LOCH GARTEN - August 2022 to end of season

Karen W said:

I remember Roli catching and bringing a fish back to the nest. Can anyone recall how old Roli was or come to think of it, any other juvenile as I think one at the Lowes did?

You know I can't resist a challenge.....see this from the annals of history at Llyn Brenig

It looks like Roli was 51 days old when he tried to catch a fish and 64 days old when he did!

So maybe IC2, at 68 days old,  is feeding himself........

As there is a lot of conjecture (especially in the chat) about feeding off-nest and the crop proofs he is eating, I asked rspb video in chat (as they were present)

"Can you tell from the size of 1c2's crop if he's eating on a regular basis?"

Answer:

"We too find it difficult to tell without feeling it. Sometimes it looks like it's just fluffed up feathers and other times looks more substantial. Only 1C2 knows for sure!"

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has problems evaluating crops (especially with the young ones). Also I'm not 100% convinced the crop-drop is actually fish... as it happens after eating some of the sticks too..

Anyway.. He did look alert this morning (haven't seen him the rest of the day yet)

Thanks Korky for the stats on Roli which makes good reading and very possible for IC2 to fish.

Being off the nest is good as he will have to find a good nearby source as unfortunately water not by the nest as is at Lowes, Manton Bay etc. Just hope he doesn't waste too much time/energy at Loch Garten.

Wasn't there a time when the Loch of Lowes youngster disappeared for about a week and then turned up safe and well? Which suggested that his parents were supplying him out of sight of the cam. Would it be so odd for a parent to bring the fish to the juvenile if they were perched close to the fight path back from fishing? maybe it happens more often than we realise.

SHEILA - I did a rayzoomay without reference to your report, it looks as tho we agree.  PS - I checked the old nest area as carefully as poss, didn't see him.

KORKY - That's amazing, Roli fishing so young.  Thanks for rising to the challenge

As with the LotL youngster the other day, they're sitting atop their fishponds - LG is more of a shlep and juvies would either have to follow a parent there or discover by chance.

BART - Thanks so much for eliciting info/opinions from LG

Sending good vibrations to 1C2

Oh I do hope he is going to be okay wherever he is, parent/s here or not, feeding, hopefully but by who, parent/s, himself or other? Fingers crossed, time will tell.

Hilary, Scylla, Korky - What amazing memories you all have Blue 44, well, ten years ago!! I didn't really keep up with others nests then, but I do remember him going missing. Didn't they either wade the banks or go in canoes to try to find him. What is even more sad what that after all that angst he disappeared on migration after France and Spain.
Such a beautiful 'resume' of today's visits by 1C2. That vid may be the last we see of him, and will be precious! Thank you Scylla.

Sheila, I watched but lurked on this site in 2012. Blue 44 had a tracker so they knew where he was. Here's what Karen posted in July 2012!!
'Blue 44 – LOTL new blog – an extract: We have just received our first set of co-ordinates from the tracking device which is helping us pinpoint our search. The good news is that the satellite fix shows some movement from our chick, which is an excellent sign, as is the fact that both his parents are staying in an area close to the nest.'
I think they did search by canoe for him. He came back to the nest on 20 July 2012

scylla said:

I can't remember his ring number - something like Blue44 ???

He had only just fledged and got himself into difficulty - IIRC, Lady was furious with him when he finally appeared on the nest.

I can't see that I did a video of that (must have been a tech prob here at the time) but here was the cam looking for him, and the sound of his voice - and wow-wow-wow!  He was Blue44

Excellent archiving scylla! The LotL blogs have disappeared from that time but the threads from then are all there and what a fabulous library of information they provide. I did find this YouTube video of him on 20 July 2012 which you'd posted

And yes, I remember Lady sounded very cross with him. I didn't see a anyone had posted a video of that in the threads