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
Birdie's DU Summaries 2018 https://www.imagicat.com/
Mistle is still resting in the cup Is that significant?
Thanks forthe potted History SHEILA What I had at the back of mt mind IMHO it has been disrespectful to all the ospreys that have made LG their home and all the peoplewho have protected them, to eradicate the word "osprey" from the name of the centre/area
C Loch Garten
I will do some pics, in a mo, and perhaps Scylla will do a vid. Mistle brought in a huge stick, fallen bough, and got into quite a pickle. Slightly embarrassed she kept looking around!
15.57 there is a pause in proceedings with her probably standing astride the stick or possibly on it, not really where she needs it. So..
15.18 Mistle returned with the large stick/bough
It's a bit big, a Y shape, she's holding part of the top of the Y
Heave ho - a bit difficult when you are astride it
She got it to the back of the nest
but wasn't happy with that, so round to the front again
woops, collapses in a heap
Getting there.. All this hard work has dislodged a moulting feather
Another woops
Is she happy now?
No!
A perch perhaps?
Wot you lot looking at?
Another go
And ends up astride the stick she is trying to move.
What an entertaining time!
15.51 she flew off, returned and joined by Axel 15.53.
15.55 a prolonged mating attempt, which could have been successful. But she's been fish soliciting. Axel has flown and she still calls.
He returned with nesting material - I do think they need more soft furnishings for the bobbleheads!
A zoomy from the cam person
(c) RSPB Loch Garten (still getting a wee thrill when I type that!)
SheilaFE said:You will see that Mistle (our adopted name for our beautiful female) from earlier posts by Scylla
Must forego that honour, SHEILA, it was MIKE who said that her markings reminded him of a Mistle Thrush so he was calling her Mistle - I came up with Axel, which was slower to be adopted and even now its standing is wobbly
Thank you very much for the historical info, SHEILA, and thanks KORKY, whose extracts from the book she's reading were BOPS'd on page 19 (IIRC, I may have to come back and correct that).
I started catching up with other nests, to "get them out of the way" so I could concentrate on LG, but now I've got to go for a while, dang. Will do my best later.
We've got thunder here in SW London
scylla said:
SheilaFE said: You will see that Mistle (our adopted name for our beautiful female) from earlier posts by Scylla
The para that contained that info was so convoluted that I am surprised you could make head nor tail of what I was saying. I have amended and clarified!
Well I thought it was brilliant (and typical) of you to fetch up all that info, SHEILA, and I could see that the sentence didn't read quite like you meant it to but thought I'd better post a disclaimer anyway
patily said:Has Mistle been fed today yet? Is Axel falling short on this front or is he more a supper kinsa guy?
I'm just going thru the day now, PATILY, will update asap. In the meantime, here's 30 seconds of the first Mistle zoom I've come across, confirming what a lovely girl she is
patily said:What I had at the back of mt mind IMHO it has been disrespectful to all the ospreys that have made LG their home and all the peoplewho have protected them, to eradicate the word "osprey" from the name of the centre/area
I bet the nearby village of Boat of Garten still calls itself the Osprey Village, though.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.