EJ

It looks like EJ is still around. I wonder if this will upset her rythyms and she will return later next year?

Did you see EJ deliver a fish Tiger?

Not knowing very much about Ospreys, can that happen .....  i.e. EJ leaving late may upset her migration pattern and may cause her to return later next year?

Well we got no real hard evidence of this but in the USA called Bluebeard stayed behind to look after a particularly incompetant juvenile. Next year Bluebeard got back to his nest quite late (April 8) and failed to breed. Unfortunately on his next migration he got shot so it was a sorry tale all round.

Yes I think that EJ has been sighted this morning.

Tiger, you seem extremely well osprey-educated. What do you see as the reason for EJ's late departure this year?

-- Does she believe that the juveniles (M & G) are, thus far, incompetent to fend for themselves?

-- Was she disturbed and a bit thrown off by the fact that Rothes left before she did? She surely doesn't believe that Rothes will return? Birds have very subtle forms of communication (unified movement in a flock, caretaking of the sick by geese, etc.); I assumed that EJ knew that Rothes was leaving on migration.

-- Are environmental conditions responsible for her reluctance to leave (disturbances in the magnetic field, hurricane-force storms in Africa, global warming, etc.)?

-- Does she simply have the luxury of staying longer, because she is in such good condition. She didn't suffer significant food deprivation, lack of nutrition this year, so she doesn't need as long to prepare for the journey?

Thanks if you choose to answer! So sad about Bluebeard. I looked him up; he was a good and honorable bird.

Diane I do not think that there is an easy answer to that question. We have not seen EJ here so late before but it is not particularly late for the chicks. Chicks have been around in September before.

My feeling is that if EJ is still here it is because she feels she needs to be be. The reality is that EJ seems to be bringing in most of the fish just now. If she was not here I guess Mallachie and Garten would be a lot more hungry.

EJ is a female that is normally off early, she even left before one of her chicks had fledged in the past. I guess it is all part of the learning curve we are on. Streaming webcams only began in 2003 and they are changing our view of what goes on in osprey nests.

However there is one lesson to be learned. Ospreys know more about these things than we ever will.!

Thank you so very much, Tiger, for your thoughts.

I certainly agree with your last statement. We are incredibly arrogant when we think that we are superior to nature!

Brenda H - I'm not so worried about the size of fish that Odin's been catching.  As long as there's enough of them that is (which there has been).  EJ is a seasoned pro and experienced enough to know how big a fish she can safely catch. Ospreys have been known to drown when they catch too big a fish and their talons 'lock on', so they can't immediately let go.

Thanks Tiger. I was comforted by your post.