Several of you have been in contact asking whether our birds have returned yet but I’m afraid that there is no news yet. I am particularly concerned about JW6 (Juno) who is 16 days’ late from her 2023 arrival date and 6 days’ late from her 2022 arrival. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that she will still arrive but the vast majority of monitored birds have arrived on time or early this year, so her arrival this late would be unusual. I’d like to think that she’s taking her time because she had to wait over 3 weeks for Samson to arrive last year but, sadly, ospreys don’t operate like that. We’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope that she does eventually arrive.

Samson is right in the middle of his arrival window. The earliest he arrived was 30 March and the latest was 15 April so I’m not too concerned about him yet. However, it’s in his interests to arrive as soon as possible if JW6 hasn’t survived as he’ll need to find another mate quickly if he is to breed this year. It’s sounds a bit heartless but it is the harsh reality for ospreys when they have such a short bracket of opportunity in which to breed.

The nest is looking very good although a lawnmower might be needed soon and it has survived the pummelling of the wind and rain over the last few days. Returning ospreys could be forgiven for thinking that the tree is located in the middle of a lake if they had arrived this week.

You know what they’ve been like in the past. I hope that merely writing about their non-arrival will cause Samson and Juno to both be sitting on the nest when I go down tomorrow morning. I will never have been more pleased to be wrong if that was to be the case.

Well, that’s that, then. The nest is redundant; the almost constant noise from food begging female and chicks has ceased; the final fish catch of the season has been delivered. The area seems weirdly quiet and empty, despite other birds and animals being around and doing their thing. None of them has the same impact on the surroundings as the osprey family and they’ve all now departed.

JW6 (Juno) was the first to go. After embarrassing me by reappearing on 15 August, she has not been seen since. So she could be virtually through her migration or hiding somewhere to sneak out again…or anywhere in between! So I refuse to play her game and I make no further comment on her whereabouts. However, what I would say is that she has turned out to be a very good breeding female. Considering this is only her second brood, she has developed remarkably since last year. I feel a little sorry that Samson was virtually banished from the nest once the chicks were hatched. With the exception of landing with a fish, she made it very clear that he was to remove himself as soon as the transfer was complete. He was never allowed to feed them or brood them and that lack of connection with his chicks was a new experience for him. However, when things got tough, she made the difficult decision to help out with the fishing, even though that meant potentially exposing the chicks to danger when they were left alone. Nevertheless, her decision made the difference between the brood’s survival and not and was excellent parenting by her.

733 (Jed) was last seen on 22 Aug in the late afternoon and I think he probably departed first thing the following day as conditions looked perfect and he’d eaten a huge fish the afternoon before. He was confident, a good flyer and had spent his days well since fledging, strengthening his flight muscles, exploring the area and practising his fishing skills, although if he succeeded in catching anything, I didn’t see him do so. I would hope he has given himself a good chance on migration.

732 (Ursula) was next. She was content to sit around after fledging and wait for the food supplies to arrive (she rarely missed a fish delivery, was enthusiastic to say the least in grabbing for it but didn’t always win the fish) and did little to explore until 733 disappeared and she had no competition for food. She was then absent from the nest for a lot longer and I saw several attempts to fish. She also was a little gentler on Samson when he brought a fish in and didn’t try to rip his leg off as looked to be the danger earlier last month. The last time we saw her on the nest was first thing in the morning of 28 Aug. She spent a couple of minutes sitting still, before giving herself a good rouse (shaking her feathers out to settle them in the right place) and then flew off and out of sight. I also have high hopes for her. While I was very saddened about her behaviour towards the third chick which led directly to its perishing, she is a bold, aggressive female, taking after JW6. Her landings need a little bit of work still (as you will see later) but she eventually was as confident a flyer as her sibling and was decidedly plump when she left, giving her good reserves whilst she perfects her fishing skills en route. I pity a future mate as she will no doubt keep him well in order if she continues to follow JW6’s example but I hope we haven’t heard the last of her.

By the time Samson came in with a fish on 28 Aug, she was well away, I expect. I’ve commented before about the poignancy of the male bringing back a fish when there’s no one left to receive it and it was no different on this occasion. After moving from the nest to sitting on the dead tree, Samson spent a couple of hours looking around to see if anyone was coming in. He then took off and flew, with the fish still clutched in his talons, up and down the river to see whether 732 was there and then returned to the nest area to skydance, in an effort to attract his chick’s attention if she was slightly further afield. He returned to his vigil in the dead tree and only started to eat the fish after he was convinced that she had left.

