.
Thread for April 2024
All pictures and videos ©️RSPBLochGarten&WildlifeWindows
Please read Korky's comprehensive March 2024 intro
Asha & Brodie
The partnership has matured this season, with Asha continuing her good female role (and she loves nest-building) and Brodie being more reliable, both fishing and incubating.
The pair have fought their way thru all kinds of nasty weather - snow, wind and rain - and intruders, including the dreaded KL5 Klive, have been a nuisance but not dangerous...
so far.
21 April @ 10:47
24 April @ 14:06
27 April @ 13:27
EDIT
********
Sadly, the month of May heralded irresistible aggression from BlueKL5 "Klive", who had ruined the end of last season for the 2 juvies.
Within the first 2 days Klive had driven Brodie from the area (tho Brodie did return a couple of times to dive-bomb Klive, to no effect) and destroyed the eggs. He commenced to woo Asha clumsily, selfishly and inappropriately, as can be seen from the following pages.
IMAGICAT
Oh, well flop. It's surely too early for Asha to think of migrating. ! Come on you single males, see Klive off and claim the nest and lady attached to it, sigh.
17:30 ~ To late for a PTZ view, but 100-to-1 this was Klive with teatime fish - he was only there for a bit over 15 minutes:
That was the last activity I found.
19 July
05:01 Klive first arrived with a very good stick - he was in 'n out about 5 times, finally leaving at 07:23.
we also had some GSW visits, I'm going to see what I can do with them, if anything..
This is from the first of 3 sessions, it has a nice little finale:
As I said on 17 July: 07.40 Klive returns with a stick, and spends time checking around the area. He must wonder where Asha is – last seen 6 July. She spent a lot of time on the nest on 5 July.
6 July 2024
04.43 Asha flew to the nest perch, and dropped to the nest at
05.16 when Klive arrived.
05.42 Klive takes flight, Asha calls for fish
07.04 Asha continues to call
07.30 Klive returns without a fish, Asha looks for it!
08.13 Asha flies to totem pole and at some point returned to the nest
08.24 Asha flew from the nest to Odin's perch
09.11 Asha flew to the nest at Klive returned, fishless again
10.18 Klive comes and goes with nesting material. Asha watched from the nest perch
10.23 Asha flies off to the left out of sight
***********************************************************************************************
19 July 2024
04.04 Day cam kicked in
05.01 Klive landed on the nest with a stick, and spent ages looking around.
05.17 Klive flew off
05.45 The sun appears through the clouds, casting long shadows, PTZ.
05.55 Osprey, presumably Klive, landed on dead tree to the left of the PTZ mast. He might be eating a fish or preening, I can't tell. Probably preening.
06.06 Klive leaves the dead tree and flies to the nest, without a fish. He potters, and keeps an eye on things around the area.
06.17 Klive stands, staring, surveying!
06.23 Klive flies off.
06.47 Klive returns with a thick stick. He can't decide where it should lie, decides it's OK and titivates moving twig and sticks. Then back to the thick stick again. Such a busy boy.
06.53 Time for a brief preen
06.58 Klive leaves and disappears to the left
07.01 Klive returns with a large twiggy stick
07.04 Klive flies off in the same direction
07.17 and returns with a huge/long and twiggy branch, putting it on the right rim,
07.23 Klive flies off again, to the left.
08.20 A pair of GSW on the cam perch below the cam PTZ. Scylla's vid, above, captures it beautifully
PTZ kicks in briefly before they flew off!
09.28 Klive returns with another long stick
09.55 Klive flies off out across the trees to the right (nest cam)
09.59 and returns with a thicker long sticky stick
10.06 Klive flies off. The sun is shining, but there are large clouds beyond the nest.
10.15 Back again with a short thick stick, which was soon sorted.
10.20 Klive standing on the nest, looking around.
10.24 and off again
10.35 and back, from the left, with another large sticky stick which caused him some problem, interrupted by a look around.
10.39 A final check on a large stick on the right rim, and he flies off. PTZ doesn't seem to have scanned since then, and remains on the nest. Nothing seen since Klive flew off
13.40 Nothing seen since Klive flew off ENS
Edits:
15.27 still no action either on the nest or in the hinterland.
17.28 more of the same. It's been getting windy throughout the day, so he may have sought shelter.
