Excitement is growing here at the Tweed Valley Osprey Project with the first local sighting of an Osprey for the 2009 season reported. Thanks to a very keen eyed local volunteer,Mary, we know that at least one Osprey has been seen fishing on the River Tweed in the last few days.
We cannot yet say whether this is one of our local breeding birds, as we've not been able to see ring markings, but our usual breeding pair have not yet appeared on their nest with the camera. However, we are now watching the nest with baited breath waiting for the first arrival there.
It is quite likely that the Osprey seen on the Tweed was a bird from further north in Scotland making a 'rest stop' on route north - the Tweed seems to be a favorite food and rest way station, which is one of the reasons we chose this area to put artificial platforms to attract breeding pairs.
The last week of good high pressure weather over the migration route has probably meant many Ospreys have travelled fast and well, and we can only hope this weeks cooler north westerlies don't hamper their return too much.
Keep those fingers crossed for all our birds as they make their way home to us!
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Monday, 9 March 2009
Welcome to the 2009 Osprey Season
Believe it or not, its time already to start looking forward to another Osprey Breeding season. Here at the Tweed Valley Osprey Project, we are busy preparing our cameras , centres, displays and volunteers for the busy time ahead, and the excitement is building.
We are all looking forward to the drama and satisfaction of another successful breeding season locally for these amazing rare birds.
As well as our star birds the Ospreys this year we are preparing to televise nest camera footage from 5 other species so its going to be a fascinating summer!
The twin visitor centres at Kailzie Gardens and Glentress Forest open on the 6th April and will be open seven days a week until the end of August.
Interested in volunteering?
Why not get involved this year with this fantastic local conservation project? We welcome new volunteers every year to help staff the centres, and we have other ways in which you can help-we run lots of nature watch and social events too. Full training and a warm welcome is guaranteed , so please get in touch - email the Osprey Centre Officer at tweedvalleyospreys@yahoo.co.uk or call 07530310376.
We are all looking forward to the drama and satisfaction of another successful breeding season locally for these amazing rare birds.
As well as our star birds the Ospreys this year we are preparing to televise nest camera footage from 5 other species so its going to be a fascinating summer!
The twin visitor centres at Kailzie Gardens and Glentress Forest open on the 6th April and will be open seven days a week until the end of August.
Interested in volunteering?
Why not get involved this year with this fantastic local conservation project? We welcome new volunteers every year to help staff the centres, and we have other ways in which you can help-we run lots of nature watch and social events too. Full training and a warm welcome is guaranteed , so please get in touch - email the Osprey Centre Officer at tweedvalleyospreys@yahoo.co.uk or call 07530310376.
Waiting for Arrivals
As spring struggles through the winter cold, our thoughts are already turning to our intrepid Ospreys who will be leaving Africa around now on their hazardous migration to Scotland for the breeding season.
The first reports are already coming in of Ospreys on route over France and southern England so it will only be a matter of weeks before they arrive in Scotland.
The resident pair we have camera coverage of here in the Borders are very reliable, always arriving at their usual nest in the last few days of March or early April. We never take their arrival for granted though, as the hazards of the journey should never be underestimated!
We will be opening our twin public viewing centres on Monday the 6th April , and they will be profiling our birds seven days a week until the end of August. Let's hope its as successful a breeding season as last year!
So keep your eyes and ears open in the Borders for the distinctive Osprey , and please share any sightings with us via the blog or email.
The first reports are already coming in of Ospreys on route over France and southern England so it will only be a matter of weeks before they arrive in Scotland.
The resident pair we have camera coverage of here in the Borders are very reliable, always arriving at their usual nest in the last few days of March or early April. We never take their arrival for granted though, as the hazards of the journey should never be underestimated!
We will be opening our twin public viewing centres on Monday the 6th April , and they will be profiling our birds seven days a week until the end of August. Let's hope its as successful a breeding season as last year!
So keep your eyes and ears open in the Borders for the distinctive Osprey , and please share any sightings with us via the blog or email.
