It seems to me that the lack of ospreys at Loch Garten is a serious one that may need a lot of thinking about. Not only is there an empty nest but an empty visitor centre. There may need to be serious strategic thinking in order to ensure that this problem is solved and stays solved.
It would seem that the RSPB may need to put a camera on another nest and use that in the short term.
In the longer term they may need more imaginative solutions.
Maybe this is the chance for the highly knowledgable community here to give their ideas.
Tiger Signature
I think that the idea mooted on LG earlier re making the nest more attractive by getting rid of the grass & tying in some edging sticks is reasonable, might attract a passing Osprey & fool it into thinking it's an active one to usurp! Plus leave cam in situ to know what's happening!
Am only 70 miles from London so may here an explosion when Scylla reads this!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Birdies LG DU update.
Unknown said:There were 248 ospreys ringed in 2016. This fell to 198 in 2017 for whatever reason. BTO have not updated their site for 2018 yet so we dont know if this trend is continuing. Could be population reduction in some areas, I know Tweed Valley were down to 5 nests last year.
Hi Alan, useful information but should there not be a caveat that there will be osprey born in 2016, 2017 & 2018 that were not ringed?
In terms of overall population, without sounding like an actuary, mortality rates would need to be factored in which I would suspect is nearly impossible to do.
Ian
ChrisyB said:I agree that the presence of a camera should not be a main deterent for ospreys to take to a nest, as far as we have seen. The fish pond would definitely help, see the popularity of Esthwaite water , a trout stocked lake, and the several nests inhabited around the Estuaries in S Lakeland. The colony has been building up over recent years. However, it is a bit puzzling why there are not more nests around Bassenthwaite, being a shallow and productive lake.
With Loch Insh & the River Spey, not to mention the fish farm (can't remember the name) all relatively close, I would be surprised if lack of available food was a major factor. Ian
A slight clue that ospreys like to be near their fish is that the three nest moves made over the years by Bassenthwaite ospreys all brought them ever nearer to the lake!
Edit - Sorry, that does not exactly help in this case does it!
Richard B