Alyth is located in Perth and Kinross on the east coast of Scotland. The Osprey nest is at the Alyth SSEN Transmission sub station and is the tallest of all the nests on camera in the UK.
Background information:-
The Ospreys have nested at the site for many years since around 1990.
They were nesting on a nearby electricity tower, but due to a planned expansion of the site a decision was taken to resite the old nest to a specially constructed 25-metre nesting tower and two nearby 8.5 metre resting perches, which were erected in 2014. Advice was sought from Roy Dennis.Since that first breeding season in 2014, a total of 17 osprey chicks have been observed to have fledged from the new site.
Due to the height of the tower, no ringing can take place.
The resident ospreys are called Harry and Flora (blue HK0), named by a local school in Alyth. All pupils were also given their own osprey soft toy as a thank you from the teams for getting involved and for showing such enthusiasm about the ospreys.
In 2023 Flora HK0 arrived on 30th March and Harry on 4th April. Together, they successfully raised three chicks to fledging.
Flora was last seen on 10th August and Harry 7th September. (The camera stream was offline from 13- 23 August)
Thank you Richard for initial information which I’ve edited to include last year’s figures.
Links
August 2023 to February 2024
Live stream - SSEN Transmission as provided by Wildlife Windows
RETURN DATES 2024
Flora (Blue HK0) 28 March 19.19
Harry 29 March 14.40
EGGS LAID
15/04/24 at 11.01 ———————-Hatched 21 or 22/05/24
18/04/23 at 09.04 (I think!) ————--Hatched 23/05/24
21/04/23 sometime in the morning. ————Hatched 26/05/24
SADLY, ONE CHICK DIED ON THE NEST ON 30/05/24
LIVE STREAM WAS DOWN FOR OVER TWO WEEKS FROM MAY 31. WHEN IT RETURNED, IT WAS EVIDENT THAT THERE WAS ONLY ONE CHICK REMAINING ON THE NEST.
The CHICK FLEDGED on 26/07/24
MIGRATION
Flora and the juvenile left at some point before the end of August when the live stream was down. (12-22 August)
However, I suspect it may have been the 21st August that the last one (or both) left as Harry was seen on the nest on the 22nd with a fish.
Harry was around for a few days after, seen on the 26th August and probably it was him on the 30th as well, which would have been his last sighting.
All photos and videos copyright SSEN Transmission Alyth and Wildlife Windows
Harry (left) and Flora HK0 at the beginning of season 2023.
July 2024 - (from left) Flora, chick, Harry.
July 2024 - The chick and Flora.
Just a quick round up of the season. Very different from last year with only one chick surviving to fledging compared to the three in 2023. This has meant that the nest has been a lot more peaceful without all of the squabbling and fighting!
Flora and Harry had 3 eggs which all hatched but sadly one chick died, we think from injuries after Flora accidentally stood on it and the other went missing whilst the live stream was down. We’ll never know what happened to that wee soul.
The live stream played a big part in the nest coverage as it was down for much of the time.
Harry and Flora dutifully tended to their remaining chick with Harry providing many fish and Flora feeding and giving it shelter.
The chick developed into a wonderful, strong juvenile, thought to be a female because of it’s size.
We didn’t see the juvenile and Flora before migration due to the live stream being down but it was some time during the second half of August that they left.
Harry stayed around for a few days after, making the odd appearance on the nest, the last of which I believe was 30th August. (The viewers on the online chat were undecided if it was Harry or not.)
Harry and Flora have been together for some time and are much loved by the local schoolchildren, who named them and also the YT nest watchers online. It’s a shame that there is no Wildlife Trust who oversees the nest as we can only report on what we see and don’t know what goes on in the background. It’s also a shame that the nest is so high and deemed unsafe for ringers to climb to ring the chicks so after watching them for many months, once they migrate, we can never identify them again. They could be intruding at this nest and we’d never know!
The 3 birds will be well on their way to their overwintering grounds and hopefully they arrive safely with Harry and Flora returning fit and ready to do it all again next year.
Background information and relevant events for this year is on the opening page. Opening Page