The Ospreys are back !!

This is my understanding too, WN. When I was a shooter, fly fisherman, the lakes I fished also didn’t mind the ospreys, mink were an issue mind. The ospreys tended only to take the lame, diseased or damaged fish, if they were lucky enough to catch. Damaged fish mainly by careless anglers I’d say or cormorants. 
Suffice to say I no longer fish or shoot, I saw too much thoughtless cruelty and incomprehensible arguments in support of these so called ‘sports’. I saw the error of those and my ways. I must tar all with that brush mind as many fishermen are supportive of wildlife and rewilding.

‘Must not tar’ that obviously should read! Fishermen on the whole were far more understanding of nature and the interconnection of native species in my experience, not so much for some of the shooters and fox hunters I mixed with.

I was lucky enough today to see an Osprey on two occasions at Spey Bay, preening or feeding on free stump just when we arrived and then later on flying down to the River mouth, being harried by crows and gulls, then returning with a fish which he commenced for consume on the same tree stump.

Last one I saw fishing was last year in the Dornoch Firth, saw it dive several times, unsuccessfully for what I think must have been estuarine fish species. Being so very few in numbers in the UK they must make little if any real difference to wild piscatorial population levels. A delight to behold it certainly was.

Not that good at feeding on tame  Rainbow trout. I recon they may be lucky on a 1 in 3 dive. As  the easy prey will reduce drastically over the next few years it does not bode well. We at Clywedog supported the Ospreys for a decade before the RSPB turned them into cash cows.Our objection is we pay for the food source and the RSPB take all the income with no support to the fishery.,

Finally made it to the Glaslyn Ospreys today. I must say that this small now independent charity are an excellent example of how things can be done. The visitors centre (with cafe) and lovely hides are clean, modern and the staff very pleasant and informative. There are two separate nests with two pairs of birds in active occupation, both viewable from the centre with one nest having live cam links showing on large screens. Surprisingly they told me, there is little interaction between these pairs and no observable competition.

They also told us that this year a new pair of ospreys have arrived in the country and have built their very own nest but the location is being kept relatively secret for very obvious reasons. This they said was an excellent indication of the health of the growing UK population and certainly bodes well for the future spread of the species across Britain. They are now truly wild birds free of human assistance and doing their own thing, fantastic! Given the chance it seems it can happen.

This place is well worth a visit, free car park and entry but of course a donation helps this good cause.

https://www.glaslynwildlife.co.uk/

ADP, a few bits of news that should interest you if you have not seen them.

It appears that Laddie, the male Osprey from Loch of the Lowes, died of natural causes, although investigations are still ongoing. At Manton Bay the sole chick was nearly lost over the side of the nest, knocked there by a live fish brought back by the male bird, but is now safely back in the cold and is growing rapidly. The third egg has not hatched, so must be infertile. 

There has been sightings of the first wild-fledged Osprey at Poole having returned in the area, and a day later was photographed in a nest in the Usk Valley https://mailchi.mp/birdsofpooleharbour/summer-events-and-osprey-cruises-13762173?e=d5356d555d

Also there has been a report of the first of the Keilder 2022 offsprings, 1B0, intruding at Dyfi Osprey Project today.

Thank you very much for the update Nellie it is much appreciated. It is a shame that Laddie died but natural causes is something that can't be helped and to know that our British offsprings are returning now to their origins of berth is always good news. I plan on going to the Dyfi site next month take the Caravan to a CL we stay at and a few days spotting.

Hope all goes to plan for your visit, ADP. Here is a short video of the visit.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A84ZMrEcH0Y

There is more news of another Keilder born Osprey returning, this time to Scotland.

"In Scotland another Kielder youngster is thriving. We posted a few weeks ago that 2020 Nest 4 210/Darden had been seen by Val Gall, who stocks her Perthshire lake with trout.

210/Darden has met an unringed male, called Clyde, who bred with a female named Bonnie by Val. They paired up in 2021 but didn't breed until 2022. Sadly, Bonnie hasn't returned from migration this season. But that left a vacancy, and 210/Darden has taken it. They now have eggs."

This behaviour is in line with what we were told at Glaslyn, first time returnee ospreys will be drawn to other ospreys to pair with rather than search out new nest sites. They will cover vast areas to achieve this and of course political boundaries mean nothing to them. 

The staff also explained that an established/stable population only need adults to produce a couple of fledglings during their lives. Of course there will be natural losses along the way. Our UK population is now beyond stable and is actually growing significantly in number. Let’s hope these young returnees we see in increasing numbers pair up and find new pastures to call home.