LOCH GARTEN Daily Obs & Captures MAY 2021

On the 15th of March the 360 cam went live and an Osprey landed on the nest.  It didn't take too long for a pair to begin bonding:

Male: BlueAX6 "Axel" - Ringed at a nest in Glen Affric on 1st July 2016, he was the only survivor of 3 eggs.

Female: Unringed "Mistle" - a very beautiful specimen, according to our long view.

(Unofficial names - LG will decide on names if deemed appropriate.)

This inexperienced couple is bonding well - Axel has been a good provider, they're both enthusiastic nestbuilders, the only element that requires more work is the mating technique.

EDIT 01 JUNE - Axel & Mistle deserted the nest in May, apparently spooked by intruders.  As there has been very little activity since then, this thread will continue to the end of the 2021 season, unless dictated otherwise by ospreys.

Photo ©RSPB LochGarten

Cam info kindly provided by Peter @ Carnyx.tv:

There is an identical camera and microphone on this nest as the HD camera at Llyn Clywedog (Osprey). However the nest was struck by lightning. This took out the camera, the camera power supply and the WiFi link back to the centre. We managed to replace the power supply and Wifi but it was too late in the season to climb to the nest.

IMAGICAT

  • SheilaFE said:
    Is that how the 24/7 watch evolved?

    Nooooo. The 24/7 watch started in 1956! - on the LG nest. The nest I talked about in my last post was not the LG nest. This was in the 1990s when there were a few score of nests in Scotland, many on private land and few protected 24/7.

    Some people think Ospreys are a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that. 

  • SheilaFE said:

    Here is a vid made in 2014 when EJ and Henry the pair on the nest.  Some of the footage is not at LG nor of LG birds, but I think you will recognised the odd-bird-out nest!  Richard Thaxton was the former Warden, who wrote regular blogs and updates, and was full of enthusiasm about the nest.  He was often seen at the VC mingling with visitors.  He was Jess's predecessor.  I had a week as a volunteer in 2010, with warm clothes and a sleeping bag for the two night shift I did!  There is a lovely shot of EJ when Claire was reporting from the Forward Hide with the magnificent German binoculars on the shelf.  The FH has been upgraded since I was there, and has the luxury of a microwave and safer heating I believe.  Les will be able to confirm!  Enjoy

    For those who have not seen, or want to know more about Henry and EJ here is a video made of the now infamous 2004 season. This is all taken from LG.

    Some people think Ospreys are a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that. 

  • FISH !!! !!! !!!

    Oh!  Now I'm not so sure that it wasn't a stick Thinking

    IMAGICAT

  • Good morning. I see we have a closeup of the nest now along with some sound, affording a lovely view of the new reigning couple. Long may they reign.

    Imagicat || Tiger's links || 2022 LG Obs

  • Mistle took off, leaving Axel to potter as he wont to do.

    Imagicat || Tiger's links || 2022 LG Obs

  •  So say I, CC Blush

    scylla said:
    Now I'm not so sure that it wasn't a stick

    It was a fish:

    She took a long time to fly with it due to attractions in the sky - but when she flew it was towards us so we didn't see the fish then.

    01 MAY - MATING RATINGS from 05:00 to 10:30

    Hours of work, won't be doing it again !!!  And I didn't find a fish the whole day, as all suspected.

    IMAGICAT

  • I believe this is him moving food down from his crop.

    Imagicat || Tiger's links || 2022 LG Obs

  • Either that or coughing up a pellet of bones and scales. In any event a glorious shot! 10/10 CC!

    Some people think Ospreys are a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that. 

  • Unknown said:
    I believe this is him moving food down from his crop

    What's known as a "crop drop" (here, anyway Wink ).

    IMAGICAT

  • There's a new blog post from Thomas.

    He actually does manage to mention ospreys, just not the current ones!

    Our herring gulls are red listed birds.  Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.