THE OSPREY RETURNS

I'm back!

Male and female Osprey

Trouble brewing

Grey Heron and Osprey, who will win?

Two Grey Heron and one Osprey, who will win?

Grey Heron return!

Back to the tree

Here we go again

Nice peaceful bike ride after all the excitement!

It's still winter up there, Braeriach white as white

Spring time in The Cairngorm National Park is absolutely wonderful for all the wildlife that we are so lucky to have here. The Osprey is one of those brilliant success stories of once declining bird species that have recovered so well in recent years. Here in the National Park there are many sites to observe these magnificent birds that migrate all the way from West Africa to our shores. The first Osprey to return was over two weeks ago and the well known characters over at Loch Garten have been there since end of March. A great spot to see them close up on a TV monitor and excellent visitor centre. You can get some great photos close up to these birds down at the Rothemurchis Fisheries too, where they are fed plenty of trout throughout the season.  Like all wildlife, though, I love to see them in their 'natural' setting. Last year I spotted a nesting pair not a million miles away from Aviemore, just by chance. So it was nice to see them back again this year. This morning they were very peaceful, the male and female were perched on top of their favourite Scots pine tree. Not much fishing going on, not yet. Once the eggs are hatched then there will be lots of  feeding going on through the late Spring and into summer to fatten up the young.
I cycled along the Speyside Way in the afternoon and another well known place further up Strathspey. Good to see one of them perched in it's nest but not much going on here. On the way home I swung by again to see 'my Osprey' again. Things had heated up a bit. They were very active and trying to muscle out a pair of Grey Heron on their stretch of water. What a racket going on, the Herons backed off and ended up out of sight. Next minute a third Osprey comes over (presumably another male) and the two males are fighting it out in the skies. Fantastic!
Meanwhile, up in the peaceful hills, it's still looking very wintry up on the Cairngorm plateau and corries. A few more cm's of fresh snow as been put down over the last couple of days and looks like the snowline as dropped a wee bit too. More snow forecast over the weekend. Spring in the glen, winter on the mountains, still.