As you can see from the images below, however, he has moved since he fledged- not far, but he has been using his wings and has been wandering in short hops between trees between Loch of the Lowes and Craiglush loch. The ‘activity’ meter on the tag, the altitude log and the distance between readings all indicate the chick is alive and well,  and Roy Dennis, who has used these tags for many years, is sure this data is a good sign. This good news is a HUGE relief to us all.

It seems that his parents have been keeping close to him too- this explains why they have been sticking around the inlet burn between the two lochs, and it is likely that they have brought him some food where he is: signs of fresh fish consumption were seen in the area today.

We have today been looking for the chick to ensure it wasn’t stuck somewhere or in serious trouble, and found no sign of him in the areas the satellite indicated he had been over the last couple of days. This in itself is a good sign- he was obviously well enough to have moved on since this mornings reading.

Whilst we have gone to huge lengths today to find him, we have now taken the decision to step back and not to disturb the area any further to avoid frightening our young bird into moving further away or wasting unnecessary energy in the difficult weather.

Again, I would just like to that everyone for their kind words, moral support and offers of help in looking for our chick. I have had the help of many volunteers today, including my poor mother who is visiting from Australia but got roped in to help. Thanks to everyone on the hard working visitor centre team for all their capable help and Lindsey for coming in on her day off! Lets all keep our fingers crossed for our chick and hope the weather improved for him!

 

 

Blue 44 July

P.S. As I write this we have just had an intruder female land on our Osprey nest with the Darvic ring White 91 clearly visible: could this be our regular intruder now bold enough to visit with the empty nest ? Our male mantled at her but she took some seeing off!