Loch of the Lowes Osprey Wildlife Diary

More drama on the osprey nest today with an intruder osprey near the nest three times this morning.  Whilst it didn’t get close enough for us to identify, it got more than close enough ( with 50 feet) for the resident male to get very upset indeed- he is certainly taking his job as nest defender seriously.  

One the cheerful side, 7Y brought in no fewer than three fish yesterday- a record for him, and perhaps a sign that all of us who have doubted him can stop worrying about his ability to provide for our lady and their offspring. This morning he brought in a very nice trout – perhaps he is widening his hunting territory too.

Emma Rawling

Perthshire Ranger

P.S. Keen eyed webwatchers may have spotted the first blue tit egg laid in the nest box on camera two- it will probably be the first of half a dozen or more, and the parents will begin to incubate once they are all laid. Until then it will be safe and snug in the bedding in the box.

A wet and windy morning here at Lowes, with our ospreys snug in their high walled nest . You will all be pleased to know that the male brought our lady a fish this morning at 6.30am and took his turn on the eggs whilst she ate. Staff tell me the female returned twice after eating, and tried to resume incubation, but the male was far too comfortable and content in his task to want to relinquish the nest.  Who can blame him?  Let’s hope he keeps up the good work.

As most you will have noticed, Laird of the Loch has taken to bringing lots of bark and soft material to the nest, but as there is only a tiny bowl where the eggs are sitting, there is no room for any of it!  He is become a little overly keen with his architectural skills and trying to impress our Lady, but I think she’d be happier with him if fish was the common delivery.  That said, we have had a fish this morning and she seems content for the time being, so we mustn’t berate him too much.

On other wildlife news, all the woodland birds and our squirrels are busy making their nests and dreys, and chasing prospective mates.  The woodpeckers are in full drumming mode throughout the day and we are optimistic for some new juvenilles.  We have a pair of bluetits who have made a rather cosy looking nest in one of our nest boxes and you can follow their progress on webcam 2.  We have seen the loch birds in their fantastic mating displays and already some of our mallards have ridiculously cute ducklings!

Keep your observations coming.

Fiona

 It’s a lovely peaceful morning here at Loch of the Lowes, and as the third week of incubation begins, it’s a good time to look at what patterns are emerging in our Ospreys’ behaviour so far.

Our male bird is undoubtedly a master builder, bringing in more sticks to the nest than I’ve ever seen. Even though the female seems rather cramped just now, rest assured that over the season, the nest always changes shape and will be customised for comfort.

There has been a distinct preference for pike shown by our male osprey, with the odd trout and perch making up the rest of his catch. Fish deliveries to the nest have mostly been at lunchtime (1pm approx) and again late afternoon 5-6pm. 

The female is her usual dedicated self during incubation, though the male has been doing a fair bit of sitting on the eggs- especially in the morning. It seems our female get impatient for food just after dawn (as it’s always the female who sits overnight) and if her partner does not produce a fish straight away, she gets him to take over incubation whilst she goes fishing for herself.

Please add your own observations of patterns of behaviour and todays events below.

Emma Rawling    Perthshire Ranger

Hi folks,

Sorry for the disruption of the webcams yesterday.  Our internet was down probably due to some lightning on Friday night, and as a result we couldn’t even tell you that there was a problem!  All seems to be working fine now and thanks for your patience.

Our Lady of the Loch is in for another drenching it seems as the rain starts once more.  I am told, however that the weather is set to improve at some point this summer!  Her young toy boy has been bringing yet even more nest material this morning much to the disappointment of the female, who sounds like she’s desperate for more fish and a few less sticks!

There was a bit of a worry last night as the young man showed his clumsy side again by standing all over the eggs whilst trying to grab the remains of a fish from the females talons.  We’ve had a good look and the eggs seem to be fine so we’ll keep our fingers crossed he hasn’t done any damage.

Fiona

It’s a very dull and grey morning here at Lowes.  When will it get warmer?!  Our young man has just taken over from our old lady for another bout of incubation.  He really seems to enjoy being a house-husband and is currently busy doing a bit of housekeeping.  We are all quite amused by the size of the nest this year, and the continual bringing of rather over-sized sticks by the relatively inexperienced male.  The space for sitting on eggs is gradually decreasing, but at least they are nice and sheltered from this miserable weather.

Keep the comments and observations coming!

