Loch of the Lowes (Scotland) Osprey

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Loch of the Lowes (Scotland) Osprey

Post by Jo UK »

There is a lot of interest in the welfare of a female osprey on a nest at Loch of the Lowes, in Scotland.

http://blogs.swt.org.uk/osprey/?section ... life-diary
There is a link to the live webcam, on the right of that page.

Viewers have seen alarming views of a very ill female osprey named Lady, who has two chicks. The male osprey has managed to provide enough food and now it looks as though Lady is recovering.
The Scottish Wildlife trust ornithologist who writes the blog keeps warning us that all may not be well yet. The cause of her illness is not known, and it could be a recurring condition.
I have the impression that the blog writer is trying to prepare us for eventual death of Lady, but she does seem to be stronger now.

Any members who have been following this nest are encouraged to tell us what the history has been, please.
I am new to this webcam and don't know the birds or people involved.
Please contribute if you can. Thanks.
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Post by Jo UK »

On this page there are links to four webcams.

http://www.thewebbroadcastingcorporatio ... wt/swt.php
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Post by Mew »

Jo UK wrote:On this page there are links to four webcams.

http://www.thewebbroadcastingcorporatio ... wt/swt.php
Although I haven't been following these Scottish webcams (I only heard about them this week), I had heard that the female adult osprey (Lady) had been seen, on the webcam, to be very ill in the nest and was not expected to survive to rear the chicks. It was thought possibly to be simply a matter of old age and the end of her life. She appears to have made a miraculous recovery and is feeding the chicks again. :headroll: I believe she just made a short flight from the nest, but am not sure about that.

Jo (or anyone else), please correct me if any of that was wrong. All - please have a look at all the webcams and, in particular, support this obviously very dedicated mother with your thoughts and goodwill! :bow:
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Post by Jo UK »

I read the same, earlier, that it was believed she was dying of old age!

Now she is better again. I suppose the truth is that very little is known about the private lives of ospreys and much is being seen for the first time, through the webcams on various nests.
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Post by macdoum »

Lady is known to have lost a talon and it is obvious,watching the nestcam (yesterday pm) that she has trouble standing,balance and also gripping the fish to tear and feed the youngsters.
The talon was seen by the observers doing a close-up with the cam. They thought at first that that 'bundle' was a pellet.
Lady spent the weekend prostrated in the nest and observers thought her days were nearing the end but yesterday she recovered enough to fly to the lake and drink some water and wash herself a little. As she had laid prostate for several days she became soiled and dyshydrated,lost an lot of weight.
Then Lady was seen starting ( with diffficulty) to feed the TWO chicks again.
As her partener of many years did not come back from migration Lady took a young new partener. He has shown himself to be a marvellous father supplying the nest with lots of fish from the nearby Loch. He took over the feeding too while Lady was incapacitated.
The chicks are about five weeks old.
Lady (or Marge) was eating yesterday. I have not seen the cam yet today.
There are many videos being posted. Here is one from yesterday;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPuoi7Jyc8Q
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Post by macdoum »

Lady or Marge has been nesting on the same nest at The Loch of the Lowes for more than 20 years she is one of the odest ospreys known to live and nest for so long.
She has raised at least 58 chicks . !! She is an old and much loved osprey and has many followers over the years.
There is an observation lodge where qualified observers watch over the nesting... now 24hrs a day.
The general feeling from there is the hope that Lady can end her days peacefully in her own nest. But who knows what will happen..
:cry:
The link Jo gave us takes you straight to the webcam and todays update from Peter one observer.
The is too the blogs where you can leave your thoughts ( ?prayers) and observations.
They do ask for people to switch off the cam if you are not watching.. they have trouble coping with 'the broadband capacity'.. or some such.
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Post by Jo UK »

Thank you for giving us he background and some istory, Macdoum.

Lost a talon?
That must be like losing a part of a foot or hand, for us.
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Post by macdoum »

Jo UK wrote:Thank you for giving us he background and some istory, Macdoum.

