LOCH GARTEN - May 2022

13.37 Axel is calling loudly for the fish. Mistle returns with the skinny tail end and eats it on the nest in front of him, LOL. It's a long piece of skin. I think it's Mistle who is talking to the remains, as she eats.
13.40.40 Axel leaves and returns to mate. He leaves. It looks successful. Mistle continues with her skinny bit - can there possibly be so much left!!
13.47 Mistle leaves to the forward right, taking her skinny piece of fish with her.
13.57 as per CC - Mistle returns and calls, looking around for Axel. Who appears on call to mate - and is left standing on her before he flies off 13.58.
14.02 Mistle called loudly!! Keeping Axel on his talons.

15.12 She was still calling!

16.16  She is still at it.  On the plus side she must be able to see  him!  Cuckoo calls

16.30 that bloomin' piece of black plastic.  I've only just noticed that when Axel took off at 13.40 he disturbed the twigs holding that piece of plastic near the rim.  He stood on it and pushed in into the debris on the nest away from the edge.  

When he returned it was blowing in the wind, but still caught.  He took off to mate again and loosened it even more.

She lay in the cup 16.32 and began moving bedding around, including the black plastic.  She attacked a clump of dead material, and I think the plastic got entangles in that.  It will probably get safely buried again, but it could have been worrying if chicks were there.

13.39

16.24

She pulls bedding towards her

16.33 she has pulled it back to her with other dried material

She then pulled a 'hedgehog' of dried material towards her and the plastic was caught up in that.  I am not sure where it ended up, but I think she moved it to the back of the nest.  At least there are no chicks to get caught in it or which will attempt to eat it.

Mating just now. She's still calling.He flew to the perch, and is now back on the nest (not really mantling.) Where he is now just "stood standing."And now he's flown off, leaving her in the nest center.

JaneV said:

I think if you compare this nest site to Kielder, Manton, Lyn Clywedog or any of the stocked lakes/reservoirs with nests on then yes I think it will be more difficult fishing. The Spey will suffer low levels at times which will result in poor fish runs but he has alternatives, as you say Ian. The minimum required distance is an interesting question, hopefully someone will know.

Hi Jane.......... the books say that an Osprey's normal forage range is within a 15 km radius from his nest. So far as the LG nest is coincerned I think I have posted before that I was fortunate enough to analyse the data collected by the 1000's volunteers who wrote entries in the log books from 1959 - 1997. IN ADDITION Roy caught the male Osprey 'Ollie' from Loch Garten and fitted a radio transmitter - which fell off (as designed) within a year and I am still indebted to Dr Jason Godfrey who allowed me access to the radio tracking data. This showed that Ollie, in 1995, (after the 'birth' of Rothiemurchus fish farm) almost every morning and evening would fly directly southwest from the eyrie heading to the FF - but following the course of the Spey, and diverting over Loch Pityoulish. During the day, when the fish farm was open to the public and busy he tended to forage more often along the Spey -both upstream and downstream of the eyrie. He used Loch Garten occasionally (yes it is very mirky due to high peat concenrtrations) and more often Loch Mallachie. All well within what the books say is the 15 km radius. And he was a highly prolific supplier of fish. Please let's squash that theory of LG being in a poor fishing area immediately.

BUT people tend to forget that the first Osprey that is known to have lived was 13 MILLION years ago! According to Darwin, through succession, these birds must have learned a thing or 2 by now! AND I vividly remember one day the male at LG (Henry) one mid morning arrived with the strangest looking coloured fish I have ever seen in my life. We recorded it and that afternoon played the recording to people in the VC. A guy came up to me and said 'I am a fisherman, I know where he got that fish from - show me a map. I did and he pointed out a river and said that's the only place around here we catch them - we measured the distnace and it was 50+ km from LG! We checked the time Henry was last seen on site and the time he returned and there was no doubt he could have made that 100 km round trip to catch 1 fish- and it was a BEAUTY! So perhaps the books are right about 15 km being the normal forage radius - but I have said it before and no doubt will do so again......... I ain't never seen an Osprey reading a book - after 13 million years - they make their own mind's up what is best to do at 1 given time and place.

SheilaFE said:

I love 'stood standing'! Has it been used yet this season?!

Oh yes indeedy!! I used it with great pleasure on 16 March on the Lowes thread. It's one of my scylla favourites