For those who are interested in osprey 'ancestry'.............
With regard to Sue C's post: of 19th March 2011:
2003 EJ lost her nest to a more aggressive female,
The female in question was Green 7B. EJ had laid eggs and, having seen off EJ, Green 7B bought in nesting material which she placed over the eggs. Green 7B was unsuccessful in breeding that year - but in 2002 she had (as a 2 year old) arrived late at the Loch Garten nest. There had been many disputes between male ospreys at Garten that year as the male osprey (Olly) who had 'reigned supreme' for many years had not returned. Green 7B persuaded the conquering male to feed her, but did not produce eggs.
Green 7B also had an ancestral link to LG - she was Olly's grand-daughter.
Some people think Ospreys are a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.
Interesting. I never thought about a fishing rights hierarchy but can quite understand there being one now you mention it.
Ditto what Tiger said, you certainly have. Many thanks CRinger.
ChloeB & Tiger's Osprey Data
Did they ever go away? Thats another question. Thanks for the warm welcome. I certainly hope I will be back.
I wasn't around last night, so missed this enlightening discussion. Thanks CRinger for sharing your knowledge.
There are so many questions that come to mind but one that does occur regards the 2006 season. Did Henry bring up three of Orange VS's chicks? Alternatively were the 2006 chicks of mixed parentage?
Tiger Signature
Is EJ really a dunnock?
Hazel b said: There are so many questions that come to mind but one that does occur regards the 2006 season. Did Henry bring up three of Orange VS's chicks? Alternatively were the 2006 chicks of mixed parentage?
Hi Tiger
I asked this question last season. Don't know where the information came from originally (I actually got it from you in a PM on 6 August, where you just said you'd heard "off the record"), but I have a note that DNA testing showed that all three 2006 chicks were definitely Henry's.
Not sure about Ospreys, but in some species, I believe that fertility is not triggered until mating actually starts. If that is true for ospreys, EJ would not have produced eggs fertilised by her initial matings with VS, and it is credible that Henry returned at just the right time.
I am sure I have read, or heard, somewhere that female ospreys can choose to eject/dump sperm stored from matings with one male in favour of another more suitable partner. I know some other birds can do this. Once eggs have been fertilised of course it is a different matter. If only Henry hadn't been so tardy...
Tim Birkhead and Kate Lessells did some interesting work analysing some of the LG warden's diaries and found that there was a peak in copulations about 4 days prior to laying of the first egg, suggesting that the female osprey was most fertile at this time. I think other work has suggested that this peak tends to get earlier, relative to the laying of the first egg, in each successive year that a pair breed successfully - perhaps indicative of the strengthening of the pair bond between male and female as the years progress.
Just want to add my thanks for CRinger's very interesting contribution and I look forward to more :)
IMAGICAT
Hear, hear!