Tweed Valley Osprey Diary

Things seemed to have settled down between the two birds and although there have been no signs of affection between them there does appear to be a growing bond.

SS has been seen returning to the nest almost daily with a half-eaten fish in his talons. No sooner has he landed, when the new bird appears and takes the fish from him and then flies off with it. He flies away moments later too. He doesn’t exactly give the fish to her but he doesn’t try to prevent this happening either.

So what is happening here? Is a slow bond between them beginning to grow?

He has no choice really at this stage in the season if he wants to hold the territory for next year. It seems likely that there will be a lot of territory bids next year when at the start of the season this nest site will be much in demand and the most dominant and strongest of the ospreys around will take it on.

SS will be the victor if he has a strong partner and this new female could well be the bird for the job. If she is young and inexperienced she may well be seen off and SS could find another partner or a ready bonded pair could potentially usurp SS. It will be interesting to watch and it is highly unlikely that this will remain a vacant nest site.

The buzzard family at Glentress are almost ready to fledge and we witnessed the female delivering a young rabbit for her three large nestlings and then she fed them.

They are beautiful birds and will no doubt be heard from the wildwatch room once they fledge as they are likely to roam the woodland area above the centre and call for food.

After fledging they will depend on the parents to provide for them until they are forced to hunt for themselves, this will happen once the parents stop feeding them and leave them to get on with it. They will then have to seek out hunting territory of their own, as they do not migrate and will have to become proficient hunters and scavengers to make it through cold, long winters, here in the Borders.

The bees at Glentress in the viewing hive have swarmed. The queen for whatever reason led the whole colony from the hive and they left.

We don’t know where they have gone to but hopefully they will have found a good old hollow tree to begin a new hive. Replacement bees are settling in to the viewing hive and it will be interesting to watch them setting up their new colony.

The wild flowers around the whole of the Glentress Peel site are absolutely stunning and are quite literally buzzing with bees and insect life. Big swathes of wildflower meadows such as this are so important for wildlife, a great nectar source and a great protein source for birds feeding on the insects too.

The heron chick fledged successfully from the nest and we have been delighted to see one of the adult birds popping in to the nest site, as well as some return visits from the young heron. On the river camera, we have watched both the young heron and the adult, coming down to the Tweed to fish.

Both of the centres are open daily throughout the summer and at Kailzie there is recorded footage of all the 2014 tragedy and drama with the osprey family, as well short films from the osprey chick ringing from last year with the children of St Ronan’s Primary School.

There are highlights from happier times when the pair had young chicks and various film clips. Volunteers are on hand to give the latest news and show the clips to explain all of the bird behaviour too.

Volunteers at Glentress when on duty are available to interpret what is happening on the wildlife cameras and there are great views to be had of the bird feeder cameras showing delightful antics of the siskins feeding on the niger seeds.

The ‘Osprey Time Flies’, Tweed Valley Osprey 10th anniversary book is available from the centres too, and we hope to raise money for the continuation of the Tweed valley osprey project from donations for copies of the book.

Thank you very much to those who have given so generously already.

Diane Bennett Tweed Valley Osprey Project officer Now that she has gone and the chicks from this season have perished we are witnessing the new female being quite determined to stick around with white leg SS.

Things seemed to have settled down between the two birds and although there have been no signs of affection between them there does appear to be a growing bond.

SS has been seen returning to the nest almost daily with a half-eaten fish in his talons. No sooner has he landed, when the new bird appears and takes the fish from him and then flies off with it. He flies away moments later too. He doesn’t exactly give the fish to her but he doesn’t try to prevent this happening either.

So what is happening here? Is a slow bond between them beginning to grow?

He has no choice really at this stage in the season if he wants to hold the territory for next year. It seems likely that there will be a lot of territory bids next year when at the start of the season this nest site will be much in demand and the most dominant and strongest of the ospreys around will take it on.

SS will be the victor if he has a strong partner and this new female could well be the bird for the job. If she is young and inexperienced she may well be seen off and SS could find another partner or a ready bonded pair could potentially usurp SS. It will be interesting to watch and it is highly unlikely that this will remain a vacant nest site.

The buzzard family at Glentress are almost ready to fledge and we witnessed the female delivering a young rabbit for her three large nestlings and then she fed them.

They are beautiful birds and will no doubt be heard from the wildwatch room once they fledge as they are likely to roam the woodland area above the centre and call for food.

After fledging they will depend on the parents to provide for them until they are forced to hunt for themselves, this will happen once the parents stop feeding them and leave them to get on with it. They will then have to seek out hunting territory of their own, as they do not migrate and will have to become proficient hunters and scavengers to make it through cold, long winters, here in the Borders.

The bees at Glentress in the viewing hive have swarmed. The queen for whatever reason led the whole colony from the hive and they left.

We don’t know where they have gone to but hopefully they will have found a good old hollow tree to begin a new hive. Replacement bees are settling in to the viewing hive and it will be interesting to watch them setting up their new colony.

The wild flowers around the whole of the Glentress Peel site are absolutely stunning and are quite literally buzzing with bees and insect life. Big swathes of wildflower meadows such as this are so important for wildlife, a great nectar source and a great protein source for birds feeding on the insects too.

The heron chick fledged successfully from the nest and we have been delighted to see one of the adult birds popping in to the nest site, as well as some return visits from the young heron. On the river camera, we have watched both the young heron and the adult, coming down to the Tweed to fish.

Both of the centres are open daily throughout the summer and at Kailzie there is recorded footage of all the 2014 tragedy and drama with the osprey family, as well short films from the osprey chick ringing from last year with the children of St Ronan’s Primary School.

There are highlights from happier times when the pair had young chicks and various film clips. Volunteers are on hand to give the latest news and show the clips to explain all of the bird behaviour too.

Volunteers at Glentress when on duty are available to interpret what is happening on the wildlife cameras and there are great views to be had of the bird feeder cameras showing delightful antics of the siskins feeding on the niger seeds.

The ‘Osprey Time Flies’, Tweed Valley Osprey 10th anniversary book is available from the centres too, and we hope to raise money for the continuation of the Tweed valley osprey project from donations for copies of the book.

Thank you very much to those who have given so generously already.

Diane Bennett Tweed Valley Osprey Project officer