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Here is the latest update from The Osprey Team
Quote:

July 2nd, 2010 by Osprey Team
Our young ospreys have survived the down pours of the last day or so well, with their new coats of speckled feathers- a wonderful camouflage on the nest.
The rain did however, make fishing conditions a bit more difficult for dad- his eyesight is phenomenal but even he struggles when it rains all day! It just goes to show just how lucky we have been this year with ideal fishing conditions prevailing and an abundance of food for the two chicks.

The chicks are really starting to flap now- don’t worry they aren’t really going to take off just yet, they are strengthening those vital flight muscles. There will be loads and loads of this behaviour for another week probably before their first flight.
Has anyone else noticed too in the last few days how those HUGE feet have suddenly started to be more coordinated and the chicks are starting to use their talons, instead of balancing on their heals?

Lastly, you will have noticed too that the chicks have been starting to ‘head waggle’- the name we give the side to side head movement ospreys use when fishing or trying to focus on something. Their eyesight is developing just as fast as everything else and they are practising eyeing up things out on the loch.

Yes, all of this is happening incredibly fast- think of all the development our children go through fast tracked into 8 short weeks! Never a dull moment with young ospreys!
Emma Rawling Perthshire Ranger

P.S. three fish so far this morning- thanks :quote.

I have not read the blogs recently but the Lady has continued to improve.
The observers are glad to have had some rain, Frank not so happy.

Thanks for the information, Macdoum - and Urmas!

EDIT: It may perhaps be of interest that three of the WTEs reintroduced to east Scotland in 2009 have recently been seen in the Loch of the Lowes area. See http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/blogs/ ... 10/07.aspx

Yes,Mew we look forward to seeing the WTE's in Scotland.
Here is a bit of light reflection from one of the forum members (allowed to copy and soon to be a book of poems);
marjorie says: quote;
July 4, 2010 at 2:26 pm
My thoughts after watching the webcam for a few minutes

They’re busy sitting preening
Their feathers must be neat
This one goes on top of that
And the other two should meet.

The wind and rain’s caused havoc
To their newly sprouted feathers
They need to get some setting gel
To cope with all the weather

‘How do I look?’ asks big ‘Jack’
‘So handsome’ answers his Mum
‘What about me?’ whispers wee ‘Jill’
‘You look as bright as the sun

The view from Rinchen’s camera
Shows first class looking plumage
The feathers on those strong wings
Will assist their maiden voyage.

P.S. Must say that LADY looks so much better as each day passes. Long may she continue regaining the strength she will need for the long trek south.quote.
So far so good in Loch of the Lowes.

All appears well in the Osprey nest. The juuveniles (?) are leaping and enjoying the strong winds today ( 7th July ) and are expected to start small flights from the nest anytime now. They are eating alone and their Mum is recovering well.
good news so far.

Yesterday the 1st chick took a hazardous 1st flight.. rather wobbley and only found the way 'home' after a time.
Today chick no.2 took off for a text-book flight and returned after a few moments followed closely by the Lady watching every move. In the following video you can follow the flight path by watching Lady's head.;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCiFy9_V3bw

So chicks have fledged and will soon head for Africa (southwards,anyway). The male will go first I believe,Lady will continue to supervise the young fishing and then ?... nobody knows what she will do.
The osprey team would dearly like her to stay in the nest area and finish her life there,but.. the Lady will decide. She still has some trouble using her foot and sometimes her movements are clumsy.. so.. .. ?
I know Lady does fly in the daytime but nobody has mentioned her fishing. Both she and the chicks depend,'till now on the 'Laird' for the fish he brings daily to the nest.

Update today;
Osprey Diary 15th July
July 15th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT
We are all hoping here at Lowes that the weather will finally improve today as it has been the wettest and coolest period so far this season. Not that the rain isn’t welcome, with the Loch (and our well) so low, however, the rain has made life difficult for our ospreys.

