A young osprey is preparing to migrate thousands of miles to winter in West Africa after its dramatic start to life in Angus.
It was born at Balgavies nature reserve near Forfar which has become a breeding hotspot for the impressive raptors.
In 2012, the Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve made history when Angus’s first recorded osprey chick hatched there.
But July’s heatwave cracked the tree which the elevated nest sits on.
It’s on an island in the middle of the loch and sent the nest crashing to the water.
Lucky early morning discovery
Fortunately, Balgavies regulars Jim and Mary Rodgers found the bewildered bird on a lochside path.
They alerted reserve warden Jim Hughes who managed to capture the chick.
“It must have been exhausted from what happened, I gave it water and have never seen an osprey drink as much,” said Jim.
And it was treated to a meal of supermarket sea bass while SWT and Tayside & Fife Raptor Study Group experts built a temporary platform on a nearby tree.
“It was a really narrow corridor in a dense part of the reserve where the chick was found.
“If Jim and Mary hadn’t discovered it we may never have seen it again.”
Freak of nature
“We reckon it was just a freak situation which cracked the tree after rain and then the heatwave,” said Jim.
“The nest probably came down overnight and the youngster has managed to get its way to the bank with what’s known as fright fledge.
“It was a fair operation to relocate the nest.”
A wicker washing basket was used as the foundation for the temporary home.
“The island was impenetrable so they put it on a nearby peninsula in the hope the family would settle there,” Jim added.
“But there is always a chance that with human interference the adults will get scared and panic, risking the chick’s survival.
“Thankfully the next morning they were all together again – on the island.
“But they moved over to the replacement nest pretty quickly and started re-building that.”
Young Balgavies Loch osprey ringed by experts
The female chick was ringed – only the second Balgavies osprey that has been done to – so raptor fans will be able to follow its future progress.
Jim expects the youngster to head off within days on a migration thousands of miles to sub-Saharan Africa.
But he has confidence the chick known as The Bairn will thrive after its dramatic start to life in Angus.
“It’s probably the biggest and nicest young osprey I’ve seen born here in the ten years since the first one we had,” said Jim.
“It’s great to see it doing so well after what happened.
“Hopefully with it being ringed it’ll be spotted if it does come back to this area in future years.”
Balgavies regular Darren Dawson has captured The Bairn’s development since the dramatic events of the summer.
