Gone but not Forgotton

Scylla I agree that Mrs 5R should have stayed as Mrs 5R and not Maya (not a bad name though) Shell always be Mrs 5R to me :) Was also shocked when he didnt return

Karen I just thought it was a shame that legendary and iconic ospreys such as 11(98) and Lady hadn't been added to this thread, now it looks as though Blue XD is another to add sadly.  

Willow I think Maya will always be Mrs.5R to a lot of people. :-)

All the great photos of Lady are Copyrighted, so used my own captures and three of Starling's (I hope you don't mind Starling)! 

I think Tiger is going to post a few words about the remarkable "Lady" - thank you in advance Tiger.

Chloe did a collage of Lady too which I hope she will post here as well.

I do hope that something will be done at Loch of the Lowes for her, maybe a plaque, statue or similar, as she surely deserves it.

That's beautiful Mary, I will treasure it along with the one you did of Nora.  Yes I to hope Lowes do some kind of memorial, Lady deserves a permanent reminder of her amazing life.

Thanks Mary. Here is the collage I did of Lady in 2009

Ladies. Thank you for such great tributes.

Memories of Lady

I have no idea when I first became aware of the Loch of The Lowes female that became known as Lady as well as a host of other names. It was probably 2004. It is hard to convey how different osprey watching online was then, just a small report every few days.

There was excitement in 2005 when it was reported that Loch of the Lowes had hatched four chicks. Sadly this was reduced to two quite quickly.

From then on Lady became an ever growing phenomena particularly with the arrival of a high definition webcam.

On the morning of Saturday 19th June 2010 viewers tuned to see very worrying scene. Lady was incapacitated and looked as if she was dying. Indeed as the furore grew there were demands for intervention, whatever that might mean.

On Monday 21st June just as the story was being featured on television news Lady took off and flew down to the Loch for a drink. Her recovery had begun and her future as an international superstar was assured.

I think that many osprey fans were created in those those three days.

Of course there was speculation as to whether Lady would able to make the journey to her wintering grounds and back. On Wednesday 4th August 2010 Lady did a fly around the Loch before she was gone. Some people took this to mean that she was saying goodbye for the last time.

Watchers eagerly scanned they sky in spring 2011. At 12.10pm on Monday 28th March an osprey landed briefly on the Loch of The Lowes nest. I for one will always believe it was Lady. However at 5.55pm that day there was no doubt that Lady was back when she landed on the nest and stayed around long enough for people to be sure it was her.

2011 was a disappointing year as none of the eggs hatched. Thien in 2012 we had the saga of Blue 44. Of those who saw it who will ever forget Lady seeming to give young Blue 44 a telling off for going on his little adventure?

In 2013 there was the highlight of Lady's 50th fledged chick and the tracking of Blue YZ down to Africa.

Another disappointing year in 2014 with none of the eggs hatching and Lady leaving for what proved to be the last time on Monday  4 August 2014.

Thank you Tiger. That weekend of June, 2010 was indeed one never to be forgotten. Whilst cameras provide us with an incredible insight into the life of these birds there are times when many find it hard to watch. I think we all thought the end was in sight when suddenly there was what can only be described as an amazing recovery!

A legend indeed.

Thank you so much everyone for the memories of these wonderful birds.

Thank you Tiger.  I remember 2010 very well, I stayed up all night watching Lady struggle with the mystery illness, and then saw little signs that she seemed to be improving, I could hardly believe it!  Thank goodness she did indeed survive, I would have hated that to be my final memory of her.