The male (and female) have certainly had their work cut out fishing as the wind has created substantial waves on the lochs and visibility is poor. All the wild birds have been using the more sheltered bays on the leeward side of the loch for foraging and roosting. The ospreys, young and old, have been sitting in the sheltered trees across from the nest the last couple of days, hence the empty camera for so much of the day.Don’t worry it is normal for the youngsters to continue to use the nest for some weeks, and most of the fish deliveries will still take place there. We should be able to enjoy views of them for some time to come- before the real withdrawal symptoms kick in for all of us as the chicks migrate into their future.Emma RawlingPerthshire Ranger
So,apart from the rain (welcome in most parts these days ) all is well.

Life is good in The Osprey nest as this blog says;
Osprey Diary 16th July
July 16th, 2010 by E Rawling, Perthshire Ranger SWT
Four Together Again:

Yesterday evening we were treated to an unusual sight on the nest for this time of year, but one which warmed my heart- all four of our ospreys on the nest together again. It as only a brief moment, but when dad arrived with a whole fish, mum and the younger chick were ready and waiting and the older chick appeared lightning fast from stage left. Mum then quickly grabbed the fish and took off with it, whist dad gave chase to an intruder nearby- a frantic few moments. The look on the chicks faces was absolutely priceless- “what is no one going to feed us!?!”. No fear, mum soon returned with it having eaten the head- she must have been really hungry.

Moments like these are just wonderful, and make you realise how much we are all going to miss our wee family all too soon- but they still have a few magic moments and interesting behaviours to share with us yet this season!

Emma Rawling Perthshire Ranger
All is well.

All is going on as it should be at The Lowes nest;

Osprey Diary July 19, 2010
July 19th, 2010 by rboardman
The carryings on and dynamics amongst each individual becomes more and more pronounced. Mum tidies up alone on the nest, juvie flies in, Mum flies off, and mimics same actions. At least a couple of behavioural actions here…And then there is the food situation, who catches, who sees the catch, who eats, who gives, who receives. Not satisfied, they squawk, full, they squawk, hungry or not. Pops remains aloof, was it fishing, guarding territory (and we do have a fair number of intruders and will continue to do so) or watching the golf?

“Our” female remains an extremely devoted parent. The juvies are still her priority. I would like her to eat more, she appears tired. Let us not forget that on Friday she caught 4 fish in as many attempts and did catch two (one too large to lift) yesterday afternoon in front of juvies and us visitors. Breeding is a massive task. I remain hopeful that the young will soon be less reliant on the parents in order for her to recover from this very stressfull four months.

Calm and warm here at present. We shall continue to marvel, whether overseas, overair, or at the Loch of the Lowes, Perthshire, Scotland. Rinchen

I meant to say, thanks for all these updates, Macdoum - good news, and much appreciated!

Yesterdays update on the osprey nest;

Latest osprey blog
27 July 2010


What a defensive lot we have in our wee osprey family! This morning all three (mum and two chicks) were happily roosting in the trees opposite the hide- you may have seen me zooming in on them – from where they can survey their domain. They show little interest in the nest now (far too grown up for that obviously!) UNLESS someone else gets too close (in this case an intruder osprey). What a lightening fast reaction- all three of them appeared within seconds and began mantling (covering the nest with dropped wings and squawking) over the nest like it was still the most precious thing in the world to them.

There has been a lot of discussion about our female osprey’s weight recently- we estimate she lost up to a third of her bodyweight during her dramatic illness. Rest assured she is slowly regaining weight (despite always favouring the chicks over herself with food) but we would not yet say she is back to ‘before-illness’ weight, and we would like to see her put more on before she attempts autumn migration. By the way, we judge a bird's weight at the front over the chest- what is known as the ‘keel’ or breastbone, is where birds carry their fat reserves.
Emma Rawling
So far so good at The loch of The Lowes..

I second that - thank you very much for keeping us updated.

I'm really glad the female osprey feels better - I hope she will be ok before the migration.

