LOCH GARTEN - July 2022

(LG June 2022 thread)

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Our Ospreys

"Axel", Blue AX6(16) male (yes he does have strong chest markings), a single chick (possibly from 3 eggs) hatched Glen Affric, near Beauly, seen Lossiemouth 2020, then at LG in 2021

"Mistle"- Female - Unringed - partnered Axel in 2021.

Axel & Mistle fled the nest May 2021 due to unknown intruders.

HATCH #1 - 11 June @ 05:30

HATCH #2 - 13 June @ 04:11 (first sighting)

AT RINGING - Quote RSPB Abernethy Facebook "The male BLUE 1C2 is thought to be the older one at 1.5kgs with the female BLUE 1C1 being the younger one at 1.5kgs."

RSPB Video Channel - Osprey, GOSHAWK! Barn Owls: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl8QdQ9ZaBT65tF1yOmbMBQ

All pictures & videos ©RSPB LochGarten & WildlifeWindows 

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Important Notice

Our informally, fondly named Black heartMistleBlack heart has been renamed officially by public vote HeartASHAHeart 

  • At about two years they head out to sea
    Inland Fish farms dont have any use for them
  • So, my question is : Has Axel been delinquent and reneged on his parental duties which forced Mistle to go fishing and bring the most unfortunate grebe to the table

    Anyone ,,, please
  • Unknown said:
    So, my question is : Has Axel been delinquent and reneged on his parental duties which forced Mistle to go fishing and bring the most unfortunate grebe to the table

    Anyone ,,, please

    Hi Cirrus, from what I’ve seen, a lot of the female parents go fishing when their chicks are about that age -  Loch of the Lowes, Llyn Brenig, Poole Harbour off the top of my head.

  • Unknown said:
    Has Axel been delinquent and reneged on his parental duties

    He has been rather late with his first fish this past few days (I don't keep track, that's just my impression).  But it's that time of the season we'd expect Mum to go fishing..

    Intruder - it was flying right-to-left at the very top of the pic, mostly out of it altogether - Asha flew screaming after it:

    Later, a parent was in the dead tree, something very interesting was in the sky:

    FISH !!! !!! !!!

  • Thank you Glider and Scylla - jury is still out then but I feel a lot better about it
  • I watched some of the earlier footage and smiled as the youngsters were taking a real interest in happenings off the nest. Moving their head from left to right trying to focus. Was there a deer or two wandering thru the undergrowth.

    Thank you Trevor for the explanation of Smolt 

    Birdie's DU Summaries 2018   https://www.imagicat.com/

  • The 18.22 fish was a 20 minute fish, despite it looking quite adequate. It seemed to have been fairly equally shared.
    Asha was on the perch by 22.00hrs, The chicks took a while to settle but were lying down by 22.15 ready for the night. The grebe remains on the nest acting as pillow *** cushion, and underfoot as they all go about the day's activities.

    Birdie's DU Summaries 2018   https://www.imagicat.com/

  • 11.00 Asha removes the unfortunate little grebe
  • 28 July

    No more fish last night.  Asha was already on the perch when darkness fell and was still there this morning, the deer may have been browsing beneath the nest:

    She flew @ 04:52 and a couple of minutes later landed on the campost - where I think she stayed until 06:16, back to perch 06:40:

    Back to campost via perch 07:29, away unseen 08:19, back a couple of minutes later with a couple of fistfuls, then a stick: 

    Vigorous wingercising too near the edge for (my) comfort:

    More sticks:

    A fly-off:

    Clump:

    In the midst of a violent wingercise, IC2 (??? I have to do a refresher on this) landed right on the edge!

    AFAICS... We still await a fish, even a sighting of Axel Frowning2 

  • JillR said:
    11.00 Asha removes the unfortunate little grebe

    Thank you, JILL !!! Hugging