making it into the top ten, obviously. I am also most content when at the top of a hill and so it is great to be back in the Cairngorms with the chance to get away into some of the finest mountains in the UK.
I have spent my winter like the osprey, going south in search of warmer weather and eating a lot of raw fish. I hope however I won’t spend my summer fighting intruders and sitting on eggs… only time will tell. I also paid a visit to the Urdaibai Osprey Centre in Spain to see how the Scottish chicks were getting on with their migration. Urdaibai is truly beautiful and I managed to see my first marsh harrier and spoonbill on that visit. Over the winter I have been attempting to improve my Spanish and have discovered a love for haikus.
What could be better,
Summer north and winter south,
Moving with the sun.
Mi haikus necessitas work, y mi espanol no es good. Gracias Dio no nessesito either trabajar en Loch Garten!
For those of you wondering what has happened to Nimrod. He has found a job in Malta as warden for a salt pan reserve. He will not be returning to Loch Garten this season and he will be missed. For anyone affected by this, we will be holding a support group every Wednesday.
Nimrod - gone, but definitely NOT forgotten
Recently, we have observed a cheeky crow hanging around the nest in the hope of stealing some fish plus, as Chris mentioned (sort of), we have also seen lots of mating attempts! So lets get our predictions in early of when we think we are going to see the first egg.
That’s it from me. If you are in the centre, come and say hey. I will see most of you on Wednesday I guess!