Lady and Blue 44

Blue 44 is the rather romantic name given to Lady's 49th chick - they have a policy at SWT Loch of the Lowes not to name their birds, so because this chick has been ringed with a blue ring with the number 44 on it, he is known as Blue 44.

Those that have followed the story of Lady will know that this is now her 22nd year at Loch of the Lowes.

Given that Ospreys live on average for 10-15 years in the wild the old girl is doing pretty well. In 2010 Lady fell ill and stopped eating at the nest and wasn't given much hope until she suddenly recovered a few days later. In 2011 she returned again and laid three eggs but they all failed to hatch, however analysis of the eggs showed they were all fertile and probably just fell foul of the weather conditions.

This year Lady has teamed up with a new and unringed mate and again laid three eggs, bringing her lifetime total to 59 but only the one hatched this year, the two unhatched eggs will again be analysed. Blue 44 hopefully will be Lady's 49th fledged chick. Female ospreys normally produce about 20 chicks in a lifetime, so again the old girl is doing pretty well.

I wonder if 2013 will bring her half century.

You can check out RCB's blip for a closer view of the two birds.