Ospreys doing fine

Sharon called in at the visitor centre on the top floor of the County Buildings in Wigtown to see how the baby ospreys are getting on.

She was there soon after the three eggs hatched and saw the little fluffy babies being kept warm and looked after by their fussing mother. Now, six weeks has passed and the young ospreys have grown fast on a diet of fresh fish, caught by their father who is always off hunting, and fed to them in little bits by mum.

A few days ago the nest was visited for the first time so that the young birds can be ringed and it won't be long before they are flying.

The nest location is kept secret to protect the ospreys from madmen who steal the eggs. However, a live video feed is run into the County Buildings visitor centre and plenty of people call in to watch the young ospreys, and mum and dad. At one point, ospreys were nearly extinct in Scotland but conservation efforts and protection have meant that a considerable number of pairs is now breeding.

“They have gone from little fluffy biddies to wing flapping proper looking birds in such a short time,” said Sharon. “It just shows what fresh fish can do for you.”

Saturday, 31 July 2010. Update. Sharon called in at the County Buildings, Wigtown, yesterday to watch the video feed and see how the young ospreys are getting on. The only occupant of the nest was mum, who was busily tearing apart a fresh fish. Dad arrived about five minutes later with a big clod of earth, which he put in the side wall of the nest. The young ospreys are off flying about and come back to roost in the branches of the tree, although they do go down to the nest for feeding. Dad is teaching them how to fly properly and hunt fish. Towards the end of August, everyone will leave the nest, separately, and head down to West Africa for the winter. Next year we hope mum and dad will be back at Wigtown, although the young birds will probably stay in Africa for two or three years before heading back to Scotland to look for mates and their own nesting sites.

A few days earlier, Sharon had been amazed to see a replica osprey nest build in the town garden by local schoolchildren. "You can't tell on the video feed just how big the nest is," she said. It is the same size as a double bed, only round of course. It has got an edging all the way round, like a ledge on which you could sit and have a picnic with the family. And when you see it on the video, the birds almost fill the nest. The babies must be the size of turkeys."

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