Tweed Valley Osprey Diary 29th July

"Ladies First"

There’s been so much activity on our Osprey nests over the last few days it’s been hard to keep a track of the birds comings and goings. All the chicks are now adult size and only distinguishable from their parents by their plumage which has pale feather edges, which gives them a speckled appearance.

On both nests the female chicks have now outgrown their brothers and seem to be bolder and more advanced. On the 24th of July the female chick on the main nest first took off, and whilst her brother gave it a go the next day, she seems to be leaving him behind. She is now doing very regular circles around the nest and the valley and practising her landings, which are quickly becoming quite accomplished. She has also progressed to taking whole fish from her parents and devouring them greedily herself without sharing! Her bother by contrast has been much quieter and still spends most of his time on the nest, only reluctantly taking off a couple of times a day, and his landings leave something to be desired! Mum is also still feeding him like a baby! Hopefully he will mature in the next week or so and become more independent because it’s not too long before he’ll be on his own in the big wide world and he’ll need to be able to fend for himself.

The Backup Nest

Our two monitored nests this year are almost synchronised and all the chicks took their first flight around about the same time. On the backup nest, again it was one of the female chicks who was bravest, leaving her siblings in the nest to admire her skills. With three youngsters on the nest it’s rather crowded with all their wing stretching, flapping and rather wobbly landings.

Windows on Wildlife

We now have some fantastic bat footage on display in both centres, filmed locally by Diane Bennett our Community Wildlife Officer. It features a Pipistrelle bat colony and thanks to Diane’s quick thinking rescue efforts a wee bat who fell from the colony in rare close up, before it was returned to the roost. We also have a large section of highlights from other species filmed over the season so far. Coming soon: small mammals filmed locally during our close encounter events.