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.

** I forgot to mention that 500 (Augusta) did not appear again after her unexpected curtain call on 28 Aug so I’ve listed that as her “last day seen”. 9J8 spent a few more days with us but wasn’t seen after 2 Sep.**

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!

Do you remember what I said in my last blog about where the birds might be…Ignore it.

I went down to my normal location and sat for about an hour with nothing happening. Then I heard the tell-tale sound of a food-begging juvenile osprey and saw an adult osprey, plus fish, hotly pursued by a juvenile, approaching the nest. Samson touched down and dropped the fish with 9J6 grabbing it straight away. Nothing unusual there; we’ve been watching similar for a while now. Apart from the fact that it was neither bird. The adult took off straight away and disappeared but not before it was clear that it was Augusta (you know, the one we haven’t seen for 11 days that we assumed was well on her way to her winter grounds) and 9J8 (chick 1, despite the fact that her younger sister had already navigated all the way down to Poole and had been there for almost a week).

Titch, the juvenile I had expected to see, arrived a minute or so later and immediately started her normal noisy claims of being starving. 9J8 hadn’t been that bothered about the fish to start with but she wasn’t going to let anyone else have it so she mantled at Titch and grabbed the fish more firmly but still didn’t eat it. Eventually, Titch broke the deadlock and attacked her older sister and managed to prise the fish from her. She then flew off to her favourite perch and started to eat. She wasn’t pursued by her sister so I imagine she’s been well fed, wherever she’s been. Augusta has not been seen since this short appearance but who knows where she is and what she’s doing. I’ll keep you posted.

Today, Samson turned provider and Titch the receiver and, again, she flew away with the fish to a perch across the river. It was too far to positively identify but she was joined by another juvenile; I assume it was 9J8. To update you, 9J7 was still fishing at Poole yesterday but we have no confirmation that she’s caught anything decent yet.

I’ll try and let you know of any more updates as I hear or see anything but bear in mind that you can probably take any of my claims about the birds’ whereabouts with a generous pinch of salt because they delight in proving me wrong!

(All photos: courtesy of A Copland)

We had some exciting news that 9J7 (chick 2) was spotted fishing in Poole Harbour yesterday, having sneaked off when we weren’t looking. I was notified this morning and have been given permission by Alison Copland to use her wonderful photos, taken during yesterday’s osprey cruise, in the blog. They don’t show the ring but it has been confirmed by other watchers and I recognise 9J7 too. I know I’m a little biased in this respect, but doesn’t she look absolutely wonderful? Hopefully, she’ll stop off there for a while until she is fully proficient at fishing before setting off across the Channel and beyond. She isn’t the only juvenile osprey using Poole Harbour at the moment as 2B9 from Kielder has been there for a week and, having started her week struggling (as 9J7 will) to catch anything, she landed a huge bass this morning which will do wonders for her confidence!

We haven’t confirmed Augusta at Lanton since last Monday (17th), so unless anyone else knows differently, I think we can assume that she has left on migration. A grainy photo, taken today of one of the perches by the river, looks to show 9J6 (chick 3) eating her way solidly through a large fish, so we know that she is still here and Samson was no doubt the provider. I would expect 9J8 to have gone, if her younger sister is already away, but chick 2 was always the precocious one of the brood, so perhaps chick 1 may still be around. I’ll be down tomorrow to check.

I’ve had to turn the camera off for the season as it refused to work for me, so my apologies for the sudden termination of this season’s pictures but I nevertheless hope that you enjoyed seeing the birds live for yourselves on the feed. I thought it made a big difference to see what I was telling you, as I’m sure some of you thought I had been very anthropomorphic, but now you have all been able to see their characters develop and all the domestics going on in and around the nest. They really are very different individuals in so many ways and I’m very glad to have been able to bring that to you.

My next blog will probably be my last of the season (unless we get further reports of sightings, of course) and I will report on when the nest area appears to be empty. Until that time, I would ask for visitors to please keep to the riverside path or the car park to avoid disturbing the birds. They need all the energy they can acquire to start their migration and not waste any of it flying off because someone has got too enthusiastic and has strayed too close to the nest.

Just a very quick note to apologise for the lack of camera on YouTube at present. We have a wiggly amps problem in the electronics which my vast experience of matters electrical (ie turning everything off then on again, wiggling the wires and hopefully tapping the offending bits of kit) has failed to resolve. Luckily, there’s not much action being missed as the chicks are spending most of their days away from the nest but I will try to resolve it.

