Osprey update

[boxtops]

Hi everyone, is anyone still watching the Ospreys? all seems very well, those chicks are massive now! They have set up a second webcam as well as the original now,
http://www.thewebbroa...tion.com/swt/swt2.php

[paddywak]

pop on to the site, both cameras, 3-4 times a day just to see everythings OK, it's surprising how quick the chicks seem to be growing, I like to see thier first flight but you never know when that will happen.

[Meg]

Hi boxy, I still keep having a look. Mum seems fine now and the chicks are flourishing. Flipping amazing, after seeing the lady so ill at the weekend feel like I've seen a miracle happen!! Thanks for providing the link.
Off subject it's my dog's birthday today, she's 15. A year ago we found out she had cancerous tumours on her mammary glands and I really didn't expect her to see Xmas let alone another birthday.
Nature never ceases to amaze me!!

[seekeerz]

good morning all - have been watching since dawn and it's fantastic to se Mum and chicks carrying on with life as usual - the 2nd webcam is very good, you can see Mum perched out there surveying her territory and woe betide anyone she's not happy about.

can't believe tomorrow it will be a week since this all began and to see her now - it's little short of that miracle.

[Nosha123]

I think I logged on when she started feeling better cos I was convinced that was the DAD not the mum.. she looked very well considering how ill you say she has been!

Wise old lady bird!

Good to see so up close too!

[LoftyLottie]

Good news!!

[Nosha123]

Hi Lofty!
Happy Friday!

[LoftyLottie]

Thanks Nosh.

Same to you x

[gen2]

I spent 4 hours at the Loch of the Lowes today and they look even more fantastic on the high-resolution screen in the visitor's centre. Dad doesn't spend his whole day fishing - no, he spends much of it perched on one of many nearby trees surveying his domain. Only when the nagging gets too much does he pop over to the fishing loch at Butterstone and bring back a trout.

Unfortunately, they forgot to switch on the night camera before they went home this evening so all is black just now.

[boxtops]

Just checked, cam2's on, gen2, but it seems out of focus. I found the night cam a bit uninteresting myself, couldn't make much out. The side shots from cam2 have been superb today, the side shot of the tree with Lady sitting serenely upright on that big twig viewing her realm, and a couple of little heads bobbing up and down over the top of the nest from time to time.

[mrs.chappie]

Fantastic news!

[gen2]

I'll tell you something about camera 2 - it is attached to the side of the roof of a two-storey wooden hide. Whenever anyone goes up the stairs or moves about on the top floor, the building shakes and since the camera is on its furthest zoom, that movement is magnified. So not all the shaking is from the wind.

[boxtops]

LOL gen, that is interesting! Must have been good seeing it all in person. I can't believe that only a week ago, we were watching in the honest belief that Lady might not survive the weekend - it has been almost beyond belief, I guess no-one may ever know what took hold of her last weekend to make her so ill.

[gen2]

I agree, we are unlikely to know since she has denied the experts the chance of an autopsy!

Another snippet of information is that she has laid a total of 58 eggs over 20 years, of which 48 have hatched.

Chicks should fledge in 2 to 3 weeks time, but when they fledge, they will still return to the nest as a base while they are learning their flying and fishing skills.

[ttfn]

It is a lovely daybreak there now and the clarity of picture is great. Me thinks that nest is getting smaller by the hour. If 2 weeks was a long time in politics this last week has gone on forever but the result is brilliant

[ttfn]

Mum has been for a sortie and has returned to her look out post - preening well. The osplets look more like osplots today - one has been re-arranging the furniture within the nest. I have been watching for an hour or so and amazingly none of the 3 has been calling out for food. The laird must have provided ample larder stock yesterday

[ttfn]

With both chicks out of their bed for breakfast I am amazed to see that egg still intact within the nest. It appears whole for all the world but how has it survived those feet and talons?

[boxtops]

Morning ttfn, a lovely gentle morning here. I went to the webcam first thing too - have you tried cam 2 - the side view is good especially when she is sitting out on the stick. Someone on the blog described the little ones as Fatlings - how their legs have grown this morning!

[seekeerz]

love it - describes them so well !!

[ttfn]

Morning boxy - I tried the other cam but it was a little hazy so I reverted to the close one. I am convincing myself with all this furniture moving that lady is now installing cot rails as the chicks get bigger - what do you reckon?

[boxtops]

That certainly looked like a barricade she just brought in and set up near to the lens! Cam2 is very clear when the birds are "tall",but hard to see if they are all lying down, it's the side-on view.