Some history of the BALGAVIES LOCH OSPREYS.
It is a SWT Nature Reserve near Forfar, Angus, Scotland. There is no webcam on the nest, and there is no Visitor Centre, only a small Hide with limited car parking spaces.
MALE - GREEN BF - RINGED HADDO 11 JULY 2004 - FIRST SEEN AT BALGAVIES IN 2008
ONE OF DARREN'S LAST PHOTOS OF GREEN BF FROM 2018
FEMALE - WHITE UF - RINGED CLUNIE CASTLE 9 JULY 2009 - RING NUMBER 1428309 (SHE DID NOT RETURN TO THE NEST IN 2017)
Remembering the lovely WHITE UF
FEMALE - UNRINGED - OCCUPIED THE NEST IN 2017 - and produced a brood of three.
BLUE YD - RUNG AND SATELLITE TAGGED BY K. BROCKIE AND ROY DENNIS 17 JULY 2012
He has been sighted several times in the Eden Estuary and also Balgavies in the last few years
ALL SUBSEQUENT BROODS HAVE NOT BEEN RINGED.
LINK TO BALGAVIES LOCH OSPREYS 2018
LINK TO BALGAVIES LOCH OSPREYS 2017
LINK TO BALGAVIES LOCH OSPREYS 2016
LINK TO BALGAVIES LOCH OSPREYS 2015
LINK TO BALGAVIES LOCH OSPREYS 2014
LATEST POST FROM BALGAVIES LOCH OSPREYS FACEBOOK PAGE - CHANCE TO GUESS DATES OF ARRIVAL OF GREEN BF AND MRS GREEN BF
ANOTHER SNIPPET OF INFORMATION THAT CAME TO LIGHT LAST YEAR WAS.....
EJ's Memorial Balgavies Loch Ospreys 2023
Birdies LG DU update.
Unknown said:Oh Mary, this is sooooo sad. But thanks anyway, Mary and Darren, for keeping us informed. After my first Osprey nest watching season I decided it was probably a matter of self preservation to try to keep track of numerous nests, principally to offset the heartbreak of a tragedy on one or a few nests with the calm, successful, non-eventful season on other nests. They say that getting attached to things/people/places/animals/ is bad for us but I fear it is all too human to do just that and sorrow is often the result--I know it all too well. So a doctor might recommend that we all have a look at a few nests which are still doing well, and my fingers are crossed in hopes that the rest of the season is boringly normal at the majority of the other nests with cameras!
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Hi Ann
I suppose the head should tell me that this is nature and these tragedies happen, but I find it hard not to get attached to them, so special Ospreys, especially EJ and Green BF, and I suppose lots of other favourites too, but there are always a few special ones, so to lose EJ and what is looking like Green BF as well all in one year, its hard not to let it get to you.
As I sit at my computer this is what looks at me, and now if Green BF doesn't turn up, all three are gone.
It is very raw at the moment, and I cannot see me giving up Osprey following, because they are such fascinating and iconic birds to watch, but this season has been very very hard.
Morning Patily and Mike
Yes Odin was gone for 5 days in 2015, after being bombarded by intruders.
So still not giving up hope of Green BF turning up. However he hasn't been seen at all for a few days now. :-(
Mary, Your two photos are gorgeous and I wish I had copies of them! I understand all too well about becoming attached to certain Ospreys; I do it myself despite knowing I should resist. Lady, EJ and Odin were my very first special Ospreys, followed quickly by Monty, Glesni and Blue 24 and by the Glaslyn and Rutland birds and many other Ospreys. I also became attached to the two chicks which EJ and Odin had in my first nest watching season. It was after losing first Oighrig and then Breagha (when it seemed that he might actually survive to have his own nest) that I found it necessary to branch out, so to speak! Can't recall off hand if both Alba and Caledonia from an earlier year were also lost about the same time as well as Ceulan (from the Dyfi nest, another chick from a year before I began following Ospreys) being lost and then his Mum, Rutland-born Nora, not having returned in 2013, resulting in the violent battles between Glesni and Blue 24--all of these together told me quite early on that Osprey life was rife with tragedy and violence and to try to treasure the good bits in between the violence while remembering that the old saying is true, sadly. Nature is red in tooth and claw.
Kind regards, Ann
MARY, I've just found out how much I've been missing by not keeping up with this thread. Especially Darren's s-u-p-e-r-b photographs. I need to take a holiday to absorb it all. Thank you so much for passing on the treasures.
I think you speak for a lot of us CATLADY, but I don't spread out like you do, just not capable.
IMAGICAT
Darren just posted that crows are in nest now, probably eating whats left of eggs.
Mike posted photos from last night too
LINK HERE
Ann you would think I would be used to it by now as all those that you mention I remember too well, when Nora didn’t come back I felt ao sad.
I need to toughen up I think.
It looks like we wont be seeing young at Balgvies this year, as Darren said no sign of intruders now.
It is felt that these could be the same intruders as the ones at Loch of the Lowes.
I don't think I ever get used to it.. Every year is full of anxiety, worry, and a heartbreak of some sort. it makes me wonder why I put myself through it again and again, but then there is also a lot of joy so I keep watching.
© Scottish Wildlife Trust - Loch of the Lowes