LOCH GARTEN 2024 - May to end of season

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Thread for April 2024

All pictures and videos ©️RSPBLochGarten&WildlifeWindows

Please read Korky's comprehensive March 2024 intro

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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


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EDIT

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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.

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    Klive !!!  He's been to the nest twice, here's his first arrival and second departure, I'll probably do a vid or slideshow later:

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    scylla said:
    Klive !!!  He's been to the nest twice

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    That was it for the night.

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    19 August

    Klive with breakfish - a holding snap again:

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    19 August

    Klive with breakfish - a holding snap again:

  • It been  very quiet this morning. Good to see that Klive was on the nest twice yesterday, reinforcing a lonely  ownership.

    05.188 day cam kicked in. It wasn't  obvious on nightc cam, but it looks as though it had been a dame night.

    06.34 grey and breeze.

    07.21 it getting brighter

    By 08.00 the sun was shining, casting  long shadows of the near trees

    10.22 blue skies, fluffy clouds and a breeze wind on the Mike. No osprey sightings 

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  • Good to see that Klive was on the nest twice yesterday, reinforcing a lonely  ownership.

    That’s what I thought, too, watching him in the nest cup. I wondered whether he was reflecting ruefully on what he needed to do differently for a successful nest season. (Anthropomorphizing, of course.)

    Imagicat || Tiger's links || 2022 LG Obs

  • Love it, CC! 

    We all said Klive needed to up his game in the fish department after he kicked out the eggs, and banished Brodie. I think it was Louis at Loch Arkaig, among many nests no doubt, who brought in over six fish in one say to feed his growing family.  Then of course some unknow factor intervened. The Woodland Trust put out fish until such time when he was able to bring them in for himself. Sadly that wasn't  to be and the chicks became part of a translocation programme to Spain under Roy Dennis  and Tim Mackrill. But I have digressed!! 

    Klive has upped his game and built the nest up, fought off intruders, and laid a claim, but also lost a wonderful mate who had made LG her home with Brodie.

    I would love to see Asha return, and for Brodie to make it back, but I feel that even if that were to happen, if Klive comes back the scenario will repeat itself.

    I wrote this earlier, but failed to post it.  I hadn't  seen anyone at the time, and neither had Chat.

    However, I see they reported, thank you Pia, an osprey was seen at 15.00  via the PTZ, eating a fish. I have looked on my tablet but for all I try, I cannot see it.   However they reported:

    16.24 it was still there

    19.43 it was still eating its fish and at 20.09 it flew off.  

    Chat only showed from 16.55 on PTZ cam, and didn't say where the osprey was sitting with its fish, nor whether it had finished the fish or flew off with it. 

    It is currently  raining 22.01.

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    20 August

    SheilaFE said:

    I see they reported, thank you Pia, an osprey was seen at 15.00  via the PTZ, eating a fish. I have looked on my tablet but for all I try, I cannot see it.   However they reported:

    16.24 it was still there

    19.43 it was still eating its fish and at 20.09 it flew off.  

    Chat only showed from 16.55 on PTZ cam, and didn't say where the osprey was sitting with its fish, nor whether it had finished the fish or flew off with it. 

    It must have been Klive, his behaviour was typical, lingering over his fish Blush

    Strange that he never came to the nest all day.  He eventually finished his fish and flew off the way he came at 20:09.

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    21 August

    Klive flew in at 06:27 - but I've chosen this from a few minutes later, for the sake of the sunrays - he's still there as I type:

    Camperson came on duty at 08:30 and zoomed for us -- I think he may have the remnants of yesterday's fish, judging by the amount of dry-looking skin dangling - but it's most unclear.

  • Thank you Scylla.  I spotted what I assumed was a bit of fish.  I commented in a draft (but life took over, so it remains just that)  on the tatty piece of dark material blowing below the perch, and assumed it was fish skin "however it doesn't look very fresh"!!  Great minds, eh!

    10.16 after a long pause Klive started to eat his fish, with the fin showing under his tail to the rear and the flapping skin over the perch.  He bulk of the fish has gone.

    1038 I didn't see him down the tail fin, but he flew to the nest.  He still had it in his talon.

    10.30 he was off again, back to the dead tree where he tucked in again.  The loose skin has gone, did it fall as he flew?

    10.40 off again with no obvious downing of the tail fin.

    10.41 he lands back on the nest with the fish in his talon.  Looks around.  Does he think someone is lurking?

    10.42 up to the nest perch, I think, and several chips or was it chirps and tucks into the fish again.

    10.48 Klive dropped the fish tail, by accident.  He looked down, but didn't go to retrieve it!  He cleaned his beak on the nest perch before

    10.50 dropped to the nest

    10.54 Klive wanders around the nest, still cleaning his beak

    11.40 Up to the cam perch, I think.  It's a very dull, damp and windy day.

    Back to the nest and after looking around he is off again at 11.52

    11.53 Klive returned with a large stick - cam goes bananas!

    11.56 He was in nesting mode and moved sticks and soft furnishing

    12.07  Off in a cam glitch#13.43  He lowers to the nest in the wind.  Lots of cam stuttering - must be the wind.  Time at last for a preen.

    13.50 Klive flies off in another glitch

    and landed on the dead tree beyond the nest (PTZ cam)

    14.20 and returned to the nest, again in a glitch

    14.23 nest cupping or keeping ot of the wind!

    14.25 off again.

    14.54  ENS

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