Thursday, 28 August 2008
2009 Awaits!
The Borders ospreys will be back in late March/early April 2009. We will again be running live nest camera coverage from the moment they arrive until the end of August.
We will again be running a full programme of special events and activities for all ages, including: a spring dawn chorus walk, summer guided nature walks, kids activity days, and more. Stay Tuned!
If you would like to be involved as a volunteer, please get in touch. You'll be given full training and have the chance to get actively involved in the centres, attend talks and outings and social occasions and meet some fabulous people. It is also great experience for anyone who perhaps fancies a career in conservation or environmental education. See you in 2009!
We will again be running a full programme of special events and activities for all ages, including: a spring dawn chorus walk, summer guided nature walks, kids activity days, and more. Stay Tuned!
If you would like to be involved as a volunteer, please get in touch. You'll be given full training and have the chance to get actively involved in the centres, attend talks and outings and social occasions and meet some fabulous people. It is also great experience for anyone who perhaps fancies a career in conservation or environmental education. See you in 2009!
So Long and Thanks For all the Fish
As our season draws to a close, I'd like to thank everyone who has helped make the 2008 Osprey season here in the Borders such a success.
It is appropriate that our tenth anniversary year for these wonderful Birds in the Borders, should be our most successful year ever. With eight nesting pairs and at we believe 15 chicks, the future looks bright for these wonderful birds in this area thanks to the help they've received from a team of volunteers, staff and sympathetic locals alike.
As those of you who've visited our twin centres will appreciate the projects heart blood is a dedicated team of volunteers who devote their time to sharing their knowledge of the birds with the public. This team of forty people are amazingly knowledgeable and generous- not just about Ospreys but local birds, wildlife, walking , history and more- they've helped many visitors use the Osprey watch centres as a springboard to enjoying the wild Borders.
Behind the scenes are a dedicated steering committee from Forestry Commission Scotland, RSPB, and Kailzie Estate who all contribute to making the partnership project work. A big thankyou must also go to ground staff such as our local Conservation and Recreation Rangers who do so much work with building nest platforms and monitoring birds.
A big thankyou also goes to all the local birders, walkers, fishermen and neighbours who feed us information on the birds activities and help keep nest sites monitored and safe from egg thieves and disturbance.
Lastly thankyou everyone who has visited and contributed to the project- nearly9,000 people this year alone! Your support and donations will help practical conservation and education in the future. We hope you've enjoyed the season- be sure to come and see us next spring! Emma Rawling
It is appropriate that our tenth anniversary year for these wonderful Birds in the Borders, should be our most successful year ever. With eight nesting pairs and at we believe 15 chicks, the future looks bright for these wonderful birds in this area thanks to the help they've received from a team of volunteers, staff and sympathetic locals alike.
As those of you who've visited our twin centres will appreciate the projects heart blood is a dedicated team of volunteers who devote their time to sharing their knowledge of the birds with the public. This team of forty people are amazingly knowledgeable and generous- not just about Ospreys but local birds, wildlife, walking , history and more- they've helped many visitors use the Osprey watch centres as a springboard to enjoying the wild Borders.
Behind the scenes are a dedicated steering committee from Forestry Commission Scotland, RSPB, and Kailzie Estate who all contribute to making the partnership project work. A big thankyou must also go to ground staff such as our local Conservation and Recreation Rangers who do so much work with building nest platforms and monitoring birds.
A big thankyou also goes to all the local birders, walkers, fishermen and neighbours who feed us information on the birds activities and help keep nest sites monitored and safe from egg thieves and disturbance.
Lastly thankyou everyone who has visited and contributed to the project- nearly9,000 people this year alone! Your support and donations will help practical conservation and education in the future. We hope you've enjoyed the season- be sure to come and see us next spring! Emma Rawling
End of the Season- Or is it?
Here in the Tweed Valley you can't quite escape the feeling that our Osprey season is ending and autumn is waiting in the wings. All our nest camera birds have fledged, even the second brood swallows and wrens, and the swifts have already left. Early mornings have been foggy and the nights drawing in-but its a beautiful time of year here in the Borders for wildlife watching.
