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.
9 April
Another wet morning but both birds have an early feed.
06.26 Harry arrives with a headless fish to a waiting Flora.
She takes it in her beak and transfers it to her talons to fly.
06.27 and she’s off.
Flora laid her first egg earlier today. From scrollback, it looks like it was just after 11am. The cup is too deep to see the egg.
11.01
16.39 Harry brought a good sized headless fish
Flora takes the fish in her beak
then transfers to her talons to fly off with it.
Harry takes over incubation.
©️SSEN Alyth
Congratulations, another nest with an egg
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Quite a lot within a few days!
Thx Glider . Great news
Really good news
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Cropped photo at 15.25 shows a glimpse of Flora’s egg as she rolls it.
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Glider said:Cropped photo at 15.25 shows a glimpse of Flora’s egg as she rolls it.
Well done, GLIDER !!! We grasp at all straws offered
IMAGICAT
Haha Scylla!!
Harry brought a nice headless fish for Flora.
19.01
Off she goes.
Harry fiddled about with bits of straw and cleaned his beak on twigs before he settled down on the egg.
20.44 Flora returned with a meaty tail end of the fish.
Harry didn’t try to take it and flew straight off.
20.45 Harry then must’ve realised Flora had a fish and he did a fly over, hovering over Flora but she held the fish tight and Harry flew on.
Flora then walked with the fish end and shook it off on to the nest.
20.48 Settled down now with her tail end hanging over the fish.