Lost a talon?
That must be like losing a part of a foot or hand, for us.
Yes,I have read that the foot of the osprey is so complex with claws pointing forward and other claws facing back and even another 'special' claw. All this complex formation are speciallaly designed for fishing. :puzzled:
I suppose a talon = finger or toe ? Maybe ask Urmas ?
French zoologist Marie Jules César Savigny in 1809.[3] Wikpidia;

The Osprey differs in several respects from other diurnal birds of prey. Its toes are of equal length, its tarsi are reticulate, and its talons are rounded, rather than grooved. The Osprey and Owls are the only raptors whose outer toe is reversible, allowing them to grasp their prey with two toes in front and two behind. This is particularly helpful when they grab slippery fish.[4] It has always presented something of a riddle to taxonomists, but here it is treated as the sole member of the family Pandionidae, and the family listed in its traditional place as part of the order Falconiformes. Other schemes place it alongside the hawks and eagles in the family Accipitridae—which itself can be regarded as making up the bulk of the order Accipitriformes or else be lumped with the Falconidae into Falconiformes. The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy has placed it together with the other diurnal raptors in a greatly enlarged Ciconiiformes, but this results in an unnatural paraphyletic classification.[5]
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Post by macdoum »

This is the latest update on the Osprey;quote


6.30pm Update:
Our lady of the loch is looking stronger still this evening, having spent all day back at her normal duties with the chicks, and using the nest perch again- what a sight, to see her surveying her domain again! She has spent a lot of time today preening and has taken several trips off the nest to wash herself- like anyone recovering from a life threatening illness, she seems to want to get herself back in good order! Fingers crossed all around for continued improvement and no relapses!
Emma Rawling
Please Note: tonight will be the first night since all this started that we feel we will be able to leave our osprey overnight and go home a get some sleep! We will of course be watching her via the cameras and there are people on site in case of emergencies as always. quote

Apparently they have decided not to ring/band the chicks this year so as not to disturb the nesting unduly. (any further)
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Post by Mew »

Thank you for all that background information, which I didn't know, Macdoum. Let us trust that all is well..........
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Post by macdoum »

The update today says Lady is doing better;Latest osprey blog; quote
24 June 2010
Morning all
It was great to come into another glorious morning and to see our girl feeding the chicks. She was also not happy at another osprey taking a look at the nest, she was shouting at it while continuing to feed the chicks so could not have posed a serious threat to her.

On the loch we have three bar-headed geese at the moment, probably escapees, it is a lovely change from the usual Canada geese we have here all year round.

Thanks for your posts during the night I do look forward to reading them in the morning. It is a shame we can't be here to moderate them. Peter

For those wanting to find a different view of the nest, try Camera 2 – available on the webcame home page under the SWT Red Squirrel logo. We often have this camera on other things like squirrels but at the moment we thought you’d like more ospreys! Sorry if we forgot to make this clear. Emma ;quote.
Everything seems to be alright at the Loch of Lowes nest.
But I will read the blogs from forum members to find out anything of note.
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Post by macdoum »

this is the most advised comment from today (24th)

Osprey Team says:
June 24, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Hi , our lady has continued to improve today and has taken at least two baths to clean herself up- her vent area was definately not seemly for a while there! her short flights today do seem stronger and her eyes almost seem normal as her dehydration lifts. However, it will take her many weeks to regain all the weight she has lost and she is still looking rather gaunt to me. Emma; end quote

So,wait and see.
edit; One can see here, as Frank the male parent came to steal a fish,Lady is unable to defend and from what I can see she has trouble with balance and movement. :sad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDeguTc9Lkg
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Post by Mew »

macdoum wrote:this is the most advised comment from today (24th)

Osprey Team says:
June 24, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Hi , our lady has continued to improve today and has taken at least two baths to clean herself up- her vent area was definately not seemly for a while there! her short flights today do seem stronger and her eyes almost seem normal as her dehydration lifts. However, it will take her many weeks to regain all the weight she has lost and she is still looking rather gaunt to me. Emma; end quote

So,wait and see.
edit; One can see here, as Frank the male parent came to steal a fish,Lady is unable to defend and from what I can see she has trouble with balance and movement. :sad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDeguTc9Lkg
Is 'The Laird,' Frank, then?
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Post by macdoum »

