The History of The Loch Garten Group

Unknown said:

Well, likewise Tiger - can't remember the date but it was just one Blog we all posted on before all the Threads evolved. Ospreys kept me in the land of the living and gave me new friends with the same interest who taught me a lot about Ospreys. I appreciate each and every one of them still even if I don't post as much as I used to do.

Yes you were one of the originals. Let us let this be a thread to recall all the years. There was a blog with comments from 2007.   There was the Loch Garten Diaries from 2003 to 2006. 

I started posting in 2012. They've opened my eyes to a wonderful species of bird but I've got to single out EJ for sparking an improvement in my husband Limpy's written English and for inspiring him to be a residential volunteer from 2015 to 2019.

Clare Bailey said:

I started posting in 2012. They've opened my eyes to a wonderful species of bird but I've got to single out EJ for sparking an improvement in my husband Limpy's written English and for inspiring him to be a residential volunteer from 2015 to 2019.

Hi Clare. Nice to see you again. So you been here about 12 years.

The years just fly past. 

I first discovered Ospreys by reading a newspaper article about them and their history in the UK, in 2008. I know it was then, because that's the year I first got a desktop computer and I was suddenly able to communicate with The World!

Before that I had always enjoyed my garden birds, and noticed unusual birds on my travels, but never done anything about it. The article I read was short, but described some rare birds, ospreys, breeding in a place called Loch Garten in Scotland.....

Within two days of being online, fascinated by how much knowledge and news was now at my fingertips, I had Googled "Loch Garten" and found the RSPB Site. I began reading everything I could about them and following our Osprey pair at Loch Garten daily. Soon I had also joined the RSPB. I began joining in on the Comments section of the Osprey pages.

Later, these haphazard comments were reordered into the pages we have today, with comments on the nest and other threads all kept separately, including the "Non-osprey Chat Page" which was invented to keep our personal chattering away from more important goings on - the more serious stuff. We who joined that thread have now been friends for these many years and have shared many ups and downs, at the same time as following our beloved birds. I've visited Glaslyn and Dyfi and seen Osprey flying in the Lake District. My fascination with birds of prey, and these particular birds has never dimmed. I still can't really be called a birder but I love all nature and its given me a new facet to my life - as I approach (??!!) old age myself I've lost several friends and many relatives on the way and being interested in something wild and free gives you a new perspective when your life is a bit down. Nature is healing and nature to me, is one of the joys of life.

Hazel b said:

Nice to see you again.

You too.  It's been a long time.

Hazel b said:

So you been here about 12 years.

Yeah, but I don't post anything like as much as I used to.  And I find it heartbreaking that the Loch Garten Osprey Diary has utterly died.

Lindybird said:

I first discovered Ospreys by reading a newspaper article about them and their history in the UK, in 2008. I know it was then, because that's the year I first got a desktop computer and I was suddenly able to communicate with The World!

Before that I had always enjoyed my garden birds, and noticed unusual birds on my travels, but never done anything about it. The article I read was short, but described some rare birds, ospreys, breeding in a place called Loch Garten in Scotland.....

Within two days of being online, fascinated by how much knowledge and news was now at my fingertips, I had Googled "Loch Garten" and found the RSPB Site. I began reading everything I could about them and following our Osprey pair at Loch Garten daily. Soon I had also joined the RSPB. I began joining in on the Comments section of the Osprey pages.

Later, these haphazard comments were reordered into the pages we have today, with comments on the nest and other threads all kept separately, including the "Non-osprey Chat Page" which was invented to keep our personal chattering away from more important goings on - the more serious stuff. We who joined that thread have now been friends for these many years and have shared many ups and downs, at the same time as following our beloved birds. I've visited Glaslyn and Dyfi and seen Osprey flying in the Lake District. My fascination with birds of prey, and these particular birds has never dimmed. I still can't really be called a birder but I love all nature and its given me a new facet to my life - as I approach (??!!) old age myself I've lost several friends and many relatives on the way and being interested in something wild and free gives you a new perspective when your life is a bit down. Nature is healing and nature to me, is one of the joys of life.

So it was 2008 that you joined Loch Garten? That was the year OVS got EJ back for himself and what a year that was. I always recall that OVS caught a fish, ate it in front of Nethy and Deshar and was gone. It took Nethy two days to realise that the fish bar had closed and Deshar took four. Then Nethy flew down to Fairford and Deshar flew down to Kent. 

Then a month later Deshar did his dash, one of the most dramatic incidents in osprey history.

Lindybird  I always thought you were a very nice poster. 

Lovely to read familiar posters, also sad to remember that several no longer able to participate.

How the years soon slip by, was wonderful watching Chloe and Tiger evolving , imparting and recording so much of their knowledgeable History, along with links to so many forums ,web cams, sites etc. also remembering the indefatigable 'Clair' Moderator...
Many thanks to you all, and of course the RSPB, even though ,the Forums do have their ups and downs,
The Osprey's survive through it all.

Fascinating to look back, especially on a wet wintry afternoon. I have only posted rarely, but these pages have been a regular source of interest for me since April 2009 (i had to look that up by referring back to my photos), when I made a visit to the Loch Garten reserve and the Visitor Centre, Having witnessed the ospreys for the first time, and learnt about their background, I needed to see how their lives unfolded during the spring and summer of 2009. These pages were fantastic and ensured that my thirst for information was well and truly quenched, both then and ever since.
Of course, in those days the pages were primarily focussed on Loch Garten, and now its almost impossible to keep up with all the nests around the country. I live in the south of England and the introduction of ospreys to Poole means they are now a lot closer than they were in 2009, but Loch Garten still has a place in my heart. Without these pages, I'm not sure that I would have maintained my interest.

Here are the oldest threads in this forum. Who can find the oldest thread.