Park visitors see osprey tagged

Jul 15 2005 Stirling Observer

OSPREY lovers in Aberfoyle were given a treat this week as experts from the Forestry Commission tagged a nest of five-week-old chicks live on camera.

Pictures of the chicks being ringed and checked were beamed live to a captive audience at the David Marshall Lodge information centre on Thursday.

Viewers were able to watch the Forestry Commission’s Dave Anderson climb up to the birds' secret nest, somewhere in the Trossachs, then place leg rings on them and take their weight.

Dave also took blood samples and carried out other health checks on the chicks before returning them to the nest.

Wildlife experts hope that the information coded on the leg rings will keep track of the ospreys and their welfare throughout their lives, including their winter migrations to Africa.

Joanna McFarlane from the lodge said the event was loaded with excitement for those involved.

She said: “The Aberfoyle ospreys have really captured the public's imagination since we started showing their antics in the nest on live camera links two years ago.

“The ringing is an important part of the conservation work carried out in Queen Elizabeth Forest Park.

“The information we gather from the leg rings is invaluable in gaining a better insight into the lives of our ospreys.

“For example, we were recently able to identify the female on our nest through her leg ring so we know she is four years old and hatched in Perthshire.

“Should our chicks successfully return in three years to breed in Scotland, the leg rings will help us identify them and we will know that they have survived the hazardous migration south that they will undertake in about eight weeks’ time.”

The osprey information centre and viewing facilities were established by RSPB Scotland and the Commission to mark the 50th anniversary of the osprey’s return to Scotland.