Two Cairngorms osprey chicks take it in their stride
Hello boys! Rowan and Willow, the RSPB Loch Garten osprey chicks were ringed earlier today to help with research on the birds.
Staff at the RSPB centre were delighted to learn that this year’s two osprey chicks have been given a clean bill of health after they were successfully ringed.
World renowned osprey expert and one-time warden at Loch Garten himself, Roy Dennis, led the team at the reserve with the successful ringing of the two chicks.
He confirmed the duo as being male and in good health.
Listeners to BBC Radio Scotland’s "Out for the Weekend" programme came up with name suggestions for the two chicks, with Rowan and Willow pipping other suggestions to the post.
Jess Tomes, Visitor Operations Manager at the RSPB Loch Garten centre said "It’s just wonderful news that we have two healthy boys. Everything went so smoothly with the ringing – it’s quite an operation involving a very high ladder, climbing gear, a large hold-all, not to mention all of Roy’s equipment.
"We ring the chicks with two leg rings – one is a metal ring with a unique number on it, which is recorded and therefore traceable if the bird is ever re-caught or the body found.
"The other is a larger, plastic coloured ring with three digits – this ring is visible with binoculars so that the birds can be identified from afar. Having access to this kind of information helps conservation scientists find out about the birds’ movements and is a vital part of efforts to understand osprey ecology."
The two chicks were ringed with blue identification rings with white lettering. Rowan, the largest chick has "PP0" on his ring and Willow has "AF0".
Rowan and Willow are osprey parents EJ and Odin’s 16th and 17th chicks – and EJ’s 24th and 25th at the Loch Garten nest (EJ had two previous partners before Odin) – making the couple the most successful breeding pair the world-famous nest has had since ospreys first returned to breed there in the 1950s.
Jess said: "We’re immensely proud of our breeding osprey pair. EJ and Odin are such a strong couple and such experienced parents - they really are part of the fabric of this fantastic and historic RSPB osprey centre, and have delighted hundreds of thousands of visitors over the last few years.
"Now their boys, Rowan and Willow, are entertaining our visitors too, and the next few weeks will see them standing up more around the nest and building their flight muscles with some wing-flapping exercises. There’ll be plenty to see!"
The RSPB has been protecting ospreys at Loch Garten since 1958 and 2016 marks the 58th season of "Operation Osprey".
The osprey centre (including the shop and toilets) is open daily, 10am to 6pm (shop until 5pm) from April to the end of August. Last entry to the centre is at 5pm.