Birdie's DU Summaries 2018 https://www.imagicat.com/
Excellent GSW footage, thanks Scylla
SheilaFE said:09.28 Klive returns with another long stick
SheilaFE said:09.55 Klive flies off out across the trees to the right (nest cam) 09.59 and returns with a thicker long sticky stick 10.06 Klive flies off. The sun is shining, but there are large clouds beyond the nest. 10.15 Back again with a short thick stick, which was soon sorted. 10.20 Klive standing on the nest, looking around. 10.24 and off again 10.35 and back, from the left, with another large sticky stick which caused him some problem, interrupted by a look around. 10.39 A final check on a large stick on the right rim, and he flies off. PTZ doesn't seem to have scanned since then, and remains on the nest. Nothing seen since Klive flew off
I'm not doing any of that, am relying on the earlier footage to show that Klive was present, in case we need "day last seen" evidence.
20 July
08:03 - Klive flew to the usual tree but not from the usual direction - he nipped in from the left margin. He had a fish but it was either small or mostly eaten already, because soon he was on the nest without it. Shall decide later how much to video.
Unframed snaps *scandal!*
Unringed male at lunchtime, the PTZ followed it thru the sky - probably.
Lovely captures Scylla. I think the unringed male is Brodie. Great to see him looking so good.
High clouds hiding the sun, but dry
08.03 Osprey flies in and lands on the dead tree near the PTZ tower, probably eating a fish.
08.10 Osprey leaves the dead tree and flies to the nest. It's Klive. He cleans his beak!
08.12 He looks intently around the nest, continues his beak ablutions, wanders around the nest, and another clean, a scratch and a preen.
08.15 Klive picks at sticks, and lies down in the cup, trying it out for size!
The cup is really quite deep now. At least he has proven nest building skills!
08.19 Klive flies off to the left.
08.32 and returns with a long thin stick, with a short side 'Y'. He settles for the right side of the tim, and looks around.
08.34 nearly 08.35 after a careful look around, Klive leaves to the right.
08.36 and back with another stick, lots of standing and staring, and tinkering with sticks and twigs.
08.41 Off again, to the right.
08.46 Klive returns from the left, with a thick stick, and moves other sticks and twigs, wandering around the cup.
08.49 Time to stand and stare, and preen, then more faffing.
08.57 Away again
09.26 And back again from the bottom right. More stick and twig moving, looking around, checking,
09.34 Klive was preening, and all of a sudden took off to the bottom right. Looking back, it looked as though a bird, presumably an osprey flew low overhead, and Klive must have missed its approach
09.35 PTZ finds him on the dead tree.
09.39 PTZ gave some wonderful close ups of his eye, his feathers and creepy crawlies on his tail!
and creepy crawlies on his tail!
10.17 Klive took flight. Cam searched, checking the skyline left and right. in and out, favourite perches
10.19 Klive returns to the nest with a chirrup and a very sticky stick, and sets about reorganising the sticks on the nest, breaking off annoying twigs on his stick.
10.32 The wind gets up, and after a good look, around, a shake of his feathers and another look around, Klive leaves.
12.00 A wood pigeon on the dead tree near the PTZ, and a quick scan before returning to the nest
12.25 PTZ finds an osprey on the flat topped tree just beyond the old nest. It's not Klive, nor Asha. I think it's Brodie, looking very relaxed as he preens. Two dots on the top of his head and a dark dot on his lower chest. He preens, and watches. He looks very well.
12.40 Brodie leaves the flat topped tree, and PTZ tries to follow him.
12.43 Came finds a bird, I assume Brodie, flying over the trees. Good cam work!
12.45 Cam zooooms in on a mountain peak and sees four walkers reaching a cairn summit. Any idea which!! Amazing!!
Edit: it is Meall a’ Bhuachaille..not a Munro, but a Corbett, south of LG, towards Cairngorm. Cameron McNeish takes us on a walk!
12.46 Back to the nest
13.38 Cam has a good look at the two dead trees among the conifers and stays there.
13.47 Back to the nest, close up on the cam and out to cover the nest and the bog beyond.
16.05 Cam had a wander, and found another pigeon and back to the cam
SheilaFE said:12.25 PTZ finds an osprey on the flat topped tree just beyond the old nest. It's not Klive, nor Asha. I think it's Brodie, looking very relaxed as he preens. Two dots on the top of his head and a dark dot on his lower chest. He preens, and watches. He looks very well.
I didn't think it was Brodie at the time, as his colouring was so pale:
As you may have gathered, I'm only about 20% fit for purpose but seem to have livened up now - however, the LG cams went down at about 22:00 and I found myself flooded with failed files and then the downloader crashed so all the other cam recordings were stymied too!
LG PTZ:
Klive in the morning, just for the record:
The Wood Pigeon was treated shabbily summarily dismissed for what appeared no good reason
It rained quite heavily from about 18:00 onwards, no-one seen from then onwards until the outage and downloader crash.
21 July
No-one seen up to 06:53.