DAILY UPDATES - Loch Garten nest - June 2019

Morning everyone,

Apologies for the quick message, but it's a busy time here at LG and I'm off to a meeting very shortly, so, in haste...

You will have noticed that the webcam is down. This is as a result of taking advice from Roy Dennis about how we can maximise the chances of a young osprey staking a claim on the LG nest. With the season being such a disappointment so far this year, we are now in the business of trying to encourage a bird here by all the means within our power. Roy has said, amongst other things, to get rid of the cameras on the nest in order to remove possible causes of fright, so this is what is happening today. We have decided to keep the camera on the tower, but to minimise movement so as not to disturb any ospreys. When the work has been done we will start up the tower camera again, but you will not get night vision or be able to read Darvic rings.

We apologise for removing the nest webcam, but we're now well and truly in the business of pulling out all the stops to attract an osprey to claim this most famous of nests, so that 2020 is a successful season, because my goodness, we need it.

We will of course do our best to keep you informed of any arrivals, but please bear with us.

I too am a bit surprised by this decision Alan for the reasons you have said, however I do understand that they are desperate to attract someone to the nest. They are having such a bad year

I am quite surprised as well, I'm not convinced the cameras are the problem, more there just doesn't seem to be many ospreys around to even try out the nest.

I too am surprised but I suppose RD knows best.

Personally I would have thought a total overhaul would have been more appropriate - ie its centre dug out and some branches tied in all around it for lets face it, the osprey tends to be lazy looking for a ready made nest so why not?

I know it would be very sad seeing this but I still see the nest as EJ and Odins, it having "grown" over the years with them but those days are past now and it is time for a new young pair to claim this nest with the opportunity to build and make it their own.

This nest may have been an osprey nest for 60 years but it now is just like any other empty platform erected to attract ospreys.

THere might not be an occupant for 40 years.

The one thing we have learned in recent years that ospreys are mainly interested in occupied nests and their abition is to oust the osprey of their sex. Why wouldn't they? That way they get not only a nest but a partner and are ready for breeding.

After all it was because EJ was ousted from her nest that gave Loch Garten one of its most famous residents.

The other possibility is that a young male two year old from one of the local nests might take a shine to the empty nest.

It would be good to have a camera to see any of these prospecters.

I don't disagree with trying anything to attract osprey to the nest although this action does seem a bit like clutching at straws. I see no harm in changing the variables that can be changed & seeing what happens, the camera being one of the few variables that can be changed.
As a general point of principle though, I do think we humans tend to overstate our knowledge of wild creatures with the result that conjecture quickly becomes fact in our minds.
A while back there was an episode of In our Time on BBC Radio Four about bird migration. The format of this programme is that three renowned experts in any particular field engage in a discussion on the topic at hand in response to questions put to them by the host (Melvyn Bragg). During this particular episode it was very refreshing to hear the experts answering "we just don't know" numerous times in response to questions about migration.
In relation to the situation at LG, we may well just have to also admit "we just don't know" but continue to change the variables that can be changed and hope for the best.
Ian

I am just as mystified and disappointed as any, so all these conjectures are of interest to me. However I wonder whether we will ever know the mind of an osprey in its decision-making regarding nests. Some long-standing nests in the US have gone empty in the past few years too, Blackwater National Refuge being one that has lost its eaglecam and ospreycam nest residents after more than a decade or two of occupation. Yet other nesting locations have cropped up.

EDIT: @Ian S Just after I posted, I saw your post, and you stated coherently my thoughts already!

Didn't we read a story recently about an osprey being spotted in a nest that had not been used for 40 years. Obviously no webcam there, but still no osprey bothered with it. However as has been said, I suppose anything is worth a try.

CC, not so sure about coherent, long-winded maybe :) Ian

Does anyone know how close other active Osprey nests are to the Loch Garten nest? How many years does it take to set up a translocation programme? Might RD and friends consider translocating young Ospreys from other Scottish nests to LG? Could enough volunteers be found locally to support such a programme for as many years as it would take? Or is the entire prospect completely unfeasible and totally ridiculous?