LOCH GARTEN - August 2022 to end of season

I don't remember reading of Rothiemurchus's intrusion bebore and have to admit to wondering if he was still with us so was delighted everybody to read the blog now Thank you all
And thank you SANDRA for news of o42 and a snippet about KC and Black 80 Glad to hear they too are still going strong Hope 042 makes a safe crossing to the Continent

Unknown said:

Thank you for pointing out my  error, jaydee. Much appreciated.

 Scattered thoughts from me, too!

(Tiger's female persona gets quoted.)

Hazel b said:

The most important question to answer about IC2 is to ask how young have ospreys migrated

I asked this question (not including the "and survived to be adults" bit) several days ago but got no response.

Now I think that, as long as they can fish, young ospreys can start wandering/exploring without returning to the nest much younger than their actual migration age, which will never be known if they are untagged, or ringed but not spotted by a birder, or unringed.  So a juvie's "last seen in the nest area" date may be no indication of when they started their migration.

SHEILA - this was so precious, thank you for posting it here - I'm bringing it forward for anyone who missed it - I was charmed to tears by the presentation and it was nice to have some scenes inside the Centre, too:

Unknown said:

It is actually the youngest of the 3, Blue 042, who is on the Plym Estuary. From Friends of Threave Osprey's FB group yesterday - "Just got a message to say that chick 042 has been seen on the Plym estuary in Devon.

Thanks to SHEILA & JAYDEE, I've just wasted half an hour on google maps trying to figure out if I could have walked there as a child - but there's been too much redevelopment since, my post-war prefab estate was demolished decades ago.  I do love to see Devon & Cornwall sightings of our ospreys.  (Which reminds me - what a lot of catching up with ALAN PETRIE there is to be done !!! )

Scanning the day, clutching at straws/sticks  

I couldn't find any birdies either, SHEILA.

"Predictably, the stick KL5 moved got blown off":

A golden nest at one stage of the evening:

Not sure what this means.

"(Tiger's female persona gets quoted.)"

What a lovely and thoughtful post from you, Scylla. I am imagining 1C2 exploring his natal area, testing out his fishing skills before his instincts to head south kick in. We already know there are plenty of ponds, lochans, lochs and rivers for him to hone those skills in the area.
A lovely golden end to what might be the end of the LG season. Sadly, prematurely, but realistically a successful season with one more chick from the historic LG nest taking to the skies to begin his first migration south, and potentially a resident pair, with another male waiting in the wings. I do hope1C1 isn't forgotten, she was such a lovely chick with such a sweet demeanour.

When young ospreys leave home on migration they do not slack.

In the case of Rothiemurchus he did 161 miles in his first day. He would then roost for the night and continue next day.

In spite of what some people think they do not catch fish. They live on their fat by a process of Beta Oxidation. This process is remarkable in that one gram of fat gives ENERGY + 1g of WATER.

Now Rothiemurchus flew on day after day and had an adventure over the Bay of Biscay.

It was only when he got to northern Spain did he stop and learn to fish on 12th September the 6th day of migration. He must have needed a break because his stopover was 34 days.

He must have loved the fish because every migration afterwards he diverted to do a stopover at Galicia but carefully avoided flying the bay of Biscay again.

Here are the tracks of all the  Loch Garten Birds that were tracked.

See  Osprey Tracks

Rothes was the youngest to leave at 79 days and lived the longest of all the birds. 

Here is Rothiemurchus' first day of migration

Hazel b said:

"(Tiger's female persona gets quoted.)"

One of several faults with the quoting system after the major site rewrite a couple of years ago is that it seems to drag up an old ID instead of using the current one - CATLADY springs to mind as being similarly afflicted.  So I felt it necessary to clarify that I was quoting you, TIGER, not some mysterious female poster who had disappeared.

I don't recall seeing that interactive tracking for individual tagged ospreys!  Brilliant, but sad memories.

Hazel b said:

In spite of what some people think they do not catch fish. They live on their fat by a process of Beta Oxidation.

I didn't know the "biologiical" term but have always accepted that very few young ospreys fish before migration  - which is why Axel's under-performance has been such a worry.  Therefore the mental image of 1C2 tripping around the north of Scotland and finding his fishing feet and building himself up over the next couple of weeks... is what I've settled on

20 August

Wickedly windy this morning:

54s

No-one seen up to 06:30, I've been doing something else since.