DAILY UPDATES - Loch Garten nest - August to cam shut-down 2019

The season continues almost as it started - devoid of ospreys, but now we are even devoid of an empty nest.  Should we feel sorry for ourselves we should think of the VC staff and volunteers, whose cam connection was taken down by lightning.

Here's hoping there will be good news today.

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In memoriam:


  • Thank you SHEILA How wonderfulto see ospreys over this legendry nest
  • That gives some hope for 2020, now how many days do we have to wait.....
  • Exciting indeed.
    I'm not sure how many of you spotted this link on the Poole Harbour thread. It's to the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation website and 2 fascinating podcasts about the Poole Harbour translocation project - and much more. Worth a listen - and more podcasts to come. One of the things Roy talks about in the second podcast is the impact of population size/density on the breeding age of returning 'first breeding' ospreys. Young translocated ospreys 'heft' (like sheep) to their new area of release, and return there hopefully 2/3 years later and breed earlier than they might in the area they were hatched in as there's less competition. I wonder if numbers in the Loch Garten area have now 'peaked' and that's why it's been a disappointing year (beyond the non-return of EJ).

    Read more here too.

    With thanks to Valerie and Alison for posting the links in the first place.

  • Evening, All. Many thanks for all of the pics and posts.
    Just a couple of related things:
    1. This may have been publicised already and I've not had a chance to take in the podcasts yet so this may be mentioned there. The woman who did the flight with Swans on her microlight, Sacha Dench, will be doing one along the Osprey migration route at some point--I've forgotten if it is next year or the following. She met Tim Mackrill at a conference and the rest is history.
    2. By chance, today I met the lovely man who ringed EJ at her natal nest. He's been ringing birds since the early 1980s and has no plans to stop any time soon. When I mentioned that some people were distressed that they had not heard of any of EJ's chicks being seen back in the UK, he said he had seen one of her chicks, a female , breeding on a nest somewhere else in Scotland but did not say which chick nor just where. Does anyone know which bird that was?

    Kind regards, Ann

  • Thanks Gardenbirder - what an eventful day you've had.

    I haven't a clue which female chick but Garten always come to mind for I was so sure she would be back. But I wonder who and how LG have never heard about it! You must have exceptionally self control Ann for I could not have constrained myself from trying to prise the info out of him :-)

    One for the team!
  • How wonderful for you Ann, to meet and speak with the man who ringed our beautiful EJ. As you say he has ringed many birds but he must feel so proud to have been able to have done that, not knowing then of course how famous she would turn out to be!

    Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

  • There is nothing secret about who ringed EJ. Just look at the bottom of Page 22 Life of Ospreys by Roy Dennis.

  • I think Ann, (Gardenbirder) was hoping to find out which chick Keith was referring to which is now a breeding female?
    Does this have to be a secret?
  • Mike, that is also my understanding of Ann's post about her chat with the ringer. Ian
  • Simply TERRIFIC news. Thank you so much Gardenbirder. I got here via Scylla belatedly but so glad I did