Osprey Chat Thread for May 2014

Well May has arrived and it is the month that we expect to see see osprey chicks. 

At Loch Garten it has been unusually routine. Just nest building, mating, egg laying and incubating. Very unusual for Loch Garten where there is usually one drama or other. 

This year we were able to see Blue XD on his migration but he was hopelessly outpaced by Odin this year and he was also closely followed by his wife Green J.

I am led to believe that there is a male at Twin Cities Metro who has two nests. I wonder how he will get on.

As thought likely  5R at Rutland did not return. There is sadness that such a wonderful osprey will no longer be with us. I will never forget how he was the first osprey hatched in England to return for 150 years.  I personally followed his hatching and growing up too  

Still 5R was the only major casualty of the migration so it has been an excellent season so far.

Lady got on with laying eggs and preparing for a new lot of chicks.

At Dyfi there was huge drama. A new young female called Blue 24 (an osprey hatched at site O Rutland in 2010)  arrived and took possession of the nest. She was later joined by Dai Dot a known male and they proceeded to set up nest together. 

Then on 9th April Monty turned up and evicted Dai Dot and got friendly with Blue 24. On 10th April Glesni turned up and initially failed in her attempts to evict Blue 24. It took five days for Glesni to evict Blue 24 and harmony to be restored on the Dyfi nest.

At Manton Bay 5R is being sorely missed. The female now named Maya paired up with 28 (10) a male hatched at site B. A clutch of eggs was laid but a male osprey called 33 (11) turned up and created mayhem causing the nest to be lost and 28 (10) apparently driven off. What will happen now is anyone's guess.

Everywhere else appears to be quiet.

Blue YD caused great excitement by starting his journey north. how long will he take. We should know his latest position later today. 

So May should bring lots of excitement. 

Oh and imagicat  our osprey data site has had a makeover so that it should work better on tablets and smart phones