Like typical kids, the juveniles have left the days of nervous short flights with swooping take offs when they forget to use their wings properly and only slightly-in-control crash landings on the nest (preferably softened by landing on a sibling or adult) behind them. They are now super confident, even cocky, racing around the sky, swooping, climbing, stall turning, twisting and chasing. A group of us were watching 4 of “our” ospreys, plus a possible intruder, all manoeuvring above the field a few days ago and we were spinning like tops trying to follow them all. I was very flattered to be asked if I could recognise which bird it was that we were watching at one point. It was still a dot, even with binoculars, but even I can’t distinguish specific ospreys at that distance, but thanks to the questioner for her confidence. It was interesting to see that the youngsters were willing to join in protecting the territory from the intruder but honestly, I’m not sure that they were an actual help!

One further bit of progress is that 9J7 (chick 2) returned to the nest looking a little soggy and clutching something that looked like riverweed a day or so ago. It looks like she, at least, is practising her fishing technique. It is nevertheless a fact that most juveniles set off on migration having never caught a fish themselves. The sensible ones find somewhere to refine their technique before getting too far. Brian’s home is near an estuary on the south coast teeming with fish and most years locals can watch a youngster breaking their journey there and mastering catching fish on a regular basis before travelling on. Far easier to do than waiting until they are really hungry and the fishing conditions are less benign.

That’s all in front of them and our family seems to be just enjoying life. Both parents are fishing and the juveniles are probably having the easiest time they will have in their lives. No worries, the freedom of flight, food being delivered regularly and still having the protection of their parents. I hope they enjoy it while they can as life will get tougher for them in a few weeks’ time.

Well, if we thought 9J7 (chick 2) took her time to go, it was nothing in comparison with 9J6 (Titch). In the end, it was quite comedic with her on the tip of the nest perch and she kept looking down and almost shuddering (like the hero in a silent movie) but she eventually went at 0936 this morning, did a very brief fly around and then landed back on the perch again. I don’t know about you but I was trying to encourage her as she built up her courage…and then watched it subside again. That said, I wouldn’t be too happy at launching myself off a 100ft cliff and having to rely on instinct to work my wings and tail properly, so I have some sympathy for her.

So that’s all of them fledged and an empty nest for the first time since the first egg was laid on 22 Apr. Another sign that the end of the season is starting to approach is that I was told that yesterday Augusta brought in a fish that she caught herself. Her job has now been completed with all the chicks able to fly and leave the nest so she will disengage her bond with her chicks and will start on the business of building up her strength and fat reserves for her migration. If it’s anything like last year, Samson will stop bringing her fish and will concentrate on providing for the chicks, which is quite a challenge in itself. It seems a little harsh but she is quite capable of finding food for herself now she is no longer tied to guarding the nest.

The next few weeks are the most exciting time to be down watching the birds as it’s not often you can see potentially 5 ospreys in the same area, particularly when Samson brings in a fish and hungry ospreys seem to converge from every corner! Even though the nest will become less and less the centre of activity, it remains out of bounds to humans and the best views are still to be found along the river track or up on the road leading down to the car park.

Please continue to let me know of anything of interest you see from the camera view or if you’re down in person or any questions you may have. Leaving a comment on here is the best way to get in touch initially.

9J7 (chick 2) fledged today at 1318. She’d been umm’ing and aah’ing for a couple of days since her big sister first flew but she just lacked the courage for that final launch. When she did go, it was in a very controlled manner and she could be seen doing lots of circuits over the potato field.

She’s not quite back on the nest yet but is on a branch on the other side of the tree, yelling at her mum for instructions. She hasn’t yet worked out that she needs to fly away from the nest in order to get back to it but she’ll sort it in the end.

Chick 3 is now being left on her own in the nest and is not enjoying the experience, so has been doing some fairly violent wing flapping exercises to try and catch up with her siblings, although we haven’t seen any helicoptering yet.

We also had a short visit from a young peregrine which enjoyed bouncing our family before Augusta shooed it away.

It’ll probably be a day or so before chick 3 fledges but keep a look out for Augusta to start fishing for herself. She might not be as willing to share a fish she’s caught herself as she is with the offerings that Samson brings.

