Well it is 1st May and the osprey season is flying along.
The weather was remarkably clement up until recently but then we saw EJ have to cope with record quantities of snow. Interestingly there was similar snow 36 years ago in late April so we may not see the likes again.
This was remarkable in that a very high percentage of the adult ospreys returned. It was certainly a change from normal in that the sadness of big name birds not returning.
There was also the good news that Clarach (hatched Dyfi 2013 and ringed blue 2R) Even better she has gone up to Scotland and found herself a partner. People are excited to follow this development.
Blue UV is back in Britain and it will be interesting to see if he can nest this year.
There was the great news that Blue S6 a two year old hatched at Rutland was back on 25th April. This is a record early return.
Will she emulate 06 (01) in 2003 and bring up chicks?
Lots of eggs are being incubated and first hatching day is around Thursday 11 May.
As usual all the osprey news will appear in The Osprey News Bulletin
Tiger Signature
Thanks for the summary and the new thread, Tiger. It is amazing and a huge relief that such a large percentage of the publicly known adults have returned and that except for the recent snow and cold there have been no major Osprey dramas so far, though that may change when more 2 and 3 year olds return. Fingers crossed for them all. I'm so pleased that Clarach seems to have settled on a nest with a camera!
Kind regards, Ann
There have been one or two three year olds sighted that were not seen as two year olds.
Check out this terrific photo in the Loch of Kinnordy's latest blog - it features a male marsh harrier and an osprey. Beautiful!
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
Thanks CLARE Beautiful picture
Heaven forbid that we actually need another camera to watch, but I have come across one in France! At Mardié (Loiret). An interesting article, here, and the live webcam, 08.00 to 20.00hr, here. Sylva the female is with a new male, Reda. The nest was first used in 2013, but failed. I she is sitting on three eggs. Sylva raised three chicks in 2014, two in 2015, but last year heavy rain meant that only one chick survived.
Birdie's DU Summaries 2018 https://www.imagicat.com/
Hatching is now getting very close
See hatching countdown clocks
Thank you Tiger.
Birdies LG DU update.
Having read that Cousteau has been seen at Aviemore Lochan, reported on 8 May.
I checked the Urdaibai site which suggested Cousteau was still in Senegal on 1 May. Surely he could not fly back to Scotland in such a short time?
SheilaFE said: Having read that Cousteau has been seen at Aviemore Lochan, reported on 8 May. "Aviemore Ospreys 8 May at 20:49 · Think we had four Ospreys fish this morning, PP7 is back." I checked the Urdaibai site which suggested Cousteau was still in Senegal on 1 May. Surely he could not fly back to Scotland in such a short time?
You do mean Cromarty? (that is the problem with names) :)
So the hatching has started. Pity that the weather has deteriorated.