Chicks Galore at Aberfoyle!



New arrivals in the Aberfoyle osprey nest



Three osprey chicks have made an appearance live on camera and are already growing up fast. The first chick hatched on Thursday 30 May, bang on the 38 day incubation period. The second chick eventually hatched four days later on Sunday 2 June, quickly followed by the third chick on Tuesday 4 June.

The chicks are being cared for by their parents, Katrine and Drunkie. The female osprey Katrine is nine years old, whilst the age of her mate Drunkie is unknown. Both birds have been named after local lochs where ospreys are regularly spotted fishing.

Last year this adult pair successfully raised two out of three chicks, so this should mean another good year for the ospreys. Now that the chicks have hatched it’s time to bring in the fish to feed their hungry youngsters! 

The male is living up to his reputation of being excellent at fishing, having recently brought in a huge rainbow trout for the female and chicks to feast on. This year we’re monitoring the types of fish being brought to the nest. To date the majority of the fish has been rainbow trout, followed by perch.



Our peregrine chicks



A peregrine falcon family is also being watched with our cameras. Three chubby peregrine chicks are being fed several times and they’re putting on weight fast. In about 2 weeks time these chicks will fledge.

We’re getting daily reports from the public of hunting ospreys and peregrines. With hungry mouths to feed, this is your best chance to see these magnificent birds of prey. There’s such an abundance of wildlife within a few minutes walk of the David Marshall Lodge – an assortment of warblers have returned, and close to the Wildlife Hide there are red squirrels, bank voles and a variety of woodland birds.

Ospreys Return to Aberfoyle as the drama unfolds

Aberfoyle’s ospreys have returned to begin a new season, and there have already been clashes over ownership of the birds’ huge nest.

This year’s drama started in early April when the first female returned and quickly found a partner. Together they set about improving the nest, bringing in branches and soft nesting material, while the male regularly brought in fish.

But soon the birds’ behaviour changed from being a relaxed couple preparing to start a family, to a pair defending their home from an intruder.

When the pair on the nest began spreading their wings it became clear they were trying to put off another bird from flying too close. Sure enough a third osprey was spotted a short time later.

Overnight the new osprey displaced the original female and it looks like she has now paired up with the male! We’re hoping to identify these birds soon and then we’ll know how old they are and where they were hatched.

While a momentary calm has now decended, the drama may well not be over. The female should start laying any day now. There's still time for other ospreys to invade and claim the nest and her mate!

The ospreys can be viewed live inside the Mini-Lodge at The Lodge Forest Visitor Centre (David Marshall Lodge), which is open 7 days a week from 10am til 5pm.

We have lift off!!



Strathard News - July 2012



 As many other osprey sites are reporting both of our osprey chicks have left the next. The oldest made their first flight on the 22nd July and sticking with tradition the next chick left on the 24th July, 48 hours after the first, exactly the same amount of time between them hatching!

We have seen both chicks on numerous occasions returning to the nest to receive food from both male and female. It won't be long before all of this years osprey family are on their way to West Africa for winter.

In other news, our ospreys, who are already in celebrities in our eyes, have become local icons by appearing on the front cover the of the Strathard News. Regular project updates features in the paper, but it is great to see, this striking images by volunteer Annette Reed making the front cover.  

Introducing Tony and Tia Maria!

Well we can confidently say that over the last few weeks the weather has not been great, but on Friday 13th July things weren’t looking to bad. Just about the perfect weather to go ringing ospreys. Our three osprey chicks had now become two, as due to the menacing weather we have unfortunately lost our youngest chick.


Gently does it. Both chicks are carefully loaded into a
bag to be lowered down the tree. 

Our chicks were now six weeks old and it was time for them to have their individual leg rings fitted. As we climbed the tree the heavens open, fortunately this was short lived so the chicks didn’t get too wet. Once both chicks were lowered to the ground, Dave Anderson (FCS Conservation Manager) was on hand to show how the leg rings are fitted to some of our volunteers, who had been specially invited as thanks for all the hard work they put in at DML.

Firstly, two leg rings are fitted, a blue plastic one called a Darvic, this year the chicks were fitted with blue ring TM and TN and a metal BTO ring. Both rings will be used in the future to help identify the birds both on migration to West Africa and when they hopefully return to the Trossachs in a few years time. Once this is complete the chicks are weighed and measurements taken and this confirmed that we had a boy and a girl! Because of this the volunteers decided that we should call our chicks Tia Maria and Tony.