9J8 (otherwise known as Chick 1) fledged at 1705 today and, after 15 minutes flying around, landed back on the nest as nice as you like, at 1720. I’m not entirely sure she meant to go as she actually fledged backwards but the gentle breeze that picked up this afternoon gave her the confidence to go and it was amusing to see the two other chicks tracking her around the sky, even though we couldn’t see her. Chick 2 will not be far behind but I have yet to see Chick 3 lift off the nest yet during her wing exercising, so I assume there’ll be a bit of a gap until we see her leave the nest for the first time.

I think Chick 1 has been a bit overcome by it all. She’s nestled up to her siblings, put her head down, and has dropped off! It’s not every day that something so important happens in your life!

I think she could do with a celebratory fish.

I’m absolutely livid that, about an hour ago, we had three human intruders who thought it was acceptable to walk out to the nest and then stand and chat directly under it before sauntering off again after about 15 minutes. Augusta was circling and alarming, having flown off as they approached, and then was joined by Samson who had just been on a fishing trip.

I wondered at first if it was agricultural workers who may not have been aware of the nest, especially as the field is let to a separate farmer for potato growing this year. However, at least two of the threesome had binoculars and it was clear that their interest was primarily the nest and the birds.

There are signs around, although the pertinent one may be obscured by foliage at this time of year, but the fact that they clearly knew what they were looking at means that they should also have known that they were disturbing the birds. Augusta would have been distress calling by this stage, and they seemed not to care. None of us were down there at the time to stop them, which might have been lucky for them as my language would have been less than temperate and diplomatic.

The disturbance constitutes an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 but the very real danger of this incident is that the chicks are now getting close to fledging. There is lots of wing flapping and some helicoptering going on. Something like this might easily have led to at least one of the chicks attempting to fly the nest, with disastrous results. Luckily it didn’t, but no thanks to these (at best) ignorant people.

I doubt that we will be able to identify the intruders, but I will nevertheless try. In the meantime, it is a timely reminder of visitors to the area to stick to the path. You can get great views from there (better than from where these men were) and the birds will not be disturbed.

If anyone is able to identify these people or could give further information, you can drop me a note on the comments section that you have information, and we can chat directly. Despite my temptation to name and shame, I would want to hear their side of the story first.

The good news is that both parents returned to the nest after the perceived danger was passed, and the fish that Samson had in his talons soon occupied their complete attention.

I don’t do “early“ on Sundays but I just about managed to get to meet up with the ringing team and a few observers by the arranged 1000 yesterday. It wasn’t ideal weather with the rain coming and going to tease us but, luckily the wind had dropped sufficiently for Björn to make his way up the tree safely and then carefully lower the chicks down.

First to be ringed was Titch who weighed in at a whopping 1620g, despite being the youngest. Its stuffed crop made up a fair proportion of that weight and showed that all our concerns about it not getting its fair share of food were completely misplaced. She’s probably female but we’re not 100% sure as she’s still quite young to assess her various wing and foot measurements accurately. Her two siblings are also both girls but neither weighed as much as she did, despite being 4 or 5 days older! They have been ringed as 9J6 (chick 3), 9J7 (chick 2) and 9J8 (chick 1). They were weighed (all 3 had target practice during this period and narrowly avoided splatting several of us!) and various measurements were taken before a quick ride back up to the nest, accompanied by a fish I had brought (Morrison’s tilapia) them to atone for the interruption to their day.

Augusta was overhead the whole time, watching what was going on and Samson arrived mid way through with a fish. That mysteriously disappeared by the time the chicks were back in the nest and I rather think that Samson took the opportunity for a quick snack whilst his family was otherwise engaged. Being an old hand at this he’s very calm about the whole ringing process but it was the first time for Augusta since she herself was ringed back in 2020 so was the more agitated of the 2 by it all. By the time I got home and switched on the live camera feed, the tilapia had disappeared so I assume no one turned their beaks up at the foreign fish but they gobbled it down while recounting the story of their day to their mother.

The next bit of drama is that the chicks will be increasingly exercising their wings to strengthen muscles and eventually to lift off the nest. The latter is known as helicoptering and always makes me nervous when you feel that a sudden gust of wind could so easily whip them off the nest. Augusta in particular has been bringing in small sticks and soft material to build up the nest into a more suitable, flat take off and landing pad. This is all in preparation for fledging which will probably happen in the next fortnight, weather depending, and then them becoming less reliant on the nest. You may also have noticed the chicks making some attempts to feed themselves. Augusta will see this and the fledging efforts as signs that her role is coming to an end. Once the chicks can feed themselves and can leave the nest, albeit temporarily at this stage, her job is done. Some of you may have noticed that she has been moulting and new feathers are coming through on her tail and wings. This is normal for females who take the opportunity of the breeding season to spruce up their feathers in readiness for the migration south. Males don’t have that option as they are busy flying all the way through the breeding season. They therefore moult over a much longer period so that they never lose their flying effectiveness.

