Sorry about the delay in posting a new diary page, but with some sunny days and surveys to complete and with family visiting, there wasn't a suitable opportunity to spend the necessary time at the keyboard. As I sit here looking out on a cold, dull and drizzly evening, with heating on in the house, I can think of enough goings on in the last two weeks to fill a book! Let me start with the most recent event - the real-life soap opera called Operation Osprey. If I was to write and publish what has happened at the Loch Garten osprey site between 1 April and today, folk wouldn't believe it to be true. Even more so, if I was to write what has happened in the last day. If you remember, the season started with our regular female EJ returning to the nest only to be wooed by her old flame Orange VS before her mate, our regular male Henry, had put in an appearance. The tryst produced eggs just at the moment Henry arrived and he duly dispatched four eggs from the nest by kicking them out! We then had a nervous wait to see if EJ could produce more eggs and, against the odds, she produced eggs five, six and seven! Since then a "normal" season developed with shared incubation and with Henry providing all the food. The osprey team were expecting the first egg to hatch some time over this weekend, Sunday or Monday being the time when the normal thirty-seven to thirty-eight days of incubation (between first egg and first hatch) would have been completed. However, on Thursday (14th) the first of the three eggs hatched (day thirty-four) and fish arrived at the nest and the routine of female feeding chick began. Yesterday, Friday, Henry arrived back at the nest at 10.15 am and the volunteers on duty at the forward hide saw that he had a long length of fishing line attached to him, possible to a wing. Realising something was amiss they pressed the record button on 
the DVD machine and started to record the next thirty minutes of disastrous activity. At about the same time Grampian TV and then BBC Scotland (left) arrived at the Osprey Centre to interview staff about the great news that the first egg had hatched! Meanwhile, in the background, staff were watching Henry trying to leave the nest to which he was firmly attached by the fishing line. The female was also coming into contact with the fishing line as Henry moved around the nest and briefly she left, exposing two eggs and the newly hatched chick to Henry and his increasingly frantic efforts to rid himself of the fishing line and fly from the nest. In one effort to leave he moved across the nest to take off but the fishing line dragged him back, and inadvertently, and totally outside his control, he stood on the young chick. At this stage Henry's wing was turned at ninety degrees across his back and he looked like he would damage himself. The female came back to the nest and settled down on eggs and chick and at 10.40 am Henry freed himself from the line (snapped or pulled out we are not too sure) and activity at the nest settled down. There were real worries that Henry might have been physically damaged by the events but there was relief all round when at 1.35 pm he returned with a fish. In between those times staff had been watching via the nest camera whenever EJ was away, and they were becoming increasing concerned that the chick seemed to be lifeless. This was confirmed during the rest of the afternoon when two more fish arrived and, despite the female feeding, and calling to the chick as she did, there was no response. After such a roller-coaster season, Osprey Centre staff were absolutely devastated. The Grampian and BBC TV news teams were informed of the breaking news, and both amended their evening new reports to reflect the tragedy. There are two more eggs remaining in the nest, so fingers crossed that the rest of the season progresses "normally". Watch this space or keep up with events live from the nest via the RSPB webcams http://www.rspb.org.uk/webcams/birdsofprey/lochgartenospreynest.asp or if you would like to leave a message of support for the Centre staff you can do so at http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/l/lochgarten/blog.asp which is the web address for the Osprey Wardens diary. Phew! A merlin being chased by the female osprey yesterday from close by the nest was nice to see.
