sometimes a sense of humor and a bit of music helps.
www.youtube.com/watch
JUNE - I thought you would be like me and have given up on this nest by now.
I would recommend viewing Loch of the Lowes.
I was up there this morning in the hide early before opening.
Whilst I was there the female LF15 stood up to reveal her two - days old chicks. She stood back and picked up half a fish from the nest (must have been delivered before I got there) and started feeding the two of them. Still one egg to hatch maybe tomorrow or Monday.
Its just over 30 minutes from the house so convenient to pop up when I wish especially as the hide is open 24/7 allowing early morning viewing and dusk viewing with hope of more wildlife on the loch especially the beavers who come out just before dusk.
In one way Keith, I have given up on Loch Garten nest, certainly for this 2018 season and maybe forever. For a very few days back there somewhere I had hopes of enjoying a bobblehead or two this year then watching them thru to migration. But those hopes quickly faded and for some time it has been obvious that we have another failed season. In another way I will never give up on EJ & Loch Garten nest, just as I have not given up on The Gabfest. As long as I am here at all, Loch Garten will be "my" nest.
Keith & Ann, I understand what you are telling me about the overall picture.
1. When I was a child, we had a colony of martins. We enjoyed their activities during the day. Then some evenings they disappeared until almost dark, when all 30 or 40 of them would fly back home together. Other evenings the numbers would double or triple and I just know they had visitors from neighboring colonies. They were a true delight until foreign starlings moved in and destroyed their nests and within 2 years we had no more martins.
2. Bluebirds, Eagles and other birds were almost destroyed by use of the pesticide DDT, until the problem was discovered in time to correct the situation and save the various species.
3. In my own backyard We enjoyed Whip-poor-wills & Bob Whites (Quails) until two bad winters in a row wiped them out entirely from this area.
4. I enjoyed many birds at my own back door - doves, chickadees, titmouse, sparrows, cardinals, blue jays, woodpeckers, flickers, goldfinch,etc. Until the squirrels decided to move in and take over. Some of these birds are still in the trees, but don't come in close enough for me to enjoy. Also as this area changes from rural farm to suburban & shopping centers birds have been displaced.
I am saddened as these species leave my life and rejoice to know that these birds are making a comeback (bluebirds, eagles, martins) or are surviving in other areas (Bob Whites). But my main point is that never have I formed an attachment for any individual bird of any of these species or shed any tears at their loss.
KEITH, if I have been understanding you correctly through the years, this is how you view osprey.
On the other hand, it has been my experience that one pet cannot be replaced with a similar animal.
I once had a cat that I lived with, played with, took care of. When I lost it, no way could it be replaced. Eventually another small kitten crawled onto my lap and into my heart, but it was not replacement.
Then there was our pretty little yellow parakeet who looked like a canary, but talked up a storm instead of singing. When we lost our Tweety due to old age, someone gave us a replacement. No way was that beautiful parakeet a joy, just a nuisance. I gave him away within the week. I was still crying over Tweety and did not want just any parakeet.
This is the way I feel about EJ & Odin, Wee Yin, Deshar, Garten, Ozwold, Caledonia & a few others. They cannot b replaced by "the big picture" no matter how much I rejoice at their success.
I will probably look in more often at other nests and see what happens.
I just had a private message on facebook from a dear friend who does not post on Gabfest, but is a faithful osprey fan. She reminded me that she started at the same time I did and the same as I did with the LG nest. She wrote to let me know that she agrees with me about never deserting EJ and the Loch Garten nest. So good to have someone who understands.
June, I hope I am able to understand and empathise with how you feel without feeling completely the same all of the time, if you see what I mean. I have had to try not to get too attached to various creatures because I know that only leads to dismay. However, I do not always succeed and have shed a few tears over a few pets and now and then the occasional Osprey. When I was a child we were told that we could make pets of the chickens but that we needed to remember that we were raising them in order to have meat to put in the freezer to feed us. This meant that I had to hand over my pet chickens for my father to end their lives and we then had chicken for most Sunday lunches for the next 6 months or thereabouts and this went on for some years. When you grow up on a farm you view some animals from a bit of a different perspective although that does not mean that farmers do not love their animals--most love them very much, but they are forced to also be pragmatic about the final end of most and possibly all of their cherished animals. However, now in my old age when I am not on a farm I am becoming soppier and soppier and would find it hard to do that now. When an Osprey nest that I am following encounters problems I tend to spend less time watching that one, simply to spare myself further pain! The LG nest was one of my first two Osprey nests and Odin and EJ and their pair of sons that year (Oighrig and Breagha in 2013) will always remain very special for me. And although I was not yet watching the nest when Caledonia and her sister hatched and fledged, I mourned when Caledonia met her unfortunate end which happened after I started following Ospreys. As some folk said in the 60s, 'Keep on keeping on!'
Kind regards, Ann