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Good afternoon, Rusty!
We had a very nice walk! Beautiful out! It is colder than of late though, with a decided chill to the air!
The gardeners have been busy in the park clearing the paths of fallen trees.
How about you? Have you been out walking?
No sign , nor word from daughter.........I am assuming her migraine must still be bad. She was supposed to phone after lunch to let me know what is happening.
I don't want to ring her lest she be asleep and the phone should wake her.
I will just wait to see what develops.
The cat is possessed - he is stalking the room miaowing.... I think he must still be looking for the birds, although I now have the site on silent!
Both birds in the nest when I just looked......... I cannot tell one from the other.



Goodness, Chris! Snow!
I wouldn't have expected that at this time of year!
I wonder if my cousin has it , too?
My friend in Calgary tells that she had a 'White Good Friday', but then snow is more to be expected there.

Weird weather, elle - all the snow gone and lovely sunshine now, but it was quite serious for an hour or so this morning.

Good evening, Elle!
Great day here!
Has your daughter and family arrived yet?
The wind is getting up in the treetops!
Lassie still moving sticks!
Your cat may enjoy looking for the birds?
Wonder when the eggs will arrive?
Exciting times at the loch!

Hello again Rusty and Elle,

Very exciting times at the Loch ! I even saw some ducks and another bird much bigge and all white, as far as I could see - a swan ? Are there swans on the Loch?

I have been watching the ospreys a lot today, and I have come to the conclusion that Lassie might be the one who 'chats' most of the time, (some might say 'typical of women'!); and I think that when in the nest, she stays more or less on top of the niche created for the eggs - the other bird stands more on the edge of the nest. But I might be wrong !!!

As for the non-ending rearranging of branches etc, they both seem to take part in this.

Someone must have attended to the camera early this afternoon because it turned suddenly to the left, then up, and to the right, and then was positioned back as it is now; Could someone have been checking that no damage had been done by high winds?

Hello, Pigale!
There will certainly be ducks there,
And probably geese and swans.
There are vast numbers of geese not far off at Montrose.
I think you are right regarding Lassie and the nest.
It is amazing that an egg never seems to get broken.
But that is a little time away yet.
I noticed that the camera had moved.
Possibly remote control?
Possibly checking for damage, but that nest has survived many years!
Do you read the site "blog", Pigale?
It is quite interesting.

Good evening, Rusty!
Would you believe that after such a beautiful day, it is now pouring down?
The rain is lashing against the windows! and the wind is making its presence felt again !
I am glad that I am indoors!
No sign of rain though for Lassie and Laddie!
I wondered what Lassie (?) was doing when she spread her wings across her legs..... so that is "mantling"?
Why does she do that? Do you know?
I have been reading the blog.... very informative.
I wonder if the owner of the mandarin duck has been reunited with him yet?
No, daughter and boys will now be coming tomorrow.
She still has her migraine, so obviously cannot drive.
She is having an early night and they will set out in the morning all being well.



Hello, Pigale!
I missed the moving of the camera angle.... possibly as you and Rusty both said, it may have been to check for storm damage?
I am assuming here that the wind itself couldn't have affected the positioning of the camera?
Are your cats enjoying the birds?
Mine is fascinated by the chirruping! I have had to turn off the volume when the cat is about!


Chris!
Well, we haven't got snow....but we've got the heavy rain and some boisterous wind back again!
How is it with you now?

Hello, Elle and Pigale!
Lassie has a black "Y" in the feathers above her beak.
Laddie does not.
I read that somewhere!
Yes, a mysterious Mandarin duck has turned up.
May take a wee while to find out if it is the "lost" one.
As the rangers have pointed out, it is a criminal offence to disturb the ospreys, so they have to be careful.
I have yet to see Laddie arriving with a trout!

Hi elle
It's been raining steadily since my last, over-optimistic, post - hope that the golf course will be fit tomorrow!

Hi, Rusty!
I have just observed the distinguishing dark "V" shape above the beak of the osprey at present in the nest - so presumably Lassie?
I am now waiting to look at Laddie's beak for comparison!
Well spotted!
There appear to be many more small twigs lining the nest now, and I can no longer see any signs of moss........ maybe the birds intertwine it with the twigs?
(I don't know much about nest building!)
You didn't answer my question about "mantling"?
I have noticed Lassie doing what I am assuming is this (spreading her wings over her legs) but she does it after moving a twig or piece of moss and re- embedding it elsewhere - and from what I have been reading, a bird normally does that when upset or afraid?
It doesn't fit the scene?

I think the camera has moved again - perhaps with the wind ?
Hopefully someone will sort this out tomorrow?

Read the blog and Charlotte does mention the Y shape mark on Lassie's beak, as well as the fact that she has a beautifully marked chest, but I have not been able to see both birds standing still next to each other and preferably facing us ! I do see the Y-shape mark though.