I spent far too much time last year watching the YouTube live feed of the Ospreys at Llyn Brenig and after a winter in Africa the male (LJ2) has just arrived back at the nest which he has started building up and hopefully LM6 will be back soon. Fascinating creatures.
Any other Osprey watchers?
I don't watch them online but have seen them in the wild in Scotland both on the nest and fishing.
It's a source of wonder that they can survive the journey to Africa and back!
Done some work with the Dyfi Osprey Project. The new visitor centre is great. Worth popping in if you are in mid Wales. Lovely birds
Yes two nests near us. 1 is watched over the other not. I run near the unguarded one every so often and take some binos but make sure to watch from where I can't be seen so as to not highlight them.
Well, I see them regularly as opposed to actively looking for them. Quite often spotted from the beer garden of the Old Bridge Inn, or while I'm swimming or paddling in Loch Pityoulish or Loch Garten.
On a related note, the Xmas pressie from Mrs S was a trip to the local bird of prey centre and I got to play with this fine specimen..
Yes, there are quite a few nest sites hovering above trails here in Angus and Perthshire, so we can check out the state of play on various local routes. An evening canoe on the Isla or Tay will frequently be honoured by a fly by too.
None up this far yet though, as far as I know.
I watched the Dyfi ospreys every day last year, a great way to start the day to have a quick catch up. The second bird arrived yesterday.
Also the Worcester Cathedral Peregrines, although their live feed seems down at the moment. She is sitting on eggs already
Saw an osprey flying over Sheffield yesterday.
The Sheffield peregrines webcam is good to watch too.
Brenig is a great little spot in N Wales that rarely gets busy and has loads to do. Some nice gravel rides around the 2 lakes which you can get the gpx from on the main site as well as water sports and fishing. And of course you can watch the Ospreys from the RSPB station. Well worth a visit if you are in that part of the world https://llynbrenig.com/reservoir-visitor-centre/
I've seen the Osprey at Loch of Lowes but much prefer seeing the sea eagles up in Raasay or the Red Kites while out and about Perthshire
Any owl out in the wild rather than the ones you see shackled up on a perch waiting for their chance to perform for the crowd
We have a pair nest on the Loch of Balgavie near us in Angus and they're just back. Regularly pop by to watch them.
Balgavie Ospreys page...
There are several nest sites near our caravan in the Lakes. We go to see them (at a distance via bins or the nest cam) at Foulshaw Moss. Last year there was a pair flying above the estuary a couple of 100 yards from our door. Which was pretty cool. Also seen one take a fish whist I was sitting in my arm chair gazing out of the window!
We hear an owl nearly every night, never seen the blighter though!
I was in Callander at the end of February - buying a new bike from Wheels of Callander, as you do.
An osprey circled overhead.
I thought this was way too early but apparently they now stay all winter as the fish farm is happy to feed them.
The Ospreys are back at Rutland Water as well.
At our old house they were more common than Buzzards - we had 7 nests on Loch Tay alone...
Locally we still do see them, and of course all over Scotland on our travels.
Funnily I was chatting to mrs_oab today saying they should be arriving back over the next few weeks...
Ospreys are still rarer than Golden Eagles. We have a pair at Threave Castle down here in Dumfries & Galloway. The male "Black 80" is now in his 14th year here. He gets back before the females arrive so he can tidy the nest up and its believed a well presented nest (good diy skills) make females more likely to stop.
Yesterday a juvenile joined them, the Threave three (lols). FB page:
My house looks down on the Dee river and have seen them mooch past a few times
Also the Loch of the Lowes webcam is excellent: https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/watch-wildlife-online/loch-of-the-lowes-webcam/
Ospreys are still rarer than Golden Eagles
That really surprises me. I had a chat (a decade ago) with some wildlife ranger in mid-wales who was telling everybody that there were only 50 pairs in Scotland. yet they seem *so* common to us at the time. Maybe less secretive, maybe being over water etc helps visibility?
300 pairs of Ospreys 500 vs pairs of Golden Eagles and 150 pairs of White-tailed Eagles. Surprised me as I would have expected more than twice the number of Ospreys compared to the White-tailed.
That really surprises me.
