REALITY CHECK

As you will probably have guessed as a result of the deafening silence from me, the miracle that we all hoped for didn’t happen and the eggs failed to hatch. Both Samson and Augusta (Blue 500) continued to incubate for a few days but Augusta in particular seems less and less inclined to sit and Samson has been increasingly reluctant to pay any attention to her fish soliciting calls. However, the instinct is also still strong in the pair and they have both spent time incubating and carefully turning the unviable eggs. They must be very confused with what has happened.

Another bout of heavy rain caused the river to rise and become impossible to fish so Samson was forced to fly further afield to have any chance of catching anything. Both birds are spending far more time off than on the nest with neither being seen at all on 18th June during the 13 hours the camera was operating; we did see however, that Samson returned during the evening with a fish which he proceeded to eat on the nest perch. I am hoping that both will continue to strengthen their bond with each other and, in Augusta’s case, with the nest. It is important that they continue to guard the territory from other ospreys who may be looking to take it over from them.

Talking of intruders, we have had a number of visiting ospreys over the past few weeks. I’ve already mentioned 565 and 561, both hatched in nearby Dumfries and Galloway. We also had a visit from 680, a 2021 male hatched elsewhere in the Tweed Valley, and two unknown intruders, one female with a BTO ring but no blue Darvic ring and an unringed female who landed in the nest and was quite reluctant to leave. Accepting the fact that the wide angle lens made her look bigger as she was quite close to the camera, she was nevertheless a monster and Augusta seemed rather unwilling to tackle her. So the threat to the nest is real and both our birds will need to remain vigilant for the rest of the season,

So a very sad end to our 2024 breeding season but I am encouraged by the number of birds “visiting” which shows a healthy influx of new blood to the Borders. Hopefully, some of them will find territories and mates in the area and we will continue to see the increase of these magnificent birds in the coming years.

I will let you know of any developments on the nest here as and when they occur but I will miss the patter of tiny talons. This poor early summer has been disastrous for so many birds and animals but one highlight was that, last week, I saw 3 bright blue jewels of kingfisher fledglings follow their parent upstream from a nest on the river that I feared had been washed away. It was a delightful surprise for me and there will be other stories of survival against the odds to offset the sadness of lost youngsters; let us hope that the weather we have witnessed was a one-off this year and not a foretaste of things to come.