Local male returns

Our male has now been identified as DX Green confirming that it is the bird that was ringed locally about 5 years ago.

Over the last few days Red 6A had been showing signs of laying, and our waiting finally paid off yesterday as she laid her first egg!

Our new male does seem to be getting a little confused though, as it looks like he wants to incubate rather than catch fish! Hopefully he will come to his senses before too long.

We wait in earnest for the 2nd egg....

Returned birds - more details

Both the returned birds are colour ringed.  As mentioned in the previous post, the female is the familiar red 6A who we have seen on the nest for a number of years. The male is new but is also wearing a colour ring.  It looks like green OX but might be green DX. It looks as if this might be a bird that was ringed locally in 2005 but we need to confirm the ring details first!

The male has been busy providing fish for red 6A and no other birds have been seen competing for the nest as yet!

Red 6A is back!

Just a quick update to say our female red 6A is back on the nest with a new mate whose identity is yet to be confirmed. The new male is busy trying to impress our female with lots of fresh fish and has also brought plenty of sticks to spruce up the tired nest.

Help celebrate the ospreys return

Why not help us celebrate the return of the ospreys this Saturday, 17th April, at David Marshall Lodge.  Plenty of family activities - see the return of the ospreys information on the Forestry Commission Scotland website.

Gearing up for the season

As you might have seen from our counterparts' blog at Tweed Valley, it's osprey breeding season once again.  Unlike Tweed Valley, though, here at Aberfoyle, we're still waiting for the birds to return to their nest.

The good news is that ospreys have been spotted close by, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that they'll soon be back on camera.

At David Marshall Lodge, the viewing room is open (10.00am - 5.00pm 7days) and the cameras are on - but at the moment, the only birds on view are the tits, busying themeselves in their nest box. 

Our other cameras feature tawny and barn owl nests, a bird feeder, and of course the osprey nest.

This year we're welcoming a new interpretation officer, Robert, who will be keeping us up to speed with what's going on throughout the season.

We'll be bringing you updates on the blog, but you can also sign up to our Twitter feed to get news too: http://www.twitter.com/fcscotland.

We hope to see you at David Marshall Lodge but if you can't visit, we'll try to keep you involved with our posts here.

Squirrels abound

Unfortunately, although the red squirrels have been keeping us entertained, there have been no sightings of the Pine marten, which is a shame.
There is still a chance it might turn up in Nov, so we will just have to wait and see.

Huge flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares have been viewed from the centre, flying over the trees and stripping the Rowans of their berries.
Autumn is here. :-)

Change of Focus

No more ospreys were seen on live camera for 2 weeks after the 28th, when we last seen our own ospreys. Ospreys were still reported locally fishing on lochs but I was surprised we didn't see any ospreys on camera, as you normally get visitors from further north stopping off on their migration south.
For those who are still interested in following something, the 3 chicks from Loch Garten have been satellite trakced and can be followed via the RSPB website:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/tracking/lochgartenospreys/index.asp

While here at the lodge our focus now changes to the mammal population: Red Squirrels and hopefully Pine Marten. Last year Pine Marten appeared every second day on our feeders during Oct and Nov and hopefully this year will be the same. Red Squirrels are nearly always seen on live camera and on Sun 4th Oct we have a Red Squirrel fun day here at the lodge. On sat 4th and 11th we have trips to see the Red Deer rut. For more info phone the lodge on 01877 382258.

It's very quiet now.

The last ospreys were seen at the nest site on the 28th August, where a lone bird was sitting in trees at the back of the nest. The preceding week there had been up to three ospreys hanging round the trees at the back, making it quite difficult to identify them as, even with maximum zoom, we couldn't make out their rings.
Red 6A was identified on the 23rd Aug which would have meant she was here alot later than last year, as she had left by the 6th Aug in 2008. There was also a green ringed bird which we assumed to be the new male but since we had alot of green ringed birds sighted this year we cannot be certain.
One of the birds that had been sitting at the back was practising some nest building techniques by flying in and taking a couple of swoops at the nest to pull out long sticks. It was quite interesting to watch this, as ospreys would use this technique to collect sticks for a nest but would normally use a dead tree to swoop down on.
Today on the nest a flock of blue and great tits landed on the nest and were rooting about for something to eat. Once they had left a lone Dunnock sat perched on one of the twigs for a while surveying all below.
And so ends another osprey season. Who will return next year now our resident male has gone? Will it be the immature green ring that didnt impress the female or will she take on a new partner for life? Unfortunately we will now have to wait until 2010 to have these questions answered.