A couple of observations:
Their eggs were always much more attractive and accessible to egg collector scum. So now they are guarded much more closely, and so get more publicity. Apparently the eggs pattern is unique to each female. Its something I really cannot understand tbh.
Predatory habits are much more obvious to us. They aren't hanging around at a 1,000 feet in and out of the clouds like Golden Eagles can eyeballing the landscape (bonkers eyesight!). I did see a golden Eagle from my living room about 3 weeks ago!
Surprised me as I would have expected more than twice the number of Ospreys compared to the White-tailed.
White-Tailed take much longer to re-establish due to their juvenile range. The Isle of White birds are GPS tracked and have been ranging to Cornwall, Norfolk, Firth of Forth, Lake District & Solway Firth. They are much more vulnerable because of this.
A group of us from work did a day volunteering at the local RSPB reserve near Tamworth last Sept - clearing willow trees from pool margins, mostly. As we walked the mile or so from the car park to the work area, I heard and saw a flock of lapwings get airborne. Gave it no further thought at that point, but when the warden arrived 5 mins later in his little quad bike carting all the tools we needed, he said "Did anyone see the osprey spook those lapwings?" Gutted to have missed that, they're not common around the W Mids, presumably it was migrating south at that point last Autumn.
Couple i took on holiday last month on Holiday in florida
https://flic.kr/p/2pBGgRM
more on my flick page
Lovely thread.
We normally go to see the birds at Foulshaw moss. One particular year the birds hadn't arrived and we were about to leave around 4.00, then we heard the warden puffing and blowing, he had run over to us in the car park and said 'they've arrived'. We quickly got coats back on, grabbed binoculars and followed him back to the viewing platform.
There are also some other slightly smaller wildlife reserves near to Foulshaw, Meathop Moss springs to mind, near Witherslack, where there is an abundance of birds of prey and other wildlife, but it's a lot quieter if one is a keen birder.
presumably it was migrating south
Maybe it was the same one that spent a day or two at the Warwickshire Wildlife centre at Brandon Marsh around that time.
"He gets back before the females arrive so he can tidy the nest up and its believed a well presented nest (good diy skills) make females more likely to stop."
Yes, LJ2 has been a busy boy today and if you 'rewind' on my original post you can see the progress he's made.
I was out running yesterday and disturbed a male hen harrier that was feasting on the ‘gralloched’ remnants of a culled red deer - it took off and flew at my eye level in a big circle to return to the ‘prey’. We have a few pairs of white tailed eagles here on Mull and they can turn up anywhere including flying past our lounge window - usually pursued by the resident buzzards and hoodie crows - which makes them easier to spot. When working as a postie there were a couple of spots where Peregrines would commonly roost on bluffs overlooking the road - and would fly over as I drove past.
“He gets back before the females arrive so he can tidy the nest up and its believed a well presented nest (good diy skills) make females more likely to stop.”
Sadly last year's female LM6 didn't return and the male LJ2 looked a bit of a lost soul, constantly looking up at the skies. The good news is he paired up with Blue 372, originally from Scotland but relocated to Poole. Fast forward to today and the first chick hatched much to the surprise of 372, but at 14:16:40 today something spooked 372 and she nearly flipped the chick out of the nest - click on the OP and use the clock top left to rewind.
We’re staying just south of Aberystwyth at the moment and the sheer amount of Red Kite here is absolutely bonkers. They’re everywhere!
We drove past the breeding centre yesterday (which we’ll be visiting properly next week) and the sky was literally full of them. There were probably about 30 wheeling around above us.
Where we’re staying there’s a family of six nearby and mum and dad get on the thermals and sit above while the 4 youngsters practice their hunting moves. They come down really low too and seem unconcerned about your presence.
Absolutely majestic creatures. Everything they do looks so graceful and effortless.
Its great to see such a hugely successful re-introduction programme but I wouldn’t fancy being a rodent around here
Two chicks confirmed at Loch of Balgavie near Forfar and we were watching one at Loch of Kinnordy this morning hunting, catching and eating a fish. Was marsh harrier there too.
We have a breeding pair of Ospreys that have returned for their second season in Wensleydale.
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I watched an Osprey repeatedly hover, but never dive, as it flew south along the Tay last night, just south of the confluence with the Tummel.