Tia Maria all done, with both leg rings fitted.

 Tony and Tia Maria will fledge once they are seven weeks old, when they will begin to build up strength before setting off on migration at about 12 weeks old. 


Introducing the 2012 Osprey Chicks - Tony & Tia Maria

 



Buzzard is a Go-Go....

For the last few weeks we have watched our single Buzzard chick very quickly grow up and also battle with a range of Scottish weather! The chick which was tagged a few weeks ago as Purple/White 29 was one of a two chicks but unfortunately the second chick died only a few days of hatching.

This video clip is the last footage we have of the chick! It looks like Mum is giving it one last clean before it leaves!

We wish the chick Good Luck and will hopefully spot it around the Trossachs soon.

In other news on Friday 13th, we will be fitting the leg rings to our remaining two osprey chicks. This can be viewed live on camera from the David Marshall Lodge Visitor Centre from around 11.30am.

For those of you that don’t know we lost out youngest chick last week, we believe due to the wet weather that we have been experiencing over the last few weeks.

Also, just to let you know that we are currently experiencing problem with live streaming our HD Osprey camera over the web, so for the time being we are bringing you one of our red squirrel feeders. So why not sit back to a cuppa and see if you can spot on the those red fluffy creatures or maybe even a elusive pine marten! It can be viewed at: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/forestry.nsf/byunique/infd-8grdef

Chicks galore at David Marshall Lodge Wildlife Watch!



New buzzard chicks head just visible above the nest

 It's all go at the Wildlife Watch at David Marshall Lodge. First we had a buzzard chick hatch yesterday and if that wasn't enough, a second appeared today. Not to be outdone, our ospreys also got in on the act with a chick hatching this morning!

On our live cameras here at DML the osprey mother has been seen giving her new arrival it's first feed with some freshly caught rainbow trout.

Meanwhile in the buzzard nest, which is in close proximity to the visitor centre, the new family are settling in, mum is female A9 whilst dad who is untagged, is doing a great job bringing in fresh food for his young. It is possible there may be more eggs in the nest as mum is still showing signs of incubating, however we cannot be certain at this time.

We will keep you updated on the progress of our new arrivals and pictures of the chicks will be available via the FC Scotland Facebook page.

DML gears up for Wild about the Forest Week

David Marshall Lodge hosts a fantastic week of events and activities starting this Saturday to celebrate Scottish Biodiversity Week.

The week long showcase entitled Wild about the Forest Week will see Forestry Commission Scotland and partners present an action packed array of activities and events to highlight the wild goings on in Queen Elizabeth Forest Park.

As well as week long activities including "Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels", the "Children's Discovery Trail" and displays from Great Trossachs Forest and other local conservation projects within David Marshall Lodge, each day will have a themed event taking place in the forest park.

Monday sees a Trossachs Water Vole Minibus tour giving visitors and insight into the reintroduction of these bank dwelling creatures into the forest park. This is followed on Tuesday by "The Great Trossachs Forest Project" where visitors will be given the opportunity to find out more about this groundbreaking project.

The week continues with "Guide in the Hide" wildlife activities on Wednesday and Friday, followed by "The Great Trossachs Minibus Tour" on Saturday, where visitors will experience stories past, present and future about the woods around Loch Katrine.

This varied programme of events will give visitors with an interest in nature, wildlife, woodlands and the environment a chance to see evidence of the fantastic biodiversity work being undertaken in Queen Elizabeth Forest Park and the surrounding area.

For more information, visit the event listing on the FC Scotland facebook page.

Buzzard Cam now up and running, whilst Ospreys hopeful of chicks



An image from our buzzard cam showing
the female A9 incubating

 Great news from the Wildlife Watch @ The Lodge. We now have the Buzzard Cam up and running, beaming fantastic quality images into the viewing area. The buzzards have been busy with the female A9 now incubating eggs (see left).

The Ospreys have also been in breeding mode and we have been viewing images of our birds on nest 3 incubating also. All being well we could see the first chicks of 2012 around the end of May, so fingers crossed.