Our female Osprey has already left for southern skies, and we haven't seen the male for a few days now. The three youngsters are, however, still around as a great scene yesterday showed: Not having been seen on the nest for three days, at about 3.30pm, all three chicks suddenly appeared on the nest all at once, one with a sizeable fish in its talons. Frantic squabbling ensued ( though most of it was ritualised mantling and threats rather than contact) and for ten minutes all three birds had a standoff at the nest. This aggressive posturing at first made me think they were defending the nest from an intruder, but its seems likely that is was an argument over food- perhaps dad has left and being on their own, suddenly reliant on their own fishing skills, has made them a wee bit desperate.
It is certainly a tough time ahead for these young birds who are really just starting their life journeys- with some 4,000 miles of migration ahead of them this autumn into the unknown , and an extended 'gap-year' holiday on offer in Africa if they make it! Even their parents have a good five months in Africa to look forward to ( and two months travelling) before we'll see them again. Perhaps we could think of them as African birds who come here to breed, rather than Uk birds who go to Africa. Whichever way you look at it, they certainly have evolved an extraordinary lifestyle.
Our female Osprey has already left for southern skies, and we haven't seen the male for a few days now. The three youngsters are, however, still around as a great scene yesterday showed: Not having been seen on the nest for three days, at about 3.30pm, all three chicks suddenly appeared on the nest all at once, one with a sizeable fish in its talons. Frantic squabbling ensued ( though most of it was ritualised mantling and threats rather than contact) and for ten minutes all three birds had a standoff at the nest. This aggressive posturing at first made me think they were defending the nest from an intruder, but its seems likely that is was an argument over food- perhaps dad has left and being on their own, suddenly reliant on their own fishing skills, has made them a wee bit desperate.
It is certainly a tough time ahead for these young birds who are really just starting their life journeys- with some 4,000 miles of migration ahead of them this autumn into the unknown , and an extended 'gap-year' holiday on offer in Africa if they make it! Even their parents have a good five months in Africa to look forward to ( and two months travelling) before we'll see them again. Perhaps we could think of them as African birds who come here to breed, rather than Uk birds who go to Africa. Whichever way you look at it, they certainly have evolved an extraordinary lifestyle.
Monday, 18 August 2008
An Empty Nest
Our young main nest Ospreys are becoming a rare sight at the nest now, as they are all now confident in the air and independent. The female bird has almost certainly left for Africa already as it's been more than a week since we had a confirmed sighting of her. As is so often the case, dad seems to have been left to supervise the teenage chicks 'finishing school' period. However, even he is becoming a rare sight at the nest, no longer bringing fish in for the chicks, which must mean they are feeding themselves down at the river.
We have been getting reports of Ospreys seen out and about the area thick and fast- from the classic St Marys Loch, to the Yarrow valley, the Tweed river at Thornilee, and even flying over the Kailzie centre on Friday!
Interestingly we are now seeing other Ospreys starting to cross the Borders too , on their way south. As one of our volunteers mentions in his comment, we had a strange female on the nest this week- females are usually the first to start moving south, having spent so much of the summer sedentary. Others will doubtless be young birds who didn't manage to breed this year, heading south early. It won't be long now until many of the highland birds will be crossing the Borders ( most use a route over us or Galloway) on their way to Africa- we'll be wishing them well as they pass us over!
We have been getting reports of Ospreys seen out and about the area thick and fast- from the classic St Marys Loch, to the Yarrow valley, the Tweed river at Thornilee, and even flying over the Kailzie centre on Friday!
Interestingly we are now seeing other Ospreys starting to cross the Borders too , on their way south. As one of our volunteers mentions in his comment, we had a strange female on the nest this week- females are usually the first to start moving south, having spent so much of the summer sedentary. Others will doubtless be young birds who didn't manage to breed this year, heading south early. It won't be long now until many of the highland birds will be crossing the Borders ( most use a route over us or Galloway) on their way to Africa- we'll be wishing them well as they pass us over!
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