Yes, Frank is also,now called The Laird as is fitting for a mate of The Lady (Marge)

The news today is the Lady continues to improve,is eating and busy feeding the chicls. Frank is bringing fish to the nest at a steady rate.
The chicks are expected to fledge in approx. two weeks from now.
:wave:
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Post by macdoum »

The update from 26th June (quote);


June 26th, 2010 by Osprey Team
What a difference a week makes- lets all hope we don’t have a repeat of last weekends awful circumstances!
We are all overjoyed at our female ospreys recovery but still concerned and monitoring her weakened state- she still has a lot of weight and ground to make up. We are cautiously optimistic though, and of course relived beyond measure that the chicks have not suffered through this due to dads dillegence.
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Post by Mew »

Thanks for all the updates, Macdoum. It is very good news!
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Post by macdoum »

Things are looking good at the osprey nest today.
Todays blog (quote);
Osprey Diary June 27, 2010
June 27th, 2010 by Osprey Team
The brilliant warm calm summer weather continues. The water flat. It seems as if it will be another good day for fishing. Let us hope that the youngens will continue to be sated throughout the day and night to come. They, at this stage have their metabolic rates at a peak, during this very rapid feather growing season. They are regularly preening and their flight and tail feathers seem to grow by the hour. “Our” female encourages/calls/nags for meal delivery in an ever stronger manner. Although she still appears thin she sounds as if she is her old self again. Will she remain longer this year before flying south in order to gain strength, or perhaps she will more slowly meander as she migrates, taking in the sites towards West Africa? The best to all who follow. Rinchen (quote)

Only time will tell how the Lady copes from now on. 8-)
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Post by macdoum »

Everything is going well at the Osprey's nest. quote;
Osprey Diary 29th June
June 29th, 2010 by Osprey Team
A beautiful morning again here at Lowes, with glorious sunshine and a gentle breeze ruffling the surface of the Loch. There are duckling and goslings a plenty around the shores, and great crested grebes nesting again amongst the yellow water lilies near the hide.
We have been focussed very much this last week or so on our female osprey ( quite rightly) and her plight, but I would like to mention our male today, because he deserves a Hero of the Loch award as far as I am concerned.
Most of you will know that he is a new male this year, ten years old born at Ballinliug in 2000. As a new partner for our lady, he was very much an unknown quantity at the beginning of the season. His courtship was text book, his nest building skills in no doubt (he virtually buried our lady!), but his fishing skills took a while to impress us! He ahs turned out to be a specialist pike fisherman and capable of bringing in very large fish (though his average is small and some truly tiny!). He did give us a couple of frights when he abandoned the eggs during incubation for half an hour or so- he was called a few very bad things those nights!
Most of all though, he has impressed all his doubters with his dedication, first feeding his mate tenderly on the nest, and then proving himself incredibly dedicated to his hatchlings. Once the chicks arrived he stepped up his hunting to an incredible level and hasn’t slacked since- there has never been a lack of fish which has meant the chicks having the best possible start in life.
It is thanks to dad however, that the chicks survived their mother’s terrible illness, because he stepped into the breach when she was unable to, and fed them himself. Though not unknown in ospreys, this kind of behaviour is considered rare and a sign of our male’s total dedication to rearing his offspring- what a super dad!
three cheers for Green 7Y- hero of the Loch!
Emma Rawling
Perthshire Ranger
There is one observation there which observers find very unusual traits in the male bird. All seems well... :D
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Post by macdoum »

Jo UK wrote:Thank you for giving us he background and some istory, Macdoum.

Lost a talon?
That must be like losing a part of a foot or hand, for us.
Urmas has given us the explanation about 'talon' and osprey feet here;
viewtopic.php?f=39&t=205&start=20

I wonder if she took off from the nest but got her foot tangled in the branches of the nest. :puzzled: or if chasing off a predator,the flew so suddenly an accident could happen.
As Urmas stated that would hardly account for her prostration on the nest for several days.
:puzzled: I don't know enough but if I tore off a finger or toe I would be in a sorry state too. :rolleyes:
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Post by Jo UK »

If she suffered considerable blood loss it would prostrate her.
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