Keith and Ann closed last month with some lovely chat and osprey news. It is this kind of coverage that we must have if The Gabfest is to be able to continue.
The Gabfest does have a purpose - a reason for being. That purpose is to educate about wildlife in general and ospreys in particular. We do that by following the osprey we care about with pictures and narrative, and by entertaining ourselves with other topics of interest to us. If we are interested others probably will be also. They will thus be drawn to our site where they will get to know the osprey we love.
Pictures are not necessary to make an interesting post. I was hooked before I ever saw a cam simply by reading the entries on The Main Blog. They did not use pictures then. Through the years many Gabbers have added to our thread with simple observations and comments.. The posts of one Gabber in particular are greatly missed. SUGAR'S early morning observations of the Loch Garten nest were a joy to read.
It is to be hoped that we can have many reports, comments and observations this summer, both with and without pictures, as we enjoy the antics of our favorite osprey.
If the above link doesn't work for you Google this: Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch
This organization is in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area, USA. Besides the article being interesting in general, I found a couple of noteworthy comments: "They are an indicator species and therefore their status reveals much about the health of our environment." and "Their behavior changes as their population increases."
Unknown said: "decency" - a very humanistic word, don't you think?
"decency" - a very humanistic word, don't you think?
As the article also goes on to read - "We should not project our anthropomorphic moralistic ideas upon these birds" therefore the word decency does not exist.
For those who do not have Facebook the full article can be found here on Vanessa's own site.
POLYGYNY at Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch
I think the female osprey at Glaslyn has buried the egg she laid yesterday.
I think she knew from the beginning this egg was not viable.
Oh, Keith, what a shame. Your post was lovely just as it was originally. :)
How close together are the two Dyfi nests? and how close to the Dyfi river which I believe is the source of their food.
I notice that in the one instance of two nests thriving, each nest was on either side of the river within sight of each other. Therefore, the food source presumably was close at hand to both nests.
Well, as Richard said "we don't count our osprey until they are hatched". Better to loose a new egg, than a wee bobblehead or bigger chick.
I do miss Richard. I miss mostly his frequent word pictures, which to me seemed so real that I could almost see what he was describing. Another thing I miss the way he would lecture us on not humanizing the osprey, then in the next blog (if not the next paragraph)he himself would be humanizing them more than I ever do. Very amusing and I miss him.
JUNE - My post was not lovely as it was :(:(
The nests at Dyfi are very close together and in fact the nest which Blue 24 is using is nearer to the 360 degree observatory than Glesni's nest.
Here is a view that DOP put up a few days ago.
This is probably the post I remember most from Richard. I followed Deshar that day every hour as we could then loosing speed and altitude and then zero speed and negative altitude.
RSPB Scotland Site Manager at Loch Garten Richard Thaxton said "We're very sad to have lost Deshar, we are gutted, but it just goes to show what mirgrant birds face when they make these epic journeys. As newly fledged birds, they venture out into the unknown, they have to contend with harsh weather and disorientation and this shows how easily things can go wrong for them. Deshar appears to have flown nigh-on 2000 miles non-stop as he desperately tried to find landfall. The satellite data showed, unknown to him of course, that he was heading for the Azores, but he missed the islands and continued on out into mid-Atlantic and he eventually just ran out of fuel, poor fellow"
Off now to get some dinner and drink Vin de la Loire.
DESHAR - a very special osprey, very high on my favorites list.
In fact, one might say that Deshar and sister Nethy introduced me to The World of Ospries. I had just found the Loch Garten blog and hoped to follow the two juveniles on their migration to Africa. Instead they settled down for a stopover in adjacent parts of England. Then when Deshar did move on, he followed the English Channel out to sea and instead of turning south he just kept going. Bless his heart. An amazing osprey never to be forgotten