Fiona

  This morning you will notice our male osprey sitting on the eggs once again. After a slow start last week, when he seemed not to know what to do with the egg when first laid, he now seems very keen to incubate indeed. In fact he’s been sitting sometimes for up to two hours, whilst the female has been off eating, exercising, and we think, fishing for herself. This has prompted not a few jokes about him being a ’stay at home husband’ and a ’sensitive new age man’. He certainly seems to be taking his role as co-parent seriously which is a relief.

 Remember to post your own observations of the days behaviour below.

Another windy morning here at Loch of the Lowes, and a heavy frost, but our birds seem to be coping well.

The male brought in a  dawn fish and is currently sitting on the eggs whilst the female is off eating- the fishing conditions are certainly easier than yesterday. Many of you will have noticed his preference for Pike, which are abundant in both our loch and the connected lochs in the area. Lets hope he keeps up the good work .

We now have three eggs being incubated by our osprey female- the 56th, 57th and 58th eggs she has laid in her amazing breeding life.  These were laid on the 13th, 16th and 18th April and generally osprey eggs take between 35 to 40 days to hatch- with the reliable average being 37 days.

A quick calculation reveals our eggs, provided all goes well, would be due to hatch during the latter part of May. The earliest hatching date possible would be the 18th, and the latest around the 28th.

Until then the dedicated osprey nest protection watch continues 24hrs a day.

A windy morning here at Loch of the Lowes to say the least! Our female osprey is snug in the nest, but the whole tree is rocking ( we hope watching doesn’t make you too seasick). Don’t worry, Peter assures me that over the winter ( when the birds were away) the nest was checked for stability and the base is rock solid. Whether the same can be said for our new male’s additions is another matter.

After a slow start, the male has been bringing in a huge amount of new nest material over the last few days. The nest is now as deep as we’ve seen it for a long time and quite narrow- we’ve been joking about him trying to bury her to keep her safe. Whilst it is normal for the nest to have high sides this time of the year, it will gradually flatten out as things progress.

Hi All

My apologies for any inconvenience. The website which runs our cameras has went down. They are working on the problem at the moment and will hopefully have them running shortly.

Peter

It’s just gone 1am and as always there are dedicated staff and volunteers here on duty watching our ospreys sleep, to help protect them and deter would be egg thieves from disturbing them.

On a cold and wet night like this my heart goes out to our female bird sitting tight on the nest, looking really bedraggled- by comparison our hide seems luxurious.

I am waiting for our female to stand up again to confirm the sightings of a third egg- which would be fantastic news of course- our ‘ lady’s of the loch’s’ 58th egg no less!

Yes it’s definately a third egg!!! Seen arond 2am. Not bad for such a veteran osprey lady.

As dawn light breaks here around 5.30am, we’re begining to realise that is has been snowing on the hills around the loch, and our poor lady osprey once again has a dramatic white backdrop to her nest. What a cold and lonely night to lay a third egg- let’s hope her mate brings her a dawn fish!

7.05am: Our poor female osprey is really cold this morning- she has ice crystals on her back, and is actually shivering. The male has been unsucessfully trying to catch her breakfast since dawn, so she has just got him to take over incubation and gone to catch her own- let’s hope she has more luck. You may notice last nights third egg is  interestingly much whiter than the other two, we just hope it’s fertile.

7y came in with a very small fish at 09.39am, the female left with this insignificant tiddler.

What a rollercoaster the last 48 hours have been here at Loch of the Lowes. After the initial elation of the first egg of the season, our joy turned to concern as we began worrying about our new male osprey’s commitment and skills as a father.

You will have seen the male bringing the same fish several times each morning, trying to interest our lady in food, but she has been reluctant to take it as she doesn’t seem to want to leave her precious egg. He has been then taking the fish away again each time , and only when she is truly hungry has she taken any fish and left him in charge of the egg.

The male has taken a couple of days to get the hang of guarding the egg in her absence, being a real fidget and not sitting on it very much- and even leaving it unattended for short periods, to our alarm. The female though seems never to be very far away and is straight back to the nest if the egg is in peril (alone it is vulnerable to cold or predators).

We can only hope the routine settles in soon and that the first egg is joined by another today- let us know if and when you see it on the camera.

Hi All

I am having to shut down the cameras for about half an hour. i will get them back on ASAP.

Thanks for your patience

Peter