Loch Garten Ospreys.

More nostalgia.  I mentioned yesterday that I had volunteered on the RSPB Insh Marsh reserve many years ago.  Loch Garten Ospreys were the cause!  I wrote to the organiser of "Operation Osprey" asking to volunteer, his reply was basically "sorry we are full, why don't you come to my reserve instead".  The rest as they say is history.  We did do some guarding of Ospreys but they were at nests not made public which may be found by egg collectors.

The blip shows the nest and the tiny blob on a branch below and slightly right is the female.  Sadly it looks as if the nest will fail this year.  EJ the long standing female lost her mate last year.  This year she has paired with a new male known as George.  George is feckless!  Instead of keeping the female supplied with fish and taking his turn at incubation he has brought in one fish in the last 7 days.  This means EJ has to spend hunting and off the nest.  As she was feeding in this shot she had been off the eggs over 2 hours.  Which (even if you ignore previous periods away) the eggs were probably chilled and unlikely to hatch.

From there we headed to Carrbridge for fuel and to take shots of General Wade's bridge which had featured in our teenage visits to the town.    Then back to the site and relax.