The niggling between chicks will peter out now but, as they start to feed themselves, the fights to grab the fish when they arrive can become quite aggressive. Samson will bear the brunt of this and you will see that the chicks will dive in to snatch what they can and he often ends up with his feet and feathers getting grabbed by over-eager chicks, which will now weigh as much as him! In past years, he has been known to hover over the nest and drop fish onto it without landing for his self-preservation.

I hope you will continue to watch the chicks on the live feed (search for border ospreys webcam on YouTube) gaining confidence and starting their journey towards independence. It’s incredible to think that they are just over a month old and have already come so far. I’ll be in touch again at fledging; drop any name suggestions for the 3 chicks in the comments.

I hope that you have all had the opportunity to watch our osprey family on the nest now, thanks to the marvels of fibre broadband and YouTube. The time is passing so quickly and it was only when I read that one of the earliest nests in the UK had their chicks ringed yesterday that I realised that I’d better get a grip and write another blog.

The family have done really well this year. Augusta has been a great mum in protecting (we’ve had a few visiting ospreys) and feeding the rapidly growing family and Samson has been a star, having found a supply of decent sized rainbow trout with which to keep the family well fed.

You can’t fail to have noticed how quickly the chicks develop. From the time they were hatched, their one priority has been to eat and their growth has been noticeable every single day that you see them. Chatting to one of our “regulars“, she commented particularly on how the length of their wings has changed. If you recall, when they first hatched, their wings were tiny useless little stubs. After a day or so, they were able to use them to help prop themselves up when food begging and for a while they could be used a little like forearms in the battle to be first to the most recent fish. Now, however, they are clearly developing into the long, elegant wings that will carry the chicks in the months to come, initially around the area and eventually on that incredible journey of migration.

Their mobility has also increased and they now chase Augusta around the nest when she has a fish or just need her to supply some shade. Several times she has almost been pushed completely off the nest.

The hot weather is another challenge for the chicks. Both adult birds can, of course, go for a dip in the river to cool down but the chicks are limited to finding shelter on the nest and often Augusta ends up as a “mumbrella”, standing tall with her wings slightly open to provide some shade. Their only source of moisture is the fish that they eat, so these are long, uncomfortable days for them. You will also see both chicks and adults with open mouths and looking like they are panting. It is known as gular fluttering where they oscillate the skin below their beaks (mine is called a double chin but we’ll move quickly on!) to keep cool. While the chicks can all temperature regulate now, ospreys have no capacity to sweat so this is the only method they have to self cool their bodies.

As I mentioned, Samson appears to have found a good source of decent sized rainbow trout which has taken some of the pressure off him that we’ve seen in previous years. However, he still brings in quite a few grayling from the river and some of them are found close to the nest as they are still flapping when they arrive. The regular supply of fish has meant that inter-sibling squabbling hasn’t got too bad although there have been a few instances where one has picked on another. The main aim seems to be for the aggressor to grab the back of the victim’s neck and give it a good shake. The defence is then to turn one’s back and hunch the body over while lowering the head and just presenting one’s back end. This is sometimes done when food arrives to prevent the younger chicks from getting the food or in between meals to assert dominance. In 2023, the second chick actually killed the third one by bullying it constantly and denying it access to food. I don’t envisage any such problem this year with the supply of fish as generous as it is, but a large fish arriving as I write this caused a bit of a scuffle with Titch having to scurry out of range of its siblings.

The next obvious signs of progress will be the continued growth of feathers of the chicks so they start really looking like ospreys and not something out of Jurassic Park, and then they will also start standing up on their feet rather than shuffling around on their “heels”. All things being equal, we will look to ring the chicks at about the 6 week point and we should then have an idea of which are male and female. I’d be interested in your thoughts if you’ve been watching them. Remember, the females tend to be larger; chicks #1 and #2 were hatched a day apart and then there was a 4 day gap to chick #3. So what do you think we’ve got? Is #2 a female as it’s the same size as #1? Does Titch’s ability to outwit its siblings and get ahead of the food queue suggest a wily male or a clever female? Let me know what you think.