Loch of the Lowes (Scotland) Osprey

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Malewitsch

Re: Loch of the Lowes (Scotland) Osprey

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macdoum
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Post by macdoum »

From The Guardian newspaper... Blayze taking off for her maiden flight ;

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/g ... 70&index=1
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macdoum
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Post by macdoum »

The Lady of Lowes seems to be preparing for her departure on migration;

Blog from Lowes (copyright)

http://blogs.scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/osprey/
Carmel a member of SHOW .. I hope you love birds too. Its economical. It saves going to heaven.
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Sweet girlie abord yelling for fish

Image
©Scottish Wildlife Trust
http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/thi ... -of-lowes/
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Post by macdoum »

From newspaper The Courier;

Lady set to spread her wings

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/ ... s-1.117998

It will be sad to see her go,if she has not already left The Loch of The Lowes :puzzled:
Carmel a member of SHOW .. I hope you love birds too. Its economical. It saves going to heaven.
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Post by Malewitsch »


Posted on August 7, 2013 by rangeremma

Well, it looks like our beloved female osprey has left for the long journey southwards on her autumn migration. She has not been seen on the nest or around the loch since mid yesterday and we are now fairly certain she has left for the year. When the wind dropped and backed around to a north easterly yesterday afternoon, she will have sensed a tail wind suitable to aid her journey southwards.

It seems like only a couple of weeks ago we were welcoming her back in spring, with the whole breeding season ahead of her. She arrived in fine form back on March 30th, to a great welcome for her 23rd year at this nest.She then kept us all waiting an extra week or so for egg laying, then surprised us with a truly remarkable four eggs. She displayed her usual tender and expert parental care and has raised this years chick Blue YZ to fledging as a healthy and very confident young bird who we hope will have every advantage for the journey ahead.

So far in her breeding ‘career’ this remarkable bird has laid 66 eggs and raised 50 chicks to fledging at this nest. She has taught us all so much about osprey behaviour and has surprised us more than a few times, not least when she became so very ill in 2010 and managed to pull through when all the experts had told us to expect the worst.

At her advanced age ( her late 20′s) we are all aware that every year she makes the migration back to Perthshire successfully may be her last. She is already so far past ‘normal’ life expectancy and there are so many hazards and so much luck involved in migration, we know the odds are now against her realistically . So we all fervently hope but don’t dare count on her returning next year to set yet another record for UK ospreys.

We all wish her and all the birds migrating from UK to southern wintering grounds luck, fair winds and safe journeys.

Ranger Emma
©Scottish Wildlife Trust
http://blogs.scottishwildlifetrust.org. ... l-for-now/
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Preparing for Migration - Posted on August 30, 2013 by jonathan

Today has been great for observing migrating ospreys with four males & one juvenile spotted. Our male osprey brought a brown trout to the nest just before 10.00hrs which Blue YZ promptly claimed. She ate part of the fish on the nest before flying to the Skeleton Tree. It was wonderful to watch her expertly manoeuvring the fish in flight. The male has been shuffling sticks at the nest. This is usual behaviour in the days prior to departure on migration but he spent most of the afternoon preening on the Flat Top Tree...
Image
©Scottish Wildlife Trust
http://blogs.scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/osprey/
Malewitsch

Post by Malewitsch »

Blue YZ on her way!

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Jonathan

Exciting news – Blue YZ has begun her maiden migration! We downloaded the latest batch of satellite data this morning to discover she had departed yesterday morning and spent her first night away from Loch of the Lowes on the Isle of Man.
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Between 10 and 11am she headed SSE to Dhu Loch, a small loch a couple of miles from Loch of the Lowes which she had visited on previous days. From there she headed SW and by 12pm she was 10km (6 miles) to the north east of Crieff. By 1pm she had left Perthshire altogether, crossing over the River Forth to the SE of Stirling.

