All quiet on the Osprey front but all delighted to be able to watch the NEW nest on the NEW cam. Thanks to all for the hard work erecting / installing both. You derserve a sucessful breeding pair this year for your efforts.
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.
Hoppy Hank said:What a brilliant dissertation, sounds far more interesting than mine! Great extra information thanks. Did the unfortunate female have a name or ring do you know?
I believe she was sadly unringed. As was originally Ollie as a chick. Roy D later caught him at the fish farm @ Rothiemurchus where he was ringed (23/5/95) and in addition (in those days satellite transmitters had not been invented) a radio transmitter was fitted to him. I am indebted to Jason Godfrey who kept the radio tracking data. This showed that Ollie visited the fish farm virtually every morning, usually taking a fish. His flight path was almost always south west fromthe eyrie, following the Spey, diverting to Loch Pityoulish. He also (mostly during opening hours at the fish farm) foraged the Spey both upstream and downstream of the nest and VERY occasionally used Loch Garten and Loch Mallachie.
Jason's data and mine also helped us dispell the myth written in many books that a male Osprey, having caught a fish, heads directly back to his nest. Jason's data from the fish farm which recorded Ollie catching a fish, was analysed with the data I had from the LG volunteers and we found at least 2 occasions where a fish was caught by Ollie at the fish farm but were not taken to the nest! - 10/4/95 - he left the eyrie @7:00, arrived at the fish farm at 7:21, Caugh a rainbow and left at 7:30 and appeared at the nest at 8:16.......... with a twig!!! On 25/4/95 he left the eyrie at 20:02 and arrived at the fish farm at 20-:38. He caught a fish at 20:40 and didn'tarrive at the nest until 5:05 the following morning - without his fish! Glad we dispelled THAT myth!
The dissertation was a journey full of surprises, an act of love, respect and admiration for all those volunteers who put pen to paper over all those years. I hope it did all their hard work justice.
Instant live snap... when I can drag it over!
IMAGICAT
CRinger said:I love your 'drags'
What a feat that was! Considering I'd only just rebooted that laptop because Wndows Update had crippled in protest at being delayed.
I had to switch on "that" mouse, navigate to the VLC snapshot button, then back to this laptop to drag the snap across the network in File Explorer.
Nobuddy knows that I go thru
A second thought - I hope Mistle doesn't come to regret not eating more of that fish and am going to check that it was the first of the day. (Of course it was, I tell myself, unless Axel has come up double-good.)