Regular readers will know that last year he got caught out by the arrival of 3AF, who was our 2020 female and who had raised a brood successfully in a nest not that far away. She had left her nest as normal to start her migration and dropped in and managed to persuade Samson to feed her for a further week! Luckily, when she was ready to leave this year, Samson still had the chicks around so he would have chased her off and we now know that she was seen down in Abbotsbury on the Dorset coast on 2 Sep. Nevertheless, he wasn’t about to chance falling for that again and, having eventually consumed the rather dry fish, he followed his family away either later that day or first thing the following morning. We don’t know how old he is, as he is unringed, but based on how long he has been here I would suggest he is in his mid teens. The struggles he had with fishing this year were symptomatic of a shortage of fish rather than any failings of his prowess so I hope we will see him next year and wish Bon voyage to all the family.

Each season is so different from any other and this year was no exception. The most serious factor was the low supply of fish which became more obvious as the chicks grew. Samson was struggling and it needed JW6 to add her contribution, which she did when required right up to and post-fledge. I’ve never witnessed that before at this nest. Even that was not sufficient to save the third chick and that was, without a doubt, the lowest part of the season for me. The little one was such a character and so good at sneaking in front of its siblings to grab mouthfuls of food but, eventually, it was not enough. The biggest non-osprey factor was, of course, the lack of footfall following the sad decision to close the Born in Scotland facility. We had just purchased the best camera we’ve had to display the action on the nest but the closure meant that we were the only ones who were able to see it. Beaming the pictures onto the web is not feasible at present but I continue to look at options. Until then, you’ll have to rely on what I can show you on the blog. I’ve missed chatting to the visitors to the site, although the presence of the regular dog walkers and others who come down has been great and the nest still excites a lot of interest in the area. On the plus side, the pair have succeeded in raising two strong, healthy chicks in difficult circumstances to fledge and beyond and everyone seemed to disappear on migration in the best possible condition. Next year, we have the possibility of seeing our first chick for 5 years return as a 2 year old and I hope that 688 (Sacha) will show us he’s back…until he’s chased off by his dad!

I am grateful for the continued support of John Henderson, the owner of the Born in Scotland facility, in allowing me to continue monitoring the nest activity from the screen in the restaurant building and from his field. I would also like to thank the usual suspects on the osprey expert front. First there is ringer, raptor expert, environmentalist and purveyor of endless banter (not necessarily in that order), Tony Lightley from Forestry and Land Scotland. Second is Joanna Dailey from Kielder, who not only has provided me with nuggets of her incredible knowledge and memory but has also allowed me to visit N10 at Kielder to watch the progress of PY0, one of Samson’s 2017 chicks, and his first brood of chicks. Finally, I would like to thank the other 2 members of Border Ospreys. We are only a team of 3, one who juggles two jobs as well as doing techie support for me, and the other who lives nearly 400 miles away but comes up each year to do monitoring stints and provide excellent photographic support. Without them, I would not be able to do what I do and I am very grateful to Jain and Brian. I haven’t forgotten also that I owe thanks to all of you out there who read the blog, comment and visit me, sitting in splendid isolation in the field. I do appreciate any feedback I get and I’m glad that you all seem to like the slightly tongue in cheek but still informative approach that this blog takes. There are long hours involved in monitoring and so many periods of highs/lows/anxieties/celebrations/boredom/excitement but it is also a time to feel really close and get to know a dynasty of exceptional creatures. If I can communicate some of my enthusiasm and admiration for this family and the incredible things they do, then the blog and my chatting to visitors has succeeded.

I am not aware of any plans for the site so I assume we’ll be back in the Spring with, hopefully, the same pair of leading actors plus some exciting debutants. In the meantime, I will leave you with a couple of clips that, I think, underlines what I was saying earlier about Ursula being enthusiastic in her methods of obtaining her fair share, and more, of the fish.

See you in 2024.

I DON’T KNOW WHY I BOTHER; I really don’t! Yesterday evening I wrote that JW6 had definitely maybe left on migration. Not been seen, longer absence than normal…blah…blah. I downloaded yesterday’s recordings as I do each following morning, came home to review the footage…and guess what? JW6 brought a tatty tail end of a fish onto the nest at 1410 yesterday, in the middle of a heavy downpour of rain!