Blue YZ continued to make good progress throughout the rest of the afternoon, travelling due south through Lanarkshire, and by 5pm had reached the coast of Dumfries & Galloway, midway between Wigtown & Kirkcudbright. Continuing SW out into the Irish Sea she passed over the north coast of the Isle of Man between 6 and 7pm, roosting for the night in trees in a steep sided valley.
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http://blogs.scottishwildlifetrust.org. ... n-her-way/
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Post by Malewitsch »

Sunday 8th September: Blue YZ gets her passport

Posted on September 8, 2013 by rangeremma

11am

Morning all

I've just downloaded the satellite tracking data and thought you'd like to know that Blue YZ was in the north of Spain at 7am this morning. She made landfall in the woods near the town of Linero in the Principality of Asturias after an 18 hour flight across the Bay of Biscay. I'll write a full blog with pics later on today after I've uploaded the data to the website.

Lindsey
http://blogs.scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/osprey/

That seems to be a record flight for a tough scottish osprey girlie 8-)
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Post by Manu »

Ferenz: Thank you so much for your updates :thumbs: .
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Post by Malewitsch »

No official update yet but some pics of BlueYZ's tracking route from Google Earth

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http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/thi ... do/osprey/
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Post by Malewitsch »

Wildlife Diary Sunday 8th September, posted by Rangeremma

by Lindsey

Well Blue YZ is certainly getting on with her migration. After an overnight stay on the Isle of Man on Thursday she carried on past Wales through France and onto Spain in just three days. To compare this to last years chicks Blue YD was in Spain on his second day of migration making landfall to the east of Blue YZ whereas her brother Blue 44 was…. still in the north of England!

The Isle of Man regularly has migrating Ospreys stopping over on the way and Ian Pawson tells us she was in a deep sided valley which has trout in it so hopefully she refueled there.

She then skirted Wales before heading round Cornwall. We were initially surprised by this as it seemed an extreme dogleg for the journey but on examining weather records for the area it looks like there was very heavy rain and hail there so poor visibility so she was flying around that. She did a funny little double back on her way over which you’ll see on the satellite tracking page which might also be to do with the weather. It just makes you realise how amazing Ospreys are that our chick can do that at such a young age.

After roosting in the north of France near Ploudalmezeau, she headed over the Bay of Biscay on a mammoth 14 hour flight. She was roosting at 6am in woodlands near Ria de Villaviciosa, an estuary presumably full of fishy goodies but by 7am she was back on the move.

Her data shows she’s been in flight more or less constantly since leaving Loch of the Lowes with her flight speeds ranging from 9mph over the Bay of Biscay to 46mph over the Celtic Sea. Her flight altitudes also vary from 120m in Spain to 810m over Wales.

Our next batch of data should be available on Tuesday so we’ll see where she is then – will she be in Africa or will she stay in Spain? She’s 100 days old tomorrow, I wonder where she’ll be.

Our male was very much in evidence yesterday but hasn’t been seen today, it too early to say if he’s left yet but the timing would fit. We know males often wait a couple of days after the chicks have left, perhaps to make sure they’ve gone.
http://blogs.scottishwildlifetrust.org. ... september/
Malewitsch

Post by Malewitsch »

Blue YZ heads for the hills (and a meeting with her brother?)
Posted on September 10, 2013 by jonathan

Blue YZ appears to have had enough of flying over water for the time being, following her early seabound adventures, which included a non-stop flight of up to 16 hours across the Bay of Biscay!

Having reached the coast of Asturias sometime in the early hours of the 8th, Blue YZ allowed herself a few hours recuperation (perhaps a spot of fishing?) by the mouth of the Ria de Villaviciosa, east of Gijón before resuming her southward journey.
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By 5pm she was approximately 120km (70 miles) inland, roosting in trees beside the Ria Bernesga, south of the historic city and provincial capital of León. She stayed there until at least 7am the following morning.

