Lay Lady lay ... record-breaking osprey does it again with egg #59

A venerable osprey that has already set records for breeding success has delighted conservationists and bird lovers by laying her 59th egg, confounding fears she might never breed again.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust said that Lady, a 26-year-old osprey nesting at the Lowes wildlife reserve in Perthshire, had laid her first egg of the breeding season after her latest mate returned to their nest.

Spotted protectively hunched over an egg at 13.34 pm by Scottish Wildlife Trust staff, the osprey and its eggs are now the subjects of a 24-hour nest stakeout, funded thanks to and SITA Tayside Biodiversity FundPeople’s Postcode Lottery, to keep the birds and their eggs safe from wildlife crime.

Anna Cheshier, the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Perthshire Ranger, said: “To see eggs on the nest again is simply remarkable. Osprey’s live an average of eight years and are estimated to produce 20 eggs during that time. Producing 59 eggs over 21 consecutive breeding years makes her an incredible specimen of the bird world.

“Ospreys were nearly extinct in the UK in the early 21st century after facing persecution, and the birds and eggs are still at risk from wildlife criminals and egg thieves. Thanks to funding from SITA Tayside Biodiversity Fund and People’s Postcode Lottery, and help from volunteers, we will watch over these ospreys day and night and hope to see chicks hatch in around five weeks.

“If chicks successfully hatch from the eggs, this osprey will have produced 50 chicks, an incredible contribution to the recovering osprey population breeding in Scotland. We hope to raise enough money to track these chicks using satellite tags this year, to find out about their inherited migration path and learn useful information which could help protect ospreys during migration.

"Until the eggs hatch, we will watch on as our female osprey incubates the eggs, while her mate occasionally takes a turn during daylight hours. He also has the role of catching fish to feed the pair."

Ospreys normally lay two to four eggs per season, so the reserve is hoping for at least one further egg to be laid, with the first chick expected within a week. The drama is being streamed live around the world, with a "nest cam" trained on the eyrie.

Lady (at left with first egg) broke another record last month when she returned for her 21st season at the Lowes reserve from a 6,000-mile round trip to winter in Gambia. After surviving a difficult summer when she fell seriously ill from dehydration and starvation, the trust feared she was unlikely to return home.

With the completion of this current grueling 3,000-mile migration from her wintering grounds in West Africa to her summer breeding territory at Loch of the Lowes in Perthshire, she has now traveled a total distance equivalent to around halfway to the moon.

Most ospreys live to be eight or 10 in the wild, producing up to 20 eggs; Lady is now 26 and has bred 48 surviving chicks. That total means she is now one of Britain's most important birds of prey, a matriarch playing a significant role in propping up the species' numbers.

Persecuted to extinction as a breeding bird in the UK in 1916, the osprey recolonized naturally in the 1950s but remains one of the UK's rarest birds of prey (at left Lady with egg). It is less common than the golden eagle, with an estimated 200 breeding pairs around Britain.

Source:
London Guardian,"Lay Lady lay ... record-breaking osprey does it again with egg #59", by Severin Carrell, accessed April 13, 2011
BBC, "Oldest osprey 'Lady' lays 59th egg at Loch of Lowes", accessed April 13, 2011
Walk Highlands, "Oldest Osprey lays 59th egg", accessed April 13, 2011
Scottish Wildlife Trust, "Oldest Osprey lays 59th egg", accessed April 13, 2011

Granny osprey flies back to Scotland from Africa for record 21st time

Lady, the oldest osprey in the UK, is preparing to mate in Dunkeld, Scotland, after travelling thousands of miles from Gambia. One of the world's oldest ospreys, Lady has already laid 58 eggs and seen 48 chicks leave her nest. In returning to her roost in the Highland wildlife reserve this year, Lady broke her own record for longevity.

The arrival of this female osprey, now estimated to be 26 years old, is said to have “baffled” bird experts and wildlife enthusiasts across the globe. Staff and volunteers of the Scottish Wildlife Trust will now launch a 24-hour protection watch, thanks to SITA Tayside Biodiversity Fund and People’s Postcode Lottery, to keep the bird safe from wildlife crime.

The osprey known as Lady landed back in her eyrie at a wildlife reserve near Dunkeld (lower left) on Monday after completing her 21st migration, ending a round trip of roughly 6,000 miles to and from her winter home in west Africa. And despite living three times as long as most breeding females, the 26-year-old bird of prey is again by her nest – now grown to the size of a double bed – preparing for her mate.

She is already a global celebrity after a crisis last June when she nearly died from dehydration and starvation after she failed to feed for several days. Tens of thousands of birdwatchers from around the world saw live pictures from the "nest cam" at the Loch of the Lowes reserve which showed Lady weak and listless. She survived and flew off for her 3,000-mile flight to the Gambia; staff at the Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve suspected it would be her last.

Robert Potter, the trust's regional manager, was delighted when her identity was confirmed on Monday by expert ornithologists, thanks to a close-up of one of the image of her iris taken with a camera hidden in her nest., which has a distinctive keyhole shape on its iris. "It's fantastic. It just shows what an amazing bird she is, to make that journey at this age," he said. "She's looking very healthy and is going about her business of tidying up her nest and getting everything ready."

Lady is already confirmed as the oldest wild osprey in Britain and probably the oldest known in the world. The species normally lives to about 10 in the wild, while the oldest recorded osprey in the world reached 32. Female ospreys live an average of eight years and produce about 20 chicks in that time. Lady has produced 56 eggs and has now seen 48 fledge.

Robert Potter, Scottish Wildlife Trust’s North East Reserve Manager, said:

“This bird is an incredible specimen of nature. The average osprey lifespan is 8 years, and this bird is now around 26. Last year, we thought this bird would die on her nest but, at the eleventh hour, it managed to regain its strength. Today, despite the odds, it looks healthy after just completing a 3,000 mile migration from West Africa.

“Having laid 58 eggs in its lifetime, with 48 chicks going on to hatch and successfully fledge the nest, this one individual has single-handedly made a significant contribution to boosting osprey numbers breeding in Scotland.

“With the female now back on the nest, the next event to watch out for is the return of a male, which we expect to happen within the next week. The big question on everyone’s lips however is whether our old osprey will be fertile enough to breed again this year. After mating, we would usually expect a female to lay between two to four eggs in early April, and six weeks later the eggs should hatch.

“A lot is hanging on a successful breeding season this year. If we have osprey chicks and can raise enough money, we hope to satellite tag the chicks to track them during their migration. This will allow us to collect valuable data, such as key resting points and obstacles, which could help us take action to make osprey migrations safer for the birds."

Her arrival home has again provoked worldwide interest. Viewings on Lady's nest cam have been five times higher than usual over the last 24 hours, with fans from as far away as Australia, Canada, Belize and Mauritius logging on.

Bird experts and webcam viewers will now be watching keenly for the return of a male, which the trust hopes will happen within the next week.

Once a common sight in Britain, the osprey was all but extinct by 1916 due to persecution. Conservation efforts continue to re-establish the species as part of Scotland’s rich wildlife. Today, 200 pairs of osprey now breed in Scotland during summer months.

Source:
The Guardian,"Granny osprey flies back to Scotland from Africa for record 21st time ",by Severin Carrell, accessed April 1, 2011
BBC, "Osprey 'Lady' returns to Loch of the Lowes reserve", accessed April 1, 2011
WalkHighlands, "Experts Baffled by Osprey's return", accessed April 1, 2011