Now, in my defence, I have to say that I never said anything absolute but I was pretty convinced that she’d gone, especially when the day before yesterday, Samson was struggling badly to fish and I saw no deliveries to the nest for the whole of the 13 hours that the camera was on. I thought she’d have come and helped if she was around. Furthermore, the chicks seemed as surprised as I was when she landed and were actually mantling in a very defensive posture as she approached, far from their normal food begging behaviour. Yet, despite all that, there she was and it was noticeable that she was treated with more respect than Samson has been by them. A delivery yesterday morning, which Ursula got, meant that Samson had to endure Jed’s disappointment as Jed really was quite vicious in tugging at Samson’s foot and also had a beak full of Samson’s head feathers which he refused to release.

JW6 disappeared off very quickly and went straight across the field and out of sight. Samson might not have even realised that she was about. She wasn’t seen again on camera later yesterday and I didn’t see her today when I was down there. So who knows? I apologise to all those people that keep data on such things but JW6 had definitely NOT migrated by yesterday afternoon but she definitely might have done as I write this.

Since fledging, Jed (733) and Ursula (732) have fallen into a steady routine of eating, flying circuits, preening, exploring and eating, with more eating thrown in wherever possible. Handover of fish has become a nerve wracking and often painful experience for Samson as the two of them come racing in and fight over who gets the offering. Often, an over enthusiastic juvenile grabs his leg by mistake and tries to drag what they think is the fish off to the side of the nest.

On one occasion, Samson brought one in and his mate Juno (JW6), who was also on the nest at the time, decided that she quite fancied the trout he’d caught and there was a complete melee for a while with JW6 battling and losing to 732 who then had a tussle with her sibling 733 and he eventually won, all the while poor old Samson was just trying to extricate himself from the chaos and fly off with all his limbs still attached!

Talking of JW6, I think I can say with all confidence that she definitely maybe has left on migration. She hasn’t been seen on camera or in the feather since mid morning on the 10th. That last visit was to bring fish to the two juveniles which would suggest that she was still in her raising a family mode rather than feeding herself in preparation for migration mode and she certainly did take a break before migration last year. Nevertheless, the absence has been longer than normal and she hasn’t been seen on camera down in Kielder where she often goes during her breaks, so maybe she is well away and looking down at the French or even Spanish countryside as I write.

I expect the juveniles to leave within the next 10 days or so. 733 will probably go first. That would be expected as the older of the two anyway, but he is an extremely competent flier and has been much more confident in exploring and refining all the skills he will need. He has been seen practising fishing and seems to really enjoy flying in all sorts of conditions testing out his capabilities. On one occasion, he was twisting and turning in gusty winds and doing aerobatics that the Red Arrows would find difficult to emulate; he really seems a natural.

732 has stayed much closer to home and, as a result, has managed to obtain far more than her fair share of fish. She clearly keeps a good look out for Samson returning and is very adept, even when her brother and she are on the nest together, at nipping in and grabbing a fish from Samson before 733 can get to it. Interestingly, despite being much larger than him, she will usually defer to him if he challenges her for a fish; that 2 days difference in age still is a factor. They both will defend the nest from intruders and, in this matter, she is the far more aggressive of the two, perhaps already seeing the guarding of the nest as being her responsibility. She’s quite a scary sight, mantling and screaming defiance.

We’re not usually bothered that much by intruders but, for several days, Samson appeared to be being followed back to the nest when he was bringing a catch home. We were getting glimpses of this intruding female but nothing definite until she very graciously hovered above the nest, watching the normal battle for possession of the fish, legs lowered so we could read her ring. We were able to identify her as Blue 561, a 2020 chick from a nest near Dumfries. We were confused at first because the ring number looked like 195 but some investigation revealed that the ring had been put on upside down but, of course, the numbers could be read either way. We were also able to find out that she had intruded at Kielder and another nest near here earlier in the year, so she knows the area well.

Our second confirmed intruder was seen on the same day and was, in this case, an unringed male. We got some nice footage of him being escorted (at high speed) from the nest area by Samson. What was particularly interesting was that this male was carrying a large lump of soft nesting material. So the question is, could 561 and this male, seen only an hour or so apart, perhaps be looking at setting up home in the area? Samson and Juno won’t let them get too close but there are plenty of other potential nesting sites around and that might be an exciting prospect for next year.

The last bit of news I have for you is that I was again invited to see progress at Samson’s 2017 chick, PY0’s, nest at Kielder and I was lucky enough to see the first chick fledge. In a situation spookily reminiscent of its parent’s attempt at fledging all those years ago, this chick found itself isolated from the nest on an adjoining tree branch. Wobbling precariously, it took the safest option of returning to its nest by flying a circuit and landing back on. PY0 didn’t do that in 2017 and remained frozen with nerves to his perch, only managing to sidle back to the relative safety of his nest some 3 or 4 hours later. He did fledge successfully a few days later when his confidence returned.