Not so much happening on our other nests 1 and 2. Although ospreys have been spotted at the nest sites, none have laid claim to them as yet.

Closer to The Lodge we have had lots of visits from our resident pine martens who are more than happy to take advantage of the well stocked squirrel feeders around the visitor centre.

We hope to get the Osprey Cam up and running shortly to add to the images being viewed from the buzzard cam and we will keep you posted on progress.

DML celebrates Osprey's return



The live Osprey nest viewing room
at David Marshall Lodge


A special event to celebrate the Osprey's Return was held at David Marshall Lodge last Saturday (21st April). Over 100 people made their way to The Lodge to take part in the day.

Experts were on hand to answer questions and provide information about ospreys, whilst our visitors enjoyed a range of activities and competitions including the Osprey Migration Game, Osprey Fishing Challenge, Osprey themed crafts and the Osprey Challenge.

Winner of the Osprey Challenge on the day was Evie Yanik-Corbelt who won a copy of Sky Hawk by Gill Lewis.

The day gave our Osprey fans a chance to find out more about these facsinating birds of prey and given the recent activity in and around our nest sites so far, we are hopeful of a successful 2012 season.

Ospreys beginning to make their appearance known

Male Osprey

We have been studying our three cameras closely here at the Wildlife Watch, hoping to catch a glimpse of our Ospreys to see what they are up to. Although no activity has been noted on camera 2 since the beginning of April, our Green DX Male has been spotted on the nest on camera 1 twice in the past week.

Camera 3 has also seen regular activity with a Green ringed Female and an un-ringed Male appearing on the nest on a number of occasions. This looks very promising as we have witnessed a number of mating attempts. The female spends most of her day on the nest only departing when the male arrives with fish.

Our Pine Marten friends have also been making good use of the squirrel feeders onsite and have been regular visitors this week.

Good signs and a fair bit of nest activity from our birds. Hopefully we will be seeing a lot more of them in the coming weeks.

Osprey's return for 2012 Season!

As many of you may have read the Aberfoyle Osprey season is just about to begin. This year for the first time ever we are showing three live nests, two of which are being shown through HD. We have already had ospreys on all three nests and signs of attempted mating between pairs.

On nest site 1 (the nest that we have shown in previous years) we have already seen the return of Red 6A (our female from 2006 - 2010) who failed to return to the nest at the beginning of the 2011 season, but was seen on site later in the year. She seems to have been joined by a metal ringed male, whom we presume is the infamous male from the last few years.

For those of you that want to follow the action minute by minute we will be tweeting @aberfoyleosprey and also Facebooking at www.facebook.com/aberfoyleospreys. We are also hoping to get the webcam link up and running this week, sorry for the delay in this :-)

Other sightings and live cameras currently on show at the David Marshall Lodge Visitor Centre include Barn Owls, Red Squirrels and for the last few weeks we have been catching a glimpse of a Pine Marten, but we are keeping our eyes fixed on the osprey nests as another season at Aberfoyle begins!

Not Long Now!

Believe it or not in just over 2 months our ospreys should be back with us and we will be at the start of a brand new season. The are lots of improvements planned for the David Marshall Lodge Visitor Centre and because of this some of our outside areas/car park is currently closed off to visitors. The visitor centre itself though is still open (11th - 19th & 23rd - 26th Feb 10am - 4pm and 1st March, open 7 days) and while be eagerly anticipate the arrival of our ospreys we are seeing plenty of Red Squirrels and even a Pine Marten on our feeder cams.

There are some new exciting plans this year, which I will tell you more about soon. We were out last week checking that all our ospreys nest had survived some of the harshest winds for many years and while there is odd one or two needing a bit of work, on the whole things aren't looking to bad. All the electrics were also put in last week and hopefully we will be continuing our change over to HD, I'll keep you posted.

Red Squirrels going global!

Hey,
Now that the osprey season is more or less over we have decided to give you a rare insight into red squirrels. As some of you may have noticed the live web link that was on our osprey nest has now changed to one of our squirrel feeders at the David Marshall Lodge. These feeders are very popular with red squirrels with them visiting 10+ times a day, you may also be lucky enough to see a pine marten popping in for a quick snack (on peanuts of course!)