the DVD machine and started to record the next thirty minutes of disastrous activity. At about the same time Grampian TV and then BBC Scotland (left) arrived at the Osprey Centre to interview staff about the great news that the first egg had hatched! Meanwhile, in the background, staff were watching Henry trying to leave the nest to which he was firmly attached by the fishing line. The female was also coming into contact with the fishing line as Henry moved around the nest and briefly she left, exposing two eggs and the newly hatched chick to Henry and his increasingly frantic efforts to rid himself of the fishing line and fly from the nest. In one effort to leave he moved across the nest to take off but the fishing line dragged him back, and inadvertently, and totally outside his control, he stood on the young chick. At this stage Henry's wing was turned at ninety degrees across his back and he looked like he would damage himself. The female came back to the nest and settled down on eggs and chick and at 10.40 am Henry freed himself from the line (snapped or pulled out we are not too sure) and activity at the nest settled down. There were real worries that Henry might have been physically damaged by the events but there was relief all round when at 1.35 pm he returned with a fish. In between those times staff had been watching via the nest camera whenever EJ was away, and they were becoming increasing concerned that the chick seemed to be lifeless. This was confirmed during the rest of the afternoon when two more fish arrived and, despite the female feeding, and calling to the chick as she did, there was no response. After such a roller-coaster season, Osprey Centre staff were absolutely devastated. The Grampian and BBC TV news teams were informed of the breaking news, and both amended their evening new reports to reflect the tragedy. There are two more eggs remaining in the nest, so fingers crossed that the rest of the season progresses "normally". Watch this space or keep up with events live from the nest via the RSPB webcams http://www.rspb.org.uk/webcams/birdsofprey/lochgartenospreynest.asp or if you would like to leave a message of support for the Centre staff you can do so at http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/l/lochgarten/blog.asp which is the web address for the Osprey Wardens diary. Phew! A merlin being chased by the female osprey yesterday from close by the nest was nice to see.Back a couple of weeks and the second and final visit was made to the BTO breeding bird square close to Grantown on Spey. As I was crossing from the outward leg t
o the return leg some bright red flowers growing in amongst the blaeberry and cloudberry stopped me in my tracks (see right). It was a very healthy patch of small cranberry (Vaccinium mycroparpum) in full flower - yes, the very same plant that produces berries for your cranberry drink, the only difference is that the drink plants are grown commercially so that there is a very 
plentiful supply of berries. You would have a hard time collecting enough berries in the wild as the plant is quite rare in Britain (see http://www.ecoflora.co.uk/search_species2.php?plant_no=1320180020. for more details). I had left the camera behind on purpose otherwise I would never get the bird recording finished so I planned a return visit later in the week, so good was the patch of flowers. On the return visit I passed Torran Ban hillfort, an ancient monument site dating back to between 1000BC to 
500AD, signposted from the nearby road where the farmer has provided a small car park. The fields all around were full of hundreds of rabbits but more unusual for this area, there was a group of six ravens, possibly the only summering ones in this part of Strathspey. In the fields by the road (Achnahannet) were many families of oystercatchers, lapwings and curlews, sadly though the only pair of redshanks seemed to have failed. The day produced 42 species of birds. The moors all around the area where the small cranberry was growing are managed for red grouse
and looking down onto one hillside it is easy to see where the idea of the colours and patterns for tartan come from. Ideally, a heather dominated hillside should be managed over approximately a twenty year cycle to produce the best heather conditions for red grouse, so that there is some deep, old heather for nesting in and regenerating heather of varying ages to provide new growing shoots for food for both adults and young grouse. Despite the extensive heather management I saw very few red grouse when carrying out the breeding bird survey.
o the return leg some bright red flowers growing in amongst the blaeberry and cloudberry stopped me in my tracks (see right). It was a very healthy patch of small cranberry (Vaccinium mycroparpum) in full flower - yes, the very same plant that produces berries for your cranberry drink, the only difference is that the drink plants are grown commercially so that there is a very 
plentiful supply of berries. You would have a hard time collecting enough berries in the wild as the plant is quite rare in Britain (see http://www.ecoflora.co.uk/search_species2.php?plant_no=1320180020. for more details). I had left the camera behind on purpose otherwise I would never get the bird recording finished so I planned a return visit later in the week, so good was the patch of flowers. On the return visit I passed Torran Ban hillfort, an ancient monument site dating back to between 1000BC to 
500AD, signposted from the nearby road where the farmer has provided a small car park. The fields all around were full of hundreds of rabbits but more unusual for this area, there was a group of six ravens, possibly the only summering ones in this part of Strathspey. In the fields by the road (Achnahannet) were many families of oystercatchers, lapwings and curlews, sadly though the only pair of redshanks seemed to have failed. The day produced 42 species of birds. The moors all around the area where the small cranberry was growing are managed for red grouse
and looking down onto one hillside it is easy to see where the idea of the colours and patterns for tartan come from. Ideally, a heather dominated hillside should be managed over approximately a twenty year cycle to produce the best heather conditions for red grouse, so that there is some deep, old heather for nesting in and regenerating heather of varying ages to provide new growing shoots for food for both adults and young grouse. Despite the extensive heather management I saw very few red grouse when carrying out the breeding bird survey.