I think that’s all the news from here rounded up and I will let you know when the two youngsters take that massive leap of faith in their instincts and leave on migration. What an incredibly powerful urge that must be to leave all security behind and head off, literally, into the unknown. You may all start to cross your fingers now to build up a nice bit of credit for the two of them before they set off, alone, on that incredible journey.

It’s a strange old feeling when you see the nest empty for the first time since breeding commenced and that’s what I was met with this morning when I arrived and, although I expected it, there is a deal of emotion I always experience each year it happens.

732 (Ursula) has been almost ready to go for a couple of days and she was helicoptering nicely on 22 Jul. I think she would have gone yesterday had the weather been better and I could have shown you her helicoptering in the morning, despite the rain, apart from the fact that all you’d have seen would have been her emerging from and disappearing back into a large blob of rainwater on the camera lens that was obscuring most of the nest. So here’s her on 22nd instead.

Suffice it to say, that the 23rd was a complete washout until late in the afternoon and the wind that sprang up from mid morning made helicoptering, and certainly fledging, something to be avoided.

The camera came on a little later today than it should have done which was hardly surprising considering that, for the last couple of days, the solar panels had been working hard to suck any tiny bit of light they could from the gloomy skies to power the kit. Today was different though and the sun was shining and the wind had dropped. 732 was on the tip of the nest perch and looked ready to go. I wondered if she might have already fledged but I’m fairly sure she hadn’t when I subsequently saw her take off. Her brother in the meantime was doing zoomies round and round the field, clearly enjoying the nice weather and his rapidly developing flying skills. He returned to encourage his sister to follow. She didn’t manage to match his effortless looking launch of 4 days ago, taking off from the cot rails at 0720 and catching some foliage as she did a bit of a lurching first few wing beats. On the video you can see her recover, fly off across the field and then return to circle round against the blue sky.

The landing was even less impressive. To misquote from Casablanca and in his best Humphrey Bogart voice, you could forgive 733 for saying “on all the perches, in all the trees, in all this field, you had to land on my one” as she crash landed onto him, and clung on until she was able to hop back onto the nest, forcing him to do an impromptu circuit. Her later efforts were slightly more effective.

So the centre of attention will now start to move to the surrounding area from the nest, although fish will continue to be brought there for the chicks. In most years, the male would continue to supply the chicks but the female would normally start to fish for herself and would share very little of the future parenting duties with the male; her job of guarding the nest while the chicks were there would have been completed. However, this has not been a normal year and JW6 has been supplementing fish supplies brought in by Samson for quite a period of time. So what will happen next is unclear. Will she carry on as she would do in other years and concentrate on feeding herself up prior to setting off on migration, or will she continue to help feed the chicks and delay her own preparations for migration in view of the difficulties Samson has faced in providing sufficient supplies? Can we expect another visit from 3AF once she has left her nest and what will happen if JW6 or either of the chicks are still present? There’s still plenty to interest us as we move onto the next phase of the chicks getting more confident and spending more time flying around, learning about their surroundings and maybe having a go at putting those fishing instincts into practice. One thing is for sure: August will be an interesting month.

I was intending writing a blog about the changing dynamics in the nest but it got overtaken by the exciting news that 733 (Jed) fledged at 1600 this afternoon after umming and aahing (spelling??) for several hours.

The chicks’ helicoptering had, to be frank, been quite conservative up until today. We had certainly seen air under his talons but he never seemed to sustain lift off for more than a couple of seconds and 732 (Ursula) hadn’t actually been seen to lift off the nest completely at all. So I thought it would be a couple of days at least before we saw a fledge but, today, everything seemed to just slot into place.

A couple of smallish fish were delivered by JW6 (Juno) by midmorning and she then disappeared off and so missed all the excitement. The first was consumed by 733 and the second by 732 and then the flapping in earnest started. I was very glad that they hadn’t tried helicoptering in the high winds we’d had in the previous days but today there was a light breeze at tree top height, which I think encouraged them. He was the more enthusiastic and was doing wing assisted hops to the branches we call the cot rails (because they are almost parallel to the ground and form the front edge of the nest area) and the nest perch.