Everything is well at the osprey nest. The Lady is still there,as are the two chicks and 'Frank' eka Y7.
Usually the mother osprey has left by end of July but maybe she is taking a few days more to build her strength.
Usually she leaves first then the Father bird stays a few weeks more until the chicks have learnt to fish and care for themselves.
There are lots of watchers now to record the Lady's every move in the coming days.

Please do keep on updating us, Macdoum.

Apparently the Lady of The Loch of The Lowes had gone south. I bring you todays report;
Osprey Diary 5th August
Good morning bloggers, from the team at Lowes. We are all wondering here, if today is the day we’ve all been dreading – the day our female osprey leaves on migration. She has not been seen since 10am yesterday, and if we don’t see her on the nest or loch today we can assume she has headed south. So keen eyes out today folks- let us know if you see her. Of course this is normal and natural this time of year but none the less we will all be sad to see her go- especially as many of us have lingering doubts as to whether or not we will see her here again.

Meanwhile the male is delivering fish and Rinchen tells me these are noticeably bigger in size these days. This is a great sign that the chicks are now able handle fish themselves ( perhaps the parents are deliberately challenging them with bigger prey? ) as well as a compliment to dads fishing skills.

Emma Rawling

Perthshire Ranger; end of quote.
So,another page is turned in the land of Ospreys. Lady has not been seen today in the area of the nest. Bye feisty Lady of Lowes.

I will add this;



TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

Weep not for me in sadness
As i take my season’s leave
Take strength from your best memories
It’s not yet time to grieve

Fear not for both the juvies
Your Laird will see they’re fine
He’ll see to all their needs now
Of course he will – they’re MINE!!

When i lay ill, i felt your love
Upon the wind it flew
Your collective inspiration
Was what really saw me through

I’d never been so stricken
Yet knew exactly what to do
So when i upstaged Peter,
My friends, that was just for you!!

So will i return to you next year?
That’s for fate, and what will be,
But as the end of March approaches
Keep your your eyes fixed on my tree!!
end of quote.

Some blogger spoke well.!!
I don't know who Peter is...

If anybody is an expert in Hungarian then you can see on this site 16 pages of photos of the Osprey nest. Oldest page 16 to first page 1 ;
http://madarak.szigete.hu/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=259
or,of course you can ask Google.. !!

Last word;

Friday 6th August 2010

The departure of the UK’s oldest breeding osprey, known as ‘Lady’, from its annual breeding ground at the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve and Visitor Centre has sparked a flood of goodbyes and well wishes from around the globe as concerns now mount that this could be the last time the famous bird is seen in the UK.

Over 2,000 wildlife enthusiasts watched live online at www.swt.org.uk yesterday (5 August 2010) as the bird failed to return to its nest, indicating that it had taken to the skies to begin its annual 3,000 migration to West Africa.

Experts now say that there is a 50% chance that the bird, which is estimated to be 24-years-old, will return next year, however following a lapse of ill-heath earlier this year it is still unknown whether she will be strong enough to migrate successfully.

Peter Ferns, the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre Manager, said: “Watching our magnificent female osprey leave Loch of the Lowes was particularly moving this year as this could be the last time we ever see her.

“Her mystery illness in June, which left her unable to move or open her eyes for several days, had us all worried and expert ornithologists and veterinary specialists predicted the worst. However, beating the odds, our ‘Lady’ made a recovery. We have been encouraged by signs that she has been feeding herself up and increasing her body weight before her journey, and we can only hope she is now strong enough to successfully complete her migration.

“This amazing creature has exhibited an unprecedented endurance over the 20 years she has been breeding at Loch of the Lowes, living over three times the average lifespan for an osprey and producing an astonishing 48 chicks. This alone is a significant contribution to repopulating the osprey species, which became extinct in Scotland in 1916.”

Thanks for all this, Macdoum. Amazing statistics, amazing life-story!! And what quallities birds can teach us.

Thanks for all these updates - it was great to follow this amazing story. How I wish we would know what happens with this special "Lady" ...

For that Bosuil,we have to wait another while.. like March next year.