These feeders are all part of our conservation efforts to monitor the movement of the red and grey squirrels in the forest. Underneath the boxes are two pieces of sticky tape that collects hair samples from whatever is using the box. This allows us to keep an eye on how the red squirrel is doing and protect it from the bigger American grey squirrel.

Hopefully you will all enjoy this new live link and be able to spot some red squirrels!

Robert

Lights, camera, action!

It's that time of year again! Our Osprey cameras are back up and running. Hurray! I have to admit that it brought back a lot of memories from last year when I saw the nest on camera today - Red 6A, Green DX, the intruder metal ringed bird, our change of nests half way through the season, Ozzy, Jemima and Fred and the many fish! I wonder what they have in store for us this year?

We are still awaiting on the arrival of our ospreys (as some of you will know, EJ from Loch Garten has already returned) but hopefully this should be within the next week. The David Marshall Lodge is now fully open so put down your newspapers, finish the housework and pop in and see how we are getting on.

Most of our other live cameras are up and running too, including our Barn Owl Box, where our female is currently sat on 5 eggs!

New Name for Aberfoyle Osprey Viewing!

The Wildlife Viewing Project at the David Marshall Lodge has a new name!! We have been considering for sometime that the room that is not only home to the Aberfoyle Ospreys but also many other different species for wildlife needed a new name and we can now reveal that the winner is "Wildlife Watch". This has been chosen as we feel that it lets people know exactly what is in the room and what is it all about! This is just the start of many changes to come in the next few months, keep watching for more info!

Osprey Update!

Well the Aberfoyle osprey season is nearly over for another year and what a season it has been!
We do now believe that both our unknown female bird and also Red 6A has started making their way south for the winter. Our chicks Fred, Ozzy and Jemima don't look far off, with us expecting them to start making their way south in the next few days.

Just to let you all know even though we are at the end of the osprey season it doesn't mean that you cant pop in and see us. The David Marshall Lodge is open throughout winter with opening times as follows; September and October 10am-5pm and November and December 10am -4pm. You will be able to catch up on all the action from the 2010 osprey season as well as see live cameras on Red Squirrels, Birds feeders and much more!

3RD EGG HAS HATCHED!

Today I am reporting something that I never thought I would be saying this season. Our 3rd osprey egg has HATCHED! It was discovered this morning so we believe it hatched at some point over the weekend! Mother and chicks all seem to be doing well.

We are going to be running a competition to name this years chicks, so watch this space for details!

Another osprey chick sees daylight!

Today the second osprey egg has been spotted on the nest. This means that because of the delay of recording the osprey nest the 2nd egg hatched on the 26th May at around 1pm. This is because the latest nest does not have a live linkto the David Marshall Lodge. Also we can only record up to 4 hours of footage at a time and because of this it does take us sometime to discover new happenings on the nest. Please bear with us.

The male osprey is living up to his job of bringing in fish with a plentiful supply of fish for both mother and children arrving at the nest throughout the day. On the other cameras in the Wildlife Viewing room we now have 3 very cute fluffy buzzard chicks, 2 fluff balls that are Barn Owl chicks and a plentiful supply of Great Tit chicks of which some are getting ready to fledge the nest.

Hatching Galour!

After the events so for this season we never thought that we would see this day but this morning at around 10.15am the first osprey chick was spotted.
The chick was spotted on our back-up camera when the disc was been swooped over this morning. At the time the female, who has still not been identified was feeding the chick its first breakfast. We are now all eagerly awaiting the hatching of the second egg.

Also over the weekend we spotted the first of our Buzzards chicks and even though the camera is a bit fuzzy at the moment we beleive the mother and chick are both doing well. In the last few weeks the Great Tit eggs have also hatched with two nests on camera in the Wildlife Room. They have both had 6 chicks each. Why not pop in and see the new editions to our family?

All is not lost!

Earlier last week we broke the news that the 3rd and final egg had been kicked out of the nest. There was maybe some slight hope in some of us that the female may lay again but unfortunately she hasn't been seen on the nest since.
But all is not lost... we now have a camera on a never before seen nest at the David Marshall Lodge. This camera isn't live but is this season and from the Aberfoyle area. This means that we are still able to watch the happenings of a osprey couple for the rest of the season. :-)
The new pair haven't yet been identified and we are still unsure of how many eggs the female bird is incubating, but we are hoping that this nest will have a more successful season than the last one!