One of the main prey items for all grouse chicks at this time of year are the small caterpillars belonging to the group of moths known a Geometers (Geometridae) and a species regularly encountered in Abernethy Forest is the July Highflier (Hydriomena furcata). The caterpillars are amazing wee things, expanding and contracting their bodies as they crawl up and down the vegetation. I don't know which species this is but the picture gives you an idea of what I am trying to describe. I often find this type of caterpillar attached to my clothing when I have been wandering through deep vegetation. Sweep-netting in typical vegetation where capercaillie chicks might be growing up, has shown this group of caterpillars to be very important as prey items for caper chicks, just as important as the blaeberry plants providing their food. Blaeberry was shown to be supporting twelve times more caterpillars and insect prey items than adjacent heather dominated vegetation! The past two weeks has seen very variable weather, a hot and humid first week and cool and showery the second week. Not the best weather for progressing
the wee bee survey, but at least a few days were spent looking, locating five new sites to date. We had fifteen degrees centigrade at dawn one week and ground frost with some plant deaths the second week. A few rumbles one night had me out of bed and driving the local roads to see if I could get a good vantage point for a passing thunder-storm. The general area of the storm was some twenty miles away but the flashes of lightening were still quite spectacular. The passing police car, at 1.30am in the morning must have been wondering what I was up to! The cold weather of late has seen hundreds of swifts, swallows, sand martins and house 
martins feeding over Loch Garten, the hatch of flies must still be occurring, despite the drop in air tem
peratures. The warmer weather along with the rain has helped push the garden flowers along and Janet's efforts in maximising the flowering potential of the garden is paying off big time. The veg. patch is also doing very well but this area isn't half as spectacular as the flower borders. 10/10 and many admiring comments from passing folk.
the wee bee survey, but at least a few days were spent looking, locating five new sites to date. We had fifteen degrees centigrade at dawn one week and ground frost with some plant deaths the second week. A few rumbles one night had me out of bed and driving the local roads to see if I could get a good vantage point for a passing thunder-storm. The general area of the storm was some twenty miles away but the flashes of lightening were still quite spectacular. The passing police car, at 1.30am in the morning must have been wondering what I was up to! The cold weather of late has seen hundreds of swifts, swallows, sand martins and house 
martins feeding over Loch Garten, the hatch of flies must still be occurring, despite the drop in air tem
peratures. The warmer weather along with the rain has helped push the garden flowers along and Janet's efforts in maximising the flowering potential of the garden is paying off big time. The veg. patch is also doing very well but this area isn't half as spectacular as the flower borders. 10/10 and many admiring comments from passing folk.
Purchase of the year so far, and something that might add a few birds to the diary pages - a new telephoto lens! It's a bit of a beast but at 400mm it should help bring birds up close. It's only just arrived so mainly birds in the garden so far, but a walk back from Grantown to Nethybridge last week shows what potential there is out there with a bit of patience. The w
alk produced my highest single walk bird count so far with 62 species seen or heard. On the River Spey a few broods of goldeneyes were encountered and 
a return visit to one site produced quite a charming picture comprising mum goldeneye and her chicks! In the garden the camera was pointed at the regular bird visitors but the most colourful has to be the visiting yellowhammers, still two or three regularly at the seed feed. Sadly, over the last few days curlews and redshanks have been heard passing overhead, departing back to the coast their breeding season over for another year. Where have the last few months gone too?That's it for another week.
Enjoy the diary, have a good week, and I'll try and be on time next week!
Happy reading.
From Janet and Stewart
small pearl-bordered fritillary Glenfeshie
All photos © Stewart Taylor