We were camping in fantastic conditions, and the Osprey flew past at 9.30pm, still hunting. I thought it was getting a bit late, but then remembered I was still wearing Cat4 sunglasses! It really was a very nice evening. Perfect sunshine, a steady breeze, and nae midges!
Seems as if 372 was spooked by some idiot flying a drone near the nest.
There were probably about 30 wheeling around above us.
I've seen 20+ over Newbury! Pretty much every time I look out the window there will be a few Red Kites in view. We've a couple of tall trees in the garden and quite often have one on the highest point calling out.
No Ospreys though.
We have the Pembrokeshire Osprey Project on the Cleddau this year. A private land owner near the estuary has put up a nest pole.
A young male from Snowdonia checked it out recently, disappeared, then came back with an unhinged female.
No nest this year but huge optimism that they will return next year.
I’ve seen one catching a fish on the Teifi when I was canoeing with a group but it’s very exciting that we might get a breeding pair here in the future.
We’re staying just south of Aberystwyth at the moment and the sheer amount of Red Kite here is absolutely bonkers. They’re everywhere!
I believe that’s actually Red Kite, where the farmer’s been feeding the kites for decades. I stopped there with some mates during a biking trip once, and it was incredible to watch them in such numbers. They were the only native kites left after centuries of persecution. Same with ravens.
Now I occasionally have kites, and ravens, flying over my house, and they’re regularly flying around the local villages, thanks to the farmer helping increase the numbers of native birds, and the amazingly successful re-introduction over in Berkshire.
I have been fortunate enough to see an Osprey, one Saturday afternoon while I was standing on the Sustrans bridge over the River Avon on the edge of Chippenham. I thought it was a heron at first, as it was flying towards me, but then realised two things - it was the wrong colour, and herons don’t carry an eighteen inch long bream in their claws! It came close enough to be able to identify the fish, because there are usually loads of them swimming around underneath the bridge, and I could see the colour very clearly. It had caught the fish further upstream, and ended up perched on the top of a utility pole about a quarter of a mile away, munching on its freshly caught dinner.
Sadly, the phone I had with me at the time had no zoom to speak of, and I never got a decent photo of it. 🤷🏼
I was the only person around, so really incredibly lucky
Two nesting pairs now at Thrieve, near Castle Douglas, Dumfries & Galloway. Both nests have chicks and they are a mile from each other. Also a pair of Peregrines on the old castle in between. Its incredibly easy to get to. The carpark is 1km from the A75 and the viewing platforms are 15 minutes walk from there. I trundled my 90yo mother there on a wheelchair a few weeks ago.
At one point in the 1970s there were just 14 breeding Kite pairs left in Wales. The 1980s reintroduction to Powys Mid Wales used Scandinavian and Spanish birds. When the Chilterns re-introduction started in the 1990s, they asked for breeding stock from Wales but it was declined so had to import birds again. When I lived down there I would routinely see 10-12 Kites flapping around the rec behind my house in Twyford, Berkshire.
I assume it’s an Osprey nest on the pylon near Grudie Bridge?
Mrs Binners filmed this Red kite this morning. It turns out they really like bacon and will come right down to help you finish off your bacon butty. We put some out and it landed right next to us then proceeded to have a scrap with a crow. Crows are absolutely nails!
We had a juvenile Osprey at the local nature reserve last year for a few days. Was quite a surprise when we wandered up there
Mrs Binners filmed this Red kite this morning. It turns out they really like bacon and will come right down to help you finish off your bacon butty. We put some out and it landed right next to us then proceeded to have a scrap with a crow. Crows are absolutely nails!
Please stop feeding them! Once they are habituated to people they'll start engaging in all kinds of antisocial behaviour such as stealing food out of people's hands and worse, attacking people during breeding season. This is already happening in the Chilterns and there might end up being a cull because of it 😓. These are wild animals and the last thing they need is to be put in danger by being encouraged to mix with humans. Not having a go - they are fantastic beasts and I totally understand why people do it. Please understand it's not harmless like leaving some seeds out for the garden birbs.
Nehoo, here's a kite that *thinks* its an Osprey 🤣
We've been seeing at least one quite regularly around our house for the last few weeks. I'm not sure if it's the same one, or perhaps a pair, but it's using the River Don as its food source. (Excuse the rubbish photo quickly taken from my phone, as it flew past me the other day)
