Hi to all those who watch during the night. EJ seems settled and appears to be dozing off. All as it should be. Only one fish delivered again yesterday but it was big!!!!!!!!!! Odin brought it in whole, EJ went off with it and came back after having her share and presented Odin with the rest. Lovely.
Night, night till the morning.
http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/wildlife-webcams/loch-of-lowes/
RSPB Giving Nature a Home
Try to put another pic on of EJ with her colourful moss:
DRAT !!
Morning, DjoanS : at least you got a picture to come on here. Glad you're here as I have been sitting here & am not dressed yet! (hope no-one comes to the front door!) Perhaps you could look in on the nest for a while whilst I go sort myself out!
I have it on good authority (EJ's) that red moss makes the warmest blankets for tucking around you to keep the eggs or chicks snug and warm on these cold nights! ;-)
Smiles, Jan.
Morning all, late logging on. it still looks like there is a bit of snow on the edges of the nest. As you say, lovely red moss on the nest. I'll try and get pic on this blog for you Lindybird. Thanks for the great pics already. She is alert and looking round, doing a bit of preening and hoping breakfast won't be long!!
Sun is out at LG at last but for how long. EJ looks great. Can hear birdsong in the background so radio chaffinch is on the air again..
I'm getting everyone's pictures to come up, but not all the avatars are showing... strange, but I remember we had disappearing pictures (now you see them ... now you don't!) a few weeks ago!
Joan - avid bird and nature watcher in Northumberland!
Index Thread
Unknown said: Ej is very alert, looking about. Poor dear has snow on her tail feathers - she seems to be calling - I can see her shaking periodically - but I can't hear anything; just the usual background twitters and the buzz. Can anyone explain why birds would leave the warmth of another climate to have chicks in such a chilly place? OK, so they like the long days, but how does that affect mating and reproduction? Uh oh. She's getting up and fussing with the eggs; now settling down again. Come on Odin, think EJ could do with a break.
Ej is very alert, looking about. Poor dear has snow on her tail feathers - she seems to be calling - I can see her shaking periodically - but I can't hear anything; just the usual background twitters and the buzz. Can anyone explain why birds would leave the warmth of another climate to have chicks in such a chilly place? OK, so they like the long days, but how does that affect mating and reproduction? Uh oh. She's getting up and fussing with the eggs; now settling down again. Come on Odin, think EJ could do with a break.
Annette: Why here? All this way to reproduce! Many have asked this good question. I am no expert, but as you say the daylight duration is the key. Here is the daylilght by latitude, LG is approx 57 deg and Guinea Bisseau about 12, let's say. 50% more daylight approx and the birds are usually active in dusk/dawn to maximise the time to rear their young, so it will be interesting this year to estimate the gap between the chicks digesting their last meal of the day and receiving their breakfast, the next.
http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/animations/coordsmotion/daylighthoursexplorer.html
What I find fascinating, apart from the migration aspect, which is my favourite, is the rapid growth of the chicks, with almost constant feeding, over a daylight period of 50% plus compared to African locations. They develop from the egg hatching at a weight of ?grams, not very much anyway, to young juveniles at the fledging , then migration stage, to a weight in excess of 1500 grams approx in about 100 days, from say late May to late August. Phew, that is some going, comparison to human development is pretty near impossible in that timescale, we are still not managing to have proper bones, by then, only soft ones! Watch out for the 'reptilian' stage that the chicks go though for a few days, which shows the traces of avian evolution very well, from their ancient ancestors.
Fascinating stuff. So I think rather than just the mating and reproduction, it is the growth opportunities, afforded by the fishing hours in the day, that drives the migration north. In round numbers, if they could manage say 20 hours max per day for 100 days, less a bit for the time that the parents stop feeding the chicks, to encourage them to fish for themselves, so maybe 20 x 90, would be better, that's 1800 hours of food supply.
I'm sure that others may wish to add to or comment on the above. With that in mind I shall copy this to one of the blogs that I started last year, to keep the subject in view, as it could be lost on the daily pages. Now I just have to remember what the blog was called! I shall look for it, after a cup of coffee.
ChloeB & Tiger's Osprey Data Site
Sat track schedule Spring 2014
LG 7 days; RW & SWT nil; LDOP varies
jsb: thanks for interesting info. I have also been fascinated by the rapid growth of the chicks, as well as their ability to migrate so soon after fledging. Good idea to post the info elsewhere.
Glad that some of you can see the pics put on recently - for some reason, I can see the pics posted by others but not by myself! Here is one of EJ arriving with the red moss, hope you can see it:
jsb Just to throw a spanner in the works, migrating north to breed clearly isn't essential though, as ospreys can and do breed around the Mediterranean (Corsica, Majorca, Morocco and now southern Spain) on the Canary Islands and I believe even the Cape Verde islands. I know some of these populations aren't thriving, but that's more down to loss of habitat and past persecution. I wonder if the period to fledging/independence is longer in these places?
jsb - fascinating information about the osprey chicks .... I am learning something new almost every day on these blogs!
Lindybird - your pics are there for me ... but not your avatar!
Sue C - thanks for info about the Mediterranean and other ospreys breeding further south - all interesting facts to file away in my brain :-)