Bassenthwaite Ospreys 2016 (1 Viewer)

[HelenB]

The young Osprey is now almost 4 weeks old and doing very well, as there is no competiion for the fish being brought in by its parents.

Meanwhile, White 14, KL's son from the 2013 nest, is wandering around the Lakes and the Eden Valley, according to his satellite tracker! For instance, here is his exploration on Monday, 30th May:

11am: Passing over Millom
12 noon: near the Borrowdale YHA
1pm: Bowscale Tarn on Blencathra
2pm: on the River Eden east of Penrith
Then back to the South Lakes at teatime

On 11th June, he was actually spotted and photographed near the home of one of the Project's volunteers, when he stopped to eat a fish he'd just caught.

 

[KenM]

No, but feel free to do whatever you can to the swine who illegally persecute the BOP that would control Magpie and other corvid populations.

I daresay your Blackbirds were inexperienced and placed their nest too accessibly: breeding is a learning experience. First timers get it wrong. You cannot - must not - divide wildlife into good animals and bad animals, which is what you are doing by disliking Magpies that are doing what comes naturally.

John

I agree with what you're saying in essence, but I don't entirely buy into the "all creatures great and small" argument....unless man is not involved.

It is the activities of "man" that have increased the Corvid population (amongst others and a whole myriad of alien introduced species), to the point where they can (and do) have a direct impact on native species, that in many circumstances need as much help as they can get.

Sixty years ago in my area there were no Magpies, Crows, Foxes, and just a handful of Grey Squirrels (in the intervening years a relaxation of "control" plus global warming and new farming practices) have resulted in pushing many species to the brink...aided and not inconsiderably abetted by the former!

The reason why the Corvid/vermin numbers were not more plentiful was because they were "controlled", now they are in such numbers, that they are having a detrimental effect on more "sensitive" species. Thus I believe "a helping hand" here and there, might be of some benefit to those species that are currently at risk.

 

[dogbreath]

The project are reporting that the surviving chick has been ringed (V5) and is female in good health. Also, the chick has been given a tracker.

http://www.ospreywatch.co.uk/wordpress/?page_id=60

 

[HelenB]

The project are reporting that the surviving chick has been ringed (V5) and is female in good health. Also, the chick has been given a tracker.

http://www.ospreywatch.co.uk/wordpress/?page_id=60

They also said she is the heaviest chick for her age in the history of the Bassenthwaite Ospreys - obviously due to the lack of competition in the nest!

 

[KenM]

They also said she is the heaviest chick for her age in the history of the Bassenthwaite Ospreys!

Let Os-pray......that she gets airborne.

 

[HelenB]

The female Osprey, KL left for Africa about 2 weeks ago, but the father, Unring, and this year's chick, Bega, are still there. Monday, 29th August (Bank Holiday) is the last day that the viewpoints will be manned, but visitors can still go to the viewpoints and use their own binoculars and scopes.

Check out this link for more information on Bega.

 

[HelenB]

This year's chick, Bega, left Bassenthwaite on Sunday, 4th September and moved down to the South Lakes area, where she stayed around the Millom area until the 7th, when she flew south over Morecambe Bay. On 8th September she passed over Manchester; Saturday, 10th she was west of Leicester and on Monday, 12th September, north of Southampton, before she flew across The Channel at 6pm. No recent maps of the satellite tracking have beeen posted yet.

No. 14 is still in the South Lakes area.

 

[HelenB]

White 14 has now left on his migration, so 2 maps of the 2 Ospreys' progress are now on the LDOP Facebook page.

 

[HelenB]

The latest satellite tracker updates on Bega and White 14, show that they have both reached their wintering grounds. White 14 has returned to the island of Bioko, south of Nigeria and Bega is now in West Africa on the Guinea/Bissau-Guinea border. Check out the Facebook page for maps:

http://www.facebook.com/ospreywatch

 

[HelenB]

Some worrying news about this year's female offspring, Bega - the OspreyWatch team have had no signals from her satellite tracker since 18th October when she reached Guinea. See Facebook updates

Meanwhile, White 14 has settled into his winter roost on the island of Bioko.