UK Ospreys 2009 - First osprey chick in Dumfries in living memory

Rutland Water

28th May - Chicks have hatched at both nests, but it is not yet clear how many. 

21st May - 2 pairs of ospreys are incubating eggs. 

23 March - 2 male ospreys have so far been seen, both of whom were present all last summer. They have arrived back a few days earlier than usual, probably due to the warm weather of the last week. However they will be in for a shock with the cold weather now returning from the north and east.

More about Rutland Water

loch garten ospreys

2nd June - Loch Garten ospreys get all clear as fishing line untangles. 

29th May - Three chicks have hatched but both adult birds have become entangled in some fishing line, threatening their safety and that of their chicks. Click Loch Garten Ospreys both tangled in fishing tackle for details 

21st May - Three eggs still being incubated by EJ and her new partner, Odin.

Odin is a new face at Loch Garten who arrived on April 3rd. With no identifying leg rings to offer a clue to his origins, staff decided to name him after the god of Norse Mythology, due to a possible Scandinavian connection. All UK osprey chicks generally have an identifying leg ring attached prior to their fledging. Ringing is less common in Scandinavia, so it is thought he may have been passing through on his way home.

25th March - The regular breeding female - 11 year old EJ - has returned for the seventh time to the famous nest in the Cairngorms.

Sadly, sad news that last years chick Nethy is missing presumed dead in Africa. Nethy was one of the two chicks fitted with satellite tags for the first time last year, and her 3000 mile migration to West Africa was followed by thousands online at www.rspb.org.uk/ospreytracking .

She spent the winter in the Gambia, and more recently Guinea, where juvenile ospreys stay until the age of three when they make the return journey to breed. However the signal from her tag has not moved for a fortnight, so it is assumed that she has died. There is an outside chance that the tag might have fallen off, but unless she is spotted one day by her leg rings, we will never know. Her brother, who was also tagged, died before he reached his wintering ground last year.

How to visit the Loch Garten Osprey Centre .

The Loch Garten Osprey nest webcam can be seen here

Loch of the Lowes - 18th year

28th May - The last egg has hatched and the two surviving chicks are growing, though the smallest one has a lot of catching up to do. 

21st May - 2 chicks hatched at the Loch of the Lowes, but sadly the smaller one died during bad weather. The third egg is yet to hatch.  Read more

29th March - The male osprey, an 18-year-old bird identified by his green leg ring, has already mated with the female. 

20th March - Perthshire's original female osprey has returned to her summer home at Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve for the 18th consecutive year, according to the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT).

44 eggs hatched to date
"After mating, we would expect the female to lay between two to four eggs in early April, and six weeks later the eggs should hatch. Using a high definition camera which can be viewed live from our visitor centre or online, we will be watching eagerly to see if our female can hatch any chicks again this year. To date, she has laid 52 eggs and 44 of those have successfully hatched, but sadly she is an aging bird and her fertility could be dwindling. This makes it another exciting breeding season."

Spotted landing on the eyrie at 6.05 pm on Friday 20 March, the arrival of the female osprey signals the beginning of the breeding process for one of Scotland's most magnificent bird species. Nature enthusiasts can now visit Loch of the Lowes or watch the webcam to watch the osprey mate and hopefully raise young chicks.

More about how to visit Loch of the Lowes 

Tweed Valley Osprey Project

3rd June. 2 eggs have hatched, and the third is due any moment.  

21st May - Three eggs being incubated.

1st April - The regular breeding pair arrived back within hours of each other.

Live footage of the birds can be seen at the viewing centres at Glentress Forest and Kailzie Gardens on new, larger screens.

Click here for details about how to visit the Tweed Valley Ospreys.

Glaslyn ospreys

21st May - 3 chicks hatched, and, despite some poor weather, all seemingly doing well at the moment. 

21st March -  2008 breeding male arrived back, followed  by his mate 1 day later.

6th April - First osprey egg of the season. Despite the attentions of a second female osprey, who has been harassing the pair, the female has laid her first egg of 2009.

Find out how to see the Glaslyn ospreys

bassenthwaite ospreys - lake district

5th June - Osprey at Leighton Moss - Born in Lake District   

28th May - All three chicks have now hatched and seem healthy. 

26th May - The first two chicks have hatched. The proud osprey parents are now busy nurturing two young birds. The female osprey is known to have laid three eggs but, as they were laid several days apart and will hatch at different times, it will be some time before the project team know exactly how many have hatched.

The first egg hatched early on 24th May and the second chick was spotted the following day.

The male osprey, known as ‘No Ring' has successfully reared 6 young with his current partner and had previously reared 10 young with the female osprey he originally paired up with near Bassenthwaite in 2001.

So far he has delivered just over 100 fish to the nest for the female. However, now that the eggs are hatching he will have to almost double his daily total to feed his offspring. If all goes well, this year's young should make their first flight in August, and remain in the area until early September.

21st May - 3 eggs being incubated, due to hatch any time now. 

31st March - Last years breeding ospreys have returned to their nest from last year. visitors will again be able to get great views of the birds from a Viewpoint which has been set up in Dodd Wood, only 400 metres away from the nest. The Viewpoint is open all daylight hours, with staff on hand with telescopes from 10am-5pm daily, as part of the RSPB's ‘Dates with Nature' Project.

Live pictures from cameras overlooking and inside the nest will shortly be beamed to a giant videowall at the Visitor Centre on the Forestry Commission estate at Whinlatter Forest, near Braithwaite. There is also an exhibition area dedicated to the ospreys.

How to visit the Lake District Ospreys

aberfoyle ospreys

21st May - There have been plenty of ospreys around, but sadly it seems that there will be no breeding pair at Aberfoyle in 2009.

4th April - Last years breeding male reappeared. Unfortunately we was seen wisth fishing line wrapped around a leg and subsequently disappeared on Sunday 5th April, and a new pair of ospreys took up residence on the nest. 2008 female had not yet appeared, but if she does she may try to oust these newcomers.

How to see the Aberfoyle ospreys.

 Bassenthwaite ospreys at their nest in 2008