Daily Update ~ Loch Garten Nest ~ Sunday, 10 May 2015

I too have many questions about the reports of Odin fishing there. A number of male ospreys look alike (as witnessed at Loch Garten this week) and there is also the fact that most reports are in retrospect. Loch Vaa is a far more likely fishing spot for Odin - and the Spey.

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There is one helpful, but not infallible aid to determining the identity of the successful 'fisher', or perhaps to rule out certain males would be better. The male, having caught a fish, and then done his dog roll to shake off excess water, invariably sets off on a direct course to his nest. Anyone seeing an osprey fish successfully, if armed with a map and compass, should be able to work out the direction of the nest from the fishing grounds. It works.

[/quote]Thank you, CRinger. What is the case when they don't have a nest - that is an "intruder" or osprey with 'no fixed abode' ?

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There is some evidence that these intruders then 'do the rounds' of local nests, attempting to harry weaker birds off the nests. I am sure they are well aware of the locations of most of the nests in Strathspey. In 2004 when EJ was dive-bombed virtually every morning at dawn by another female there was some evidence that the intruder then tried the same tactic at other local nests. I see no reason why this should not also apply to males.

[/quote]So, in relation to an Odin lookalike osprey (which we've now seen for two years at  Loch Garten) it seems feasible that he could fish at a local loch and set off in the same direction as the real Odin would if he were to fish at that same loch? 

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Entirely possible. The LG nest is roughly NE of e.g. the fish farm at Rothiemurchus, If a bird set off anywhere from East through to North West it is doubtful they would be heading to the LG nest. Henry in particular, and indeed Ollie before him, always took the same path NE when I studied them.