Quiet times at the nest

There are periods of quiet at the main Tweed Valley osprey nest now. The birds are moving further afield and only returning to the nest to hang around waiting for their dad PW3 to return with fish. He is still doing a great job and on 18 August there were two fish on the nest, with a juvenile sitting below on a branch. Uneaten fish on the nest suggests that the birds are full and food is plentiful. Later that day, PW3 flew in with a fish in his talons at 1:30pm and was soon followed onto the nest platform by one of his offspring who flew down to take the fish from him. The young osprey sitting on the branch did not join them and was clearly not hungry. PW3 didn’t stay long and flew off again and the juvenile osprey flew up onto the higher branch with the fish to eat it. It was all such a flurry of movement that we couldn’t distinguish whether it was Talla or Megget. Seeing them both at the nest site with their dad shows they are continuing to be fed and are doing well.

Talla has so far been the boldest of the two ospreys and the tracking data revealed that on 22 August she/he left the nest area and flew over the hills and valleys towards the land between Traquair Village and Glen House in Peeblesshire. The data stopped at 10am and showed a height of over 500m above sea level and a speed of about 12knots. The flight was south easterly in direction and we will have to see whether it was just a trip heading towards Yarrow Valley or whether it is the start of migration. We will find out when the data either catches up or if the bird turns up back at the nest site.

A quick check on the ‘Back up no.3’ nest camera revealed one of the juveniles present at this nest site also, on 18 August, waiting for food. Most of the time all we see is an empty nest there now, so it was good to see one of the young dropping in.

The adult male at this site is FK0. On August, he was spotted flying along the River Tweed at Walkerburn, where local resident David McCallum managed to capture a stunning photograph of him as he flew along the river. He was hovering to look for fish below before flying on towards the rugby club whilst continuing to patrol the river. David is a keen photographer and has patiently waited five years to get a photo of an osprey in Walkerburn and it seems his patience finally paid off.

Spotting the osprey flying over her home in Walkerburn and watching ospreys hunting along the River Tweed recently inspired local artist Louise Turnbull to auction four of her beautiful River Tweed abstract originals and donate the £589 proceeds to Tweed Valley Osprey Project.

Patricia Timmins was fortunate to win one of the bids for the paintings and said “I am so pleased to have discovered the work of local artist, Louise Turnbull. When I saw the four paintings that make up “Tweed Series” I fell in love with the vibrant colours, the collage effects and the abstract representation of the stunning views I am lucky to see from my kitchen window here in our village of Walkerburn.”

We have had news of another Scottish Borders osprey, PY0 (named Walter) from the Born in the Borders nest site in 2017; the son of parent ospreys, the unringed Samson and Delilah. PY0 was captured on camera at the Kielder ospreys nest site no. 6 and he was joined by a young female there with the ring number PT4. This is a female raised at Loch of the Lowes in 2019. She has been visiting nest sites in Kielder frequently this season and she seems to be making herself a resident. She will be ready to breed next year and it is encouraging that she has her sights set on Kielder and maybe with one of the male ospreys that she has encountered there. Maybe PY0 could be her partner next year if he returns to Kielder and they bond. That’s just wishful thinking though for now, as it was only a brief encounter and she will likely have plenty of suitors to choose from.