He developed an interesting sidle to manoeuvre himself up and down the nest perch and seemed fascinated to see how far away the ground was (it’s about 100ft down). She also put far more effort into wing exercising than we’d seen before and several times lifted herself into the air but never strayed outside the confines of the nest.

The first time he looked like he was really going to go, he was disturbed by Samson bringing in a fish. That was quickly grabbed by 732 and, although 733 came back into the nest and showed some interest, he didn’t attempt to take it from her. He then went back up onto the cot rails and from there onto the nest perch and even Samson’s arrival with another fish couldn’t distract him; he was a chick driven. 732 couldn’t believe her luck and started to feed again and didn’t actually see her brother finally summon up the courage and launch into the air.

He flew high and around in several circles, clearly gaining confidence, and then frightened the life out of us watching as he went into a steep dive down towards the nest, replicating how JW6 sometimes arrives with a flourish. Luckily, he came out of the dive in time to avoid crashing headlong but seemed to really be enjoying himself. He then decided to land in the dead tree, next to Samson, but whether he knocked Samson out of the tree or Samson just took avoiding action, that has to be written off as a failed landing attempt, but he was nevertheless confident enough to recover and do another circuit.

He was airborne for 3 mins in total and when he decided to land, he came in and touched down as sweet as you like on the nest perch. It certainly didn’t look like the first time he had ever landed.

Since then, he has done another couple of short flights, landing once in the dead tree to have a man-to-man chat with Samson and the second time to have a fly around and show off to his sibling.

Coincidentally, as I mentioned, 732 didn’t notice him getting airborne as she was too busy eating so, the first time she looked up, it was to see a flying osprey very close to the nest and she didn’t know it was her older sibling. She therefore did the time honoured “face plant” to play dead but it was noticeable that she lay on top of the fish. That stranger was going to have to go through her before it attempted to steal her fish. She knows her priorities. She didn’t relax until he returned to the nest at the end of his maiden flight and I swear she looked a bit sheepish as she regained her feet.

So, the focus now shifts to 732 and when she decides to make the big move. As you will recall from the ringing blog, she is a lot heavier than 733, despite being younger, so it may not happen tomorrow as she builds up muscle and courage. Nevertheless, she won’t be content to let 733 have all the excitement and I’m sure that, all things considered, it won’t be long before we have the possibility of 4 ospreys in the sky together over the nest site. I can’t wait!

I promised you I’d let you know the names we’d picked for the two chicks now that we know we have a male and a female. The older chick, which is male and Darvic ringed 733, will be called Jed after the local town, Jedburgh. The younger chick, the female who is Darvic ringed 732, will be called Ursula after the Disney witch, which seemed appropriate bearing in mind her behaviour so far.

They are relatively easy to spot the difference as Ursula has a distinctly darker head and Johnny Depp eyebrows whereas Jed just has the one thick dark mark on his head and the rest is much lighter.

Fishing continues to be difficult and JW6 has had to help out on a couple of occasions now. The river is still high and very murky and several of the lochs he would use as standbys are going to have an increase in human activity as the holiday season gets underway. A difficult period for the family but this was certainly a success yesterday when Samson brought in a lovely but lively pike.

Thankfully, it was a little cooler and not so muggy as last year when we gathered to do the ringing of the 2 chicks. Our normal ringer, Tony, decided to supervise at ground level this year and so Bjorn was dispatched up the tree to collect the chicks.

As usual, JW6 flew around the nest alarm calling to tell the chicks to “play dead“ but Samson was away, possibly fishing, so she was left to protect the nest as best she could. With the minimum amount of fuss, the chicks were collected and carefully lowered to the ground for Tony to do the ringing and measuring.

It was no surprise to me that chick 2 turned out to be female (being aggressive, incredibly greedy and as large to look at as chick 1, although 2 days’ younger) and weighed in at a sturdy 1720g. She was given the Darvic ring 732 and will be named shortly. Following her behaviour with chick 3, I’m tempted to name her Fiona, as in the green ogress, but I may think of something slightly kinder before I announce the final choice.

The older chick is male and is also a nice weight at 1480g and has been given the Darvic ring 733. After all the measurements were taken and numerous photos of the handsome pair of birds were taken, they were returned to their transport bag and hoisted aloft again. They both resumed their flattened “I’m not here; I’m actually a bit of nest material” pose until the team left from under the tree, and JW6 made sure that we’d departed from where the cars had been left before she returned to the nest perch. She was attentive throughout and made her displeasure of us disturbing her chicks quite plain.

