The osprey chick born at a world famous nest in Perthshire has been fitted with a satellite tag. The chick was born to the osprey known affectionately by many as ‘Lady’, believed to be the oldest breeding osprey in the UK, at the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Loch of the Lowes reserve in Dunkeld. Thanks to funding raised by osprey fans, the Trust was able to tag this chick, the first born at Loch of the Lowes in two years. The osprey protection at Loch of the Lowes is overseen by the Trust’s Perthshire Ranger, funded by the players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
Click here to follow the osprey chick's progress online.
The chick has been fitted with a special satellite tag by osprey expert Roy Dennis. The tag fits in a lightweight harness which goes around the bird’s back and wings, like a small rucksack. The chick was sewn into the harness with a few threads at the front – leaving enough room for it to put on weight and allowing the harness to drop off at the end of its useful life.
By conducting this scientific research, we hope to gain invaluable research into the behaviour of ospreys. For example we are keen to find out what influences the route ospreys take on their migration to West Africa. Data gathered will be used in conjunction with other tagging work to build up a bigger picture of raptor migration to and from Scotland. With sufficient data it is hoped that tagging projects like this can in the future exert pressure on landowners and even governments to protect these stopping off points and destinations such as Loch of the Lowes, which are very important to the life cycles of ospreys.
The chick at Loch of the Lowes hatched six weeks ago and has been growing fast.
Scottish Wildlife Trust Perthshire Ranger Emma Rawling said:
“We now know that the chick born at Loch of the Lowes this year is a male. It is incredibly healthy and a very good weight, though not a large bird as is normal for a young male. Its development was judged normal for 6 weeks old and there was no sign of any health or developmental problems.
“Satellite tagging this chick will be enormously useful in collecting detailed information such as exact routes, timings and behaviours of migrating birds.
“Thanks to the generous support of visitors and fans online, we have been able to tag the first chick born at Loch of the Lowes since 2010.
“A map of the osprey’s journey will be on the Scottish Wildlife Trust website and I know people around the world will be keeping their eye on this to watch the bird’s migrations as it happens.
“In most cases, satellite tags last between one and three years, so we hope to get a significant amount of data from this project.”
People’s Postcode Lottery Managing Director Jo Bucci said:
“We’re proud of the continued support our players give to the Scottish Wildlife Trust ranger service in Perthshire. We’re all going to be avidly watching this bird’s progress!”