HAVE THEY GONE?

I’m sticking my neck out and saying that 9J6 and Samson have both departed on migration. They were last seen on the afternoon of 9 Sep and likely migrated the following morning. It was a beautiful day, with lots of lift and a nice breeze in vaguely the right direction; I think they would have thought it too good an opportunity to miss. Samson would normally wait until he knew for sure that all the chicks had gone, but I think he was getting concerned that Titch was putting down roots so I’m sure he’d be right behind her, making sure she wasn’t going to change her mind and turn back. It’s the longest time he’s been here considering he arrived so early but only left a few days before his departure date from last year.

There’s no suggestion of any correlation between where the parents migrate to and where the offspring go but we nevertheless wish all our family safe travels and hopefully a return for Samson and Augusta to us next spring and a successful migration for the youngsters in 2028. The chicks, assuming a safe arrival at the wintering grounds, will spend the next 18 months there, maturing, moulting their juvenile feathers and defending the best fishing ground they are able to find so that they can eat…and eat some more. Surviving that first winter is critical but the pressure will ease in the spring when all bar their fellow one year olds, and a few two year olds, will depart north and leave the fishing grounds to the youngsters.

In the meantime, I will be looking at strengthening the camera system so that we don’t have that disappointing end to the season, although I’m pleased that the camera and the YouTube relay didn’t fail until after the chicks had fledged. We will check the nest in the early spring so that we don’t have the major panic we had when Samson came back early and we had to do emergency repairs on the nest under his watchful gaze. And then it all starts again in 2027.

My thanks to all the people that make this work. I know I do most of the blethering but I do get a lot of support as well. To Kirsty and Brian for the company and the brilliant photos; to various other visitors some of whom sent me their photos to use; to Tony, Björn and the rest of the ringing/nestwork team; to Jain for the technical expertise and to Di and Joanna for all the support and information on our near osprey neighbours. Finally, thanks to you all for reading and contributing to my blog – I do love getting your feedback. I hope to keep it light hearted but educational and I hope you enjoy that mix. See you all in 2027 for next year’s thrilling episode of…(dramatic pause)…The Border Ospreys!