A second bird was seen, briefly, during the ringing process but I didn’t see it and so we don’t know if it was Samson or not. It would have been nice to see him come in with a juicy fish to feed the chicks as they explained to their parents what had happened to them “down there” and to show off their bling which now matches their mum’s. However, it was not to be and he still had not returned when I came away some 4 hours later. The river is full and muddy due to the high rainfall, so fishing will be difficult, but I’ve got this feeling that JW6 is going to take out all her frustrations of the day on him when he finally does return. I hope for his sake it’s a big fish!!

Despite all our positive vibes and its best efforts, I’m sorry to announce that chick 3 died this morning at about 1030. It was very weak and wobbly first thing and made no effort to try for food although chick 2 could still not resist giving it a couple of pecks as it passed. The appetites of both larger chicks, but particularly no 2, are enormous at present and it is doubtful whether it would have succeeded in getting any food even if it could have made the effort. It burrowed in between its siblings between fish deliveries but you could tell that it was running out of strength and the siblings seemed to sense it too, making little effort to avoid standing on it and treating it like a piece of nesting material.

It was always likely to be quite an ask in view of the fluctuating fish supplies to raise all 3 chicks but I just loved this little one’s attitude and nerve. I’m trying to be dispassionate about this but I feel so sad that it didn’t survive (it was 4 weeks old today); at least there should be enough food now available for the other two siblings.

I’ll hopefully bring more cheerful news in my next blog.

I promised you an update on the sibling rivalry between chick 2 and 3 and the fish deliveries.

Fishing continues to be challenging for Samson in poor weather and he has struggled to bring in decent sized fish. As a result, chick 2 has continued to attack chick 3, preventing it from having access to what supplies have been delivered. Usually, the two larger chicks are sufficiently full by the late afternoon so that chick 2 then is less inclined to bully chick 3 and the latter usually manages to have a good feed at that stage. One good feed every 24 hours is not ideal but chick 3 is continuing to develop and I am hopeful will survive the present onslaught by its older sibling. It is learning how to position itself so as to minimise the attacks and to be ready to take advantage of any opportunities to feed, but it is nevertheless hard to watch when it food begs from its mother when the fish has already been consumed.

Today, however has been different. Samson brought in the remnants of a fish shortly after 0500 and, when he hadn’t reappeared within the next 2 hours, JW6 (Juno) clearly decided that she was going to have take matters into her own talons and disappeared off camera, appearing 12 minutes later with a fish. This is most unusual for a female to a) fish before the chicks fledge and b) leave the chicks, probably out of her sight, for any length of time. The brood didn’t notice at first when she landed that she had a fish and, as usual, it was 3 who reacted quickest and had several mouthfuls before its siblings cottoned on to what had happened. Within 30 minutes of bringing that one in, she disappeared again and, 20 minutes later, brought a second fish, no 3 managing a good dozen mouthfuls before greedy no 2 pushed it aside.

Samson brought in the next fish and throughout the afternoon proceeded to bring in several more, all fairly small, trout and the family fed well before JW6 brought in the eighth fish of the day. The two eldest chicks finally bulked out after that and the ninth fish (Samson) was eaten solely by no 3. I wasn’t able to download the last couple of hours of camera footage today but JW6 was spotted bringing in at least the tenth fish, the largest seen of the day, at about 2015.

So, tomorrow will be interesting. I don’t know whether JW6 will continue to supplement Samson’s efforts (I noticed the female at Loch of the Lowes also went fishing for her family today) or whether she will leave it all to him. I don’t know where the sudden supply of fish came from (Samson was fishing downstream and JW6 concentrated on upstream) and whether there will be a similar glut tomorrow. No 3 will no doubt hope that the generous supply will continue. Thankfully, the weather will be better tomorrow so monitoring will be a more pleasant experience than today in almost constant rain and I’ll keep you informed of developments.

As a complete aside, I was sitting watching the nest yesterday from my car and had the car door open. It has been encouraging to see far more swallows and both types of martin darting around the field, picking up insects, than we’ve seen for a couple of years and the sky seems full of youngsters. One obviously tried a low flypast by the car and then ran out of steam and landed on the rubber sill at the base of the door. He hung there for a couple of minutes, not entirely sure of what he’d got himself onto, so I gently picked him up (there was nothing wrong with his lungs!) and released him in the open and he flew away, glad to escape from this monster who was obviously going to eat him. I have to say that they are remarkably cute at close quarters. You never know what’s going to happen when you’re down there minding your ospreys’ business.