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BBC News
6 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Tweed Valley osprey love triangle chicks fail to survive
The four chicks which hatched as part of a rare osprey love triangle in the Borders have and Land Scotland (FLS) had captured the unusual arrangement on cameras set up as part of the Tweed Valley Osprey Project (TVOP) at Glentress near female birds and one male had been breeding in what initially appeared to be a "tolerant" after the male bird left the nest, the two females struggled to provide enough food for the chicks which ultimately failed to survive. The unusual breeding situation was revealed last month when the relationship between the birds was "looking good".They worked together to incubate the four eggs in the nest and the chicks began to hatch on 28 by that stage the male bird - named Newboy - had abandoned the nest, leaving the two females - F2 and Mrs O - to provide for the co-ordinator Diane Bennett said that process had started out quite well. "It was with huge relief to everyone on the project when F2 brought a half-eaten fish back to the nest and both females began to feed the tiny chicks together," she said."It was a unique moment to witness and it was looking hopeful that they would figure out a feeding strategy to look after their young between them."However, no further fish were brought to the nest over Friday and Saturday."The chicks were begging for food, Mrs O went into her instinctive role to nurture her young, protect them and to stay with them," Diane Bennett said."This left F2 to go against her natural instinct to do the same as Mrs O and to become the hunter and provider instead, which ordinarily is the role of the male bird in the osprey breeding cycle."F2 was struggling to fulfil this role, Newboy never returned and Mrs O was locked into her motherhood mode." She said that F2 did eventually return on Monday with a "small portion of half-eaten fish" but Mrs O was "so ravenous" that she had eaten it, leaving none for the Tuesday, when Mrs O stood away from the brood, it was clear that three of the young had died and one was still "begging to be fed".F2 did eventually bring some fish to the nest but by that time the remaining chick had also "succumbed to starvation and passed away"."Everyone is so heartbroken that the female ospreys have not managed to make this situation work," said Diane Bennett."This has been very upsetting and sad to watch this family drama turn to tragedy and brings home just how vulnerable and fragile the whole breeding cycle can be for ospreys."For their very brief lives they touched many hearts of people who dearly wanted them to survive."However, she said it was "not all doom and gloom" in the Tweed Valley as other birds that had fledged from the area had been spotted far have been reported on the Isle of Anglesey, in North Yorkshire and the Usk Valley in Wales.
Scotsman
22-05-2025
- General
- Scotsman
Rare bird of prey osprey love triangle in Scotland caught on camera with four eggs
The relationship dynamic is set to become more interesting with the eggs due to hatch in a matter of weeks. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A rare love triangle between birds of prey has been caught on camera in the Scottish Borders. Three ospreys have been caught on camera sharing a nest of four eggs, which are due to hatch in a matter of weeks. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Observers have said one male and two females have been breeding in an unusual, but friendly way with each other. They said the eggs hatching will bring only more intrigue as to how the relationship works. Young male delivering fish to feed his two ladies | FLS Three isn't a crowd when it comes to the osprey it seems | FLS The unusual behaviour for these birds was picked up by Forestry Land and Scotland cameras set up