Delight as new osprey chicks ringed at RSPB Loch Garten Nature Centre
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Two chicks have been ringed from the Loch Garten osprey nest on RSPB Scotland’s Abernethy reserve, the first chicks to be ringed at the site for six years.
After the demise of the old osprey pairing known as ‘EJ’ and ‘Odin’, the site had struggled to attract a new breeding pair, but this year visitors to the Loch Garten Nature Centre near Nethy Bridge are celebrating a new couple in residence and now, two new osprey chicks.
The chicks, which hatched in early June, were ringed by British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) ringer, Ian Perks, and were discovered to be a male and a female.
In addition to a small, metal ring, bearing a unique number, each bird has been fitted with a larger, coloured ‘Darvic’ ring which can be viewed at a distance through binoculars and therefore help identify and track the birds’ movements. Both ‘Darvic’ rings are blue, with the female’s being ‘1C1’ and the male’s ‘1C2’.
Ospreys are migratory and Loch Garten osprey chicks from previous years have been identified as far away as Senegal in West Africa, where many Scottish-hatched ospreys migrate to, at the end of the UK summer.
Strict hygiene procedures were adhered to during the ringing to reduce the risk of avian influenza transmission.
Jess Tomes, site manager at RSPB Scotland’s Abernethy reserve said “It’s wonderful to be ringing osprey chicks from this iconic nest once again. The last few years have been tough, and we were beginning to wonder whether Loch Garten was ever going to have breeding ospreys again.
“This new pair have settled in well to the site and the fact that they have successfully produced two healthy chicks bodes well for the future. Visitors to the Loch Garten Nature Centre have been delighted to be able to see osprey chicks first-hand and witness fish being delivered to the nest by the male parent.
"Hopefully these two chicks should fly from the nest in around three or four weeks, but they’ll hang around the nest, gaining strength for their migration until the end of August when they will set off.”
The two parent ospreys, male ‘AX6’ (on account of his blue ‘Darvic’ ring lettering) and female ‘Asha’, meaning ‘Hope’ or ‘Life’ in Africa, where Scottish ospreys migrate to (a name voted for by online followers, as she doesn’t have a Darvic ring) have ignited hopes for another great Loch Garten osprey dynasty to rival that of EJ and Odin, who gained followers around the world.
“They’ve a long way to go yet, before they go down in Loch Garten folklore, but the signs are promising. They’ve both taken very well to parenting and despite early concerns, AX6 has proved a very competent provider of fish for his mate and chicks, but we’ll just have to wait and see what the future brings!” added Jess.
You can visit the osprey chicks at the Loch Garten Nature Centre, seven days a week, from 10am till 5.30pm (last entry at 4.30pm) till the end of August, or follow them live via the webcam online