To reach this point she will have crossed the Cantabrian Mountains, a mountain chain stretching east-west along the border between Asturias & Cantabria to the north and Castile & León to the south. Many of the peaks reach 1800m (6000ft) with the highest exceeding 2500m (8000ft). Google Earth gives you some impression of their scale.
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Yesterday (9th) is mostly a mystery at the moment as we have virtually no data after 7am. However, by 6pm Blue YZ was roosting again in NW Extremadura by the Rio Alagón, a tributary of the Tagus, Spain’s longest river. It is part of the same catchment as the Alcántara reservoir – the last known location for Blue 44 prior to his disappearance last November. Blue YZ’s roost location lies approximately 30km (17 miles) NW of the reservoir. Who knows, maybe a family reunion is on the cards!
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So far Blue YZ has covered a total of 2061km (1280 miles) – not bad for 5 days work! Maybe she’ll be in Africa by the time the next batch of data comes in. You can view the current data for yourselves at http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/thi ... do/osprey/
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Speaking of family, it now appears that the male has definitely left Loch of the Lowes having not been seen since Saturday, bringing yet another osprey season to a close. There’s still plenty to see on the reserve at this time of year though so a visit is always worthwhile.

Jonathan
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Post by Malewitsch »

Blue YZ Still Heading South: 13th Sept
Posted on September 13, 2013 by jonathan

So the young Blue YZ is continuing her journey south towards the Gulf of Cadiz in southern Spain. It's incredibly exciting each time we download the satellite tracking data for her, as we wonder each time whereabouts she has got to in the last couple of days.

What I find remarkable is the huge distances she covers in just a few hours (on the 10th September she flew 180 miles in only 8 hours). Then she stops and rests each night, ready to head off early the next morning on another leg of her journey – almost like she doesn't want to waste a minute of daylight.

Over the last couple of days she has flown over the Càceres, Badajoz and Huelva regions of southern Spain, and has even nipped over the Portuguese border and back again at Barrancos.

Most of the terrain has been open grassland and farmland, with the occasional orchards and hills. Looking at these wonderful photographs of the areas she has been flying through – it certainly looks very different from Perthshire!
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Our most recent data point for Blue YZ (12th September at 8pm) has her resting at a reservoir just 12 miles from the Gulf of Cadiz – so she is very nearly at the south coast of Spain. We don't know whether she will head further east and take the shortest route across the Strait of Gibraltar, or if she will take the most direct route south over the ocean – we can only wait and see! Either way, she is making a remarkable journey, and has already taught us so much about osprey migration and behaviour. Good luck to her for the next leg!

by Rachel Butterworth – Volunteer Assistant Ranger
http://blogs.scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/osprey/

Image
http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/thi ... do/osprey/
Malewitsch

Post by Malewitsch »

Sunday 15th September: Blue YZ update
Posted on September 15, 2013 by rangeremma
1pm

Afternoon everyone

We've just downloaded the latest batch of satellite tracking data and Blue YZ is....still in Spain and heading back on herself. She left Embalse de Piedras, a reservoir, on the morning of the 13th and spent the rest of the day and the morning of the 14th at an unnamed loch and lochan nearby. She then headed back north, taking a different route to the one she took south. She wound up back at the Represa del Almendro dam, where she spent a few hours on the 11th. At most points she's stopped near water of some sort. The data shows she was roosting alot on the13th but also shows she was moving around from roost to roost. She's not gone any great distance. There are a number of data points missing from this batch of data, which not unusual, so we have no information from 1pm on the 13th to 8am on the 14th but its fair to assume she was hanging around the same loch. We're struggling to find much information about this area so if anyone has any do get in touch at lochofthelowes@swt.org.uk . If you follow the light orange line on the map below you can see her route back north. Has she found her roosting area for the next few years? We'll have to wait and see.
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I'm just uploading the data to our website and it should be available in the next hour or so.

There's an interesting blog from Paul Wildlifewriter on 'The weather awareness of migrating birds' which uses Blue YZ, in particular her dogleg around Cornwall, as an example.

Lindsey
http://blogs.scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/osprey/

http://thewildlifewriter.blogspot.co.uk ... anner.html

Zoom pic from google maps of Blue YZ' 13th/14th September roost points
going back north west & north east:


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14th September
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