We have reached SEPTEMBER, the month which gives us the sad task of adjusting to empty nests. The end of the 2014 Osprey Season is upon us. And already, even as we were celebrating in our hearts the closing of a near perfect season at Loch Garten, we were SHOCKED into awareness of the difficulties facing our juveniles as they start their inevitable migration to warmer climates. Our Seasca already has been lost over the Bay of Biscay, Once again one of our precious chicks is “lost – presumed dead.” Even as we mourn Seasca we hope and pray for a safe journey for Millicent, who has after taking a bit of a back-and-forth stop-over in England, arrived safely in Spain. Also our good wishes are with the baby of the family, Druie. For those who have taken Druie to heart as a favorite, the parting is especially difficult, for she is not sat tagged and so the farewells are now permanent, with only a faint hope that her wee blue ring may one day be spotted and identified.
So what does September and the winter hold for THE GABFEST? As Fish and Keith have so recently pointed out, The Gabfest has changed. We have dropped in numbers and more importantly we have pretty much lost that all-important special GABFEST SPIRIT which embodied fun, cooperation and friendship as we discussed every aspect of the osprey which after all are our reason for being, along with any topic which struck our fancy. Many times during the past year and especially the past months I have thought The Gabfest was doomed to extinction. But we are still here.
Will we make it through the winter or even through September? Will there be enough of us to share a few long winter evenings with some good music? Will anybody be interested in the fun and camaraderie of a few group streetwalks? What about Christmas Cakes? Will we have a Bake-Off this year? If we do, it will be our third. I hope all these questions will be answered with a yes, but only time will tell
I myself plan to follow Millicent’s migration with close-up maps and, so long as it is available, streetwalking. Where there are no blue streets for my little man to settle on, perhaps I can find some photos of local scenes. Also more of Seasca and other Loch Garten birds, as well as tracks of osprey from other nests. But why let me have all the fun? I hope this is something we will all participate in together, whether it be to post maps or streetwalks of your own OR to comment on those posted by myself or others OR to make requests, as Ann already has.
It is going to be a long cold EMPTY winter so lets light the GABFEST FIRES in the fireplace of our Gabfest chat room and all gather in to have a good time. Who knows, we just might rekindle that wonderful old GABFEST SPIRIT of fun, goodwill and gab.
There is a new blog on Millie's latest movements. Here
© Scottish Wildlife Trust - Loch of the Lowes
Hi, Starling Thanks for your news about Longaig. Any Osprey news from Tweet or Facebook is appreciated here as many of us do not follow these sites and are loosing out as a result.
I myself do not follow tweet at all and have no intention of ever doing so. And I do only limited participation in Facebook.
Good afternoon all. Just read the new blog by Richard, thankyou Starling! I wish her and all our ospreys a safe journey! How we worry about them! I always wonder how they know how far to go and how do they know where Home is? Dear Millie being the 100 chick maybe she and breagh will return.
Thankyou for the news on the incredible flight of Longaig! June I too do not follow twitter and have tried once but really didnt know how to do it!! Also do not have Facebook, but might join just to get news of other nests such as Glaslyn and Dyfi.
Hi June & Willow - I do not do facebook, but the way things are going these days it's looking very much like I will have to next year. A lot of sites post information that I miss, however knowing my luck I will join and everyone will have moved onto the next thing.
I will bring forward Ann's question/request-for-info here, as it is an interesting one.
"Does anyone know if there are any Osprey nests on the Isle of Man?"
I'm sure we all understand that Ann is not asking anyone to reveal undisclosed information about any nest. However, if anyone can give us general knowledge, it would be appreciated by myself and I believe by others as well.
Keith might know the answer to that one June.
That he might, Fish. Keith is indeed a vast encyclopedia of Osprey (and other} knowledge and very generous in sharing it with us.
However, we should not be entirely dependent on him for all our osprey facts. I'm sure there are others as well who know the yes or no answer to this question - maybe even residents of The Isle of Man. Wouldn't it be wonderful
(Aahhh, my favorite Wilde Mountain Thyme! on WOBO! Love it)
But as I was saying, wouldn't it be wonderful to hear from a resident of this lovely island with discreet information about the osprey situation there.
This of course is not meant to discourage Keith from answering. In fact two or more answers would be great. Two or more answers could make a "discussion" and what we need is a discussion, moreso than an "answer".
Are there any public domain nests that a visitor to the Island could approach and enjoy?. Are there any "wild" nests, whose whereabouts shall remain undisclosed?
I am not sure why residents of The Isle of Mull would be able to answer if ospreys nest on the Isle of Man.
Ospreys regularly migrate or pass over the Isle of Man and many are recorded. However I do not know if there are any nesting pair(s) on the Island.
Too much osprey news today to be able to post it all - it has taken me some part of this evening to gather it all in.
Thank you Keith.