What a difference a day makes, (I sure that was song) well in an ospreys life it certainly does.

What a weekend, we certainly did go through a lot emotions over the last few days and I don’t think it is over yet. But the Lady of the Loch has certainly proved herself on many occasion to be an impressive bird, lets hope that continues today.

It is 3.30am and the birds are singing to what will be a magnificent sunrise this morning. The chicks have already started shouting for food, I think even with 7Y’s impressive fishing technique over the last few days he will still have problems at this time of the morning. Mum is still resting quietly at the side of the nest just now but has been very restless through the dark hours.

I think I will go out and enjoy the sunrise with her this morning and get away from the midges in my office. I can hear you say “in your office” yes in my office. Fiona went home about an hour ago and left the outside door open so I am now being eaten alive by them. Wait till I see her!! This will make you laugh. I was watching a ground beetle walk over the floor in the office a few moments ago (got in because of the door left open) and thought “Oh that’s a big one” the next thing I knew it was under my T-shirt and on my back. Man, I just about jumped out of my skin and I couldn’t get it off because of where it was. I did, I must admit, panic, but only a little, OK, a lot, Ok OK, I was like a big girl. It’s giving me the willies just typing this. 🙂

More update soon.

Peter

Hi

Sorry was out in the hide for a while. She flew around for a wee while before landing back at the nest. Our boy just brought in a stick. He is going to have to do better than that.

Peter

7.51am Good morning to all who have just got up.

The reason I was zooming in on her feet was to check the progress of her talon that was broken a while back. What made me do this, I found the other part in the nest by chance this morning. One of the chicks brought up a pellet, I zoomed in on the pellet and there beside it was the talon. It was not in the pellet nor did it come out of the chick.

No fish yet but she did find a morsel in the nest a little while ago. Her eyes are still sunken and could remain like that for a few days yet, until she gets enough fluids in her and her body fills out again. let’s hope what ever this was that affected her so badly does not have a lasting effect. It is a good morning to fish!

Peter

10am Update:
Good news this morning as our male osprey has excelled himself and brought in two fish in 10 minutes. Even better, the female bird has begun to eat again and has taken over some duties feeding the chicks too. What a fantastic scene we never thought to see- both parents feeding the chicks side by side.
Our female is still looking weak, however, and is noticeably thin and sunken in her chest area. Her eyes too are still not normal, so in short, though improved, we are not sure she is out of the woods just yet. Every day she hangs on is a miraculous bonus at this stage and a boon to the chicks.
Emma Rawling

3pm update
Our mum continues to do well today, feeding her chicks and herself. There have been 6 (I think!) fish brought by the Laird today and he seems happy to leave mum to do all the feeding once more. Can he sense that his mate has recovered?
As happy as we all are at the improvements she has made, we know that she is still no where near 100% and probably will never be again. Hopefully she can regain some of the body mass she has lost to keep her going for the next few weeks. If her episode was caused by an illness then there is a possibility that she may relapse, but I am staying positive that she will see her chicks fly and then she can rest easy. I think that regardless of what happens, this will be her final summer on the nest, but what a season she has given us!
Fiona

10pm Update
Our lady osprey has continued to go from strength to strength today, with incremental improvements by the hour. She has been eating small amounts today, but she has been feeding the chicks almost continually. She has also been beginning to preen and tidy herself up, and has taken at least two dips in the loch to clean herself. She is looking stronger in flight and sounding more like herself too. However, she is still rather weak and definitely not completely normal so we should be cautious as yet. The male brought in a staggering five fish this evening so there has been no shortage of food! Let’s just hope she continues to improve and we don’t have any sudden relapses. Emma the Ranger