Red 6A (our female) was still around as of the 1st August. Last year she was last seen about the 6th before she off on her migration.
The green ringed male is also still around and still defending the nest.
I had an osprey First Flight, First Splash event at the weekend and took 12 people down to the Lake of Menteith to see if we could see an osprey fishing. Luck was on our side as 2 ospreys were present when we arrived. However, they simply displayed territorial behaviour until one took off. The first osprey then sat in a tree for a good half hour then suddenly plunged into the water for food. Our group was very happy; several hadn't even seen an osprey before, never mind seeing one fish. Even the rain stayed off until it was time to leave.
Other events coming up soon are two bird of prey talks. On the 14th Aug at 7pm, Mike McDonnell will talk about Red Kites at David Marshall Lodge, and on the 28th Aug, Elaine Fraser will talk about the Sea Eagle Reintroduction in the North East of Scotland.
To book call 01877 382258 or email: andrea.williams@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
Monday, 10 August 2009
Barn Owls are go!
Out of our 5 Barn owl chicks, 3 fledged.
The first fledged on Friday 31st July after flapping a lot and peering out of the Barn Owl box hole, and the other two had gone by the 5th August. The last 2 then returned to the box for a couple of days but now have not been seen for about a week.
The first fledged on Friday 31st July after flapping a lot and peering out of the Barn Owl box hole, and the other two had gone by the 5th August. The last 2 then returned to the box for a couple of days but now have not been seen for about a week.
Saturday, 20 June 2009
Nest box update- fly away Peter fly away Paul
Our Great Tits all fledged successfully on the 4th June.
Our Blue Tits were another story! All 8 eggs hatched, although it was difficult to determine this at first as they were SO tiny. As they got bigger, it was easy to count the open gapes as their parents came in to feed them. One chick seemed to die in the box around the time of the very hot weather. Then on June 9th, I came in one morning to fine the blue tits at the top of the picture on the monitor rather than at the bottom as previously. Also, there only seemed to be 4 chicks! What had happened? Did a predator enter the nest box, knock the camera and eat the chicks? Maybe a stoat or weasel? Who knows? The remaining 4 chicks went on to successfully fledged on June 17th.
The Barn Owls are doing well although there now only seems to be 4 chicks. Food has seemed a little sparse of late, although one chick was seen trying to swallow a whole vole! Its possible that the 5th chick was eaten since food was scarce as no body has been seen in the box. How many will remain until the end?
Our Blue Tits were another story! All 8 eggs hatched, although it was difficult to determine this at first as they were SO tiny. As they got bigger, it was easy to count the open gapes as their parents came in to feed them. One chick seemed to die in the box around the time of the very hot weather. Then on June 9th, I came in one morning to fine the blue tits at the top of the picture on the monitor rather than at the bottom as previously. Also, there only seemed to be 4 chicks! What had happened? Did a predator enter the nest box, knock the camera and eat the chicks? Maybe a stoat or weasel? Who knows? The remaining 4 chicks went on to successfully fledged on June 17th.
The Barn Owls are doing well although there now only seems to be 4 chicks. Food has seemed a little sparse of late, although one chick was seen trying to swallow a whole vole! Its possible that the 5th chick was eaten since food was scarce as no body has been seen in the box. How many will remain until the end?
All quiet on the osprey front.....
Its still been fairly quiet on our nest but Red 6A is still in evidence. We have had some nice shots of her feeding herself on the dead trees to either side of the nest. We wouldnt really see this so much at this time of the year normally as she would be staying at the nest feeding the chicks. The green ringed male is still about and an unringed bird has been coming and going intermittently. No new rings have been sighted and things seem to be quietening down again. In fact there has been some nest building going on! Both male and female have been bringing in new material to the nest. Ospreys have been known to build frustration eeyries when breeding has failed, so maybe this is kind of like that.
Friday, 29 May 2009
Nest box update
Our Great Tits have hatched 6 chicks and one egg remains unhatched. These hatched about 1 week ago and are feathering up quite nicely.
The Blue tits have hatched just hatched on Tuesday but are so tiny I am unsure how many we have, at least 5.
The Barn owl definitely has 2 chicks and 2 eggs but whether there is a third egg or a third chick I was unable to see.
Cuckoos have been having population crashes and Springwatch has been asking for your Cuckoo sightings/calls. Look on their website for more info.
The Blue tits have hatched just hatched on Tuesday but are so tiny I am unsure how many we have, at least 5.
The Barn owl definitely has 2 chicks and 2 eggs but whether there is a third egg or a third chick I was unable to see.
Cuckoos have been having population crashes and Springwatch has been asking for your Cuckoo sightings/calls. Look on their website for more info.
Ospreys galore
Well although it looks like we aren't going to get any more eggs this year, we have had numerous ospreys approaching the nest. In fact we have managed to get 5 new ring numbers!
Three of these have turned out to be birds from other local nests that were hatched in 2004 or 2005. So this is probably the first year that some of them have come back, as osprey chicks normally stay in Africa for 3-4 years until they are mature enough to breed.
One of the rings has still to be identified and another came from a chick that was found caught in the fish cages at Lake of Menteith. This one came down to fish, got caught up in the netting and had to be rescued by the workers at the fishery. They put it to the side but when it was still there several hours later they called for help. The osprey has now been taken to a wildlife rescue centre and the last I heard it was holding its own. Apparently it has an injured elbow and shoulder, so may not be well enough to be re-released. The interesting thing about this bird was that although it didnt come anywhere near our nest, its sibling turned up there about the same time. This also means that 2 chicks survived the return journey when they say only 1 out of 3 normally do. Interesting stuff!
Even more interesting for our nest was that yesterday an unringed osprey turned up at the nest eating a fish. Could this be our resident male? The mystery deepens...
Three of these have turned out to be birds from other local nests that were hatched in 2004 or 2005. So this is probably the first year that some of them have come back, as osprey chicks normally stay in Africa for 3-4 years until they are mature enough to breed.
One of the rings has still to be identified and another came from a chick that was found caught in the fish cages at Lake of Menteith. This one came down to fish, got caught up in the netting and had to be rescued by the workers at the fishery. They put it to the side but when it was still there several hours later they called for help. The osprey has now been taken to a wildlife rescue centre and the last I heard it was holding its own. Apparently it has an injured elbow and shoulder, so may not be well enough to be re-released. The interesting thing about this bird was that although it didnt come anywhere near our nest, its sibling turned up there about the same time. This also means that 2 chicks survived the return journey when they say only 1 out of 3 normally do. Interesting stuff!
Even more interesting for our nest was that yesterday an unringed osprey turned up at the nest eating a fish. Could this be our resident male? The mystery deepens...
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Time is running out..
After last week's promising start it seems to have all come to nothing. The ospreys have hardly been seen at the nest at all. Today we have seen one bird on the nest - a new green-ringed bird whose Darvic ring I managed to identify. The details have been sent off to BTO to see where this one has come from.
I had said that the female osprey has to lay a new clutch before the end of May but after reading Roy Dennis's book, he says the latest known laying of osprey eggs has been the 23rd May! Groan! It doesnt look like its going to happen here this year. :-(
I had said that the female osprey has to lay a new clutch before the end of May but after reading Roy Dennis's book, he says the latest known laying of osprey eggs has been the 23rd May! Groan! It doesnt look like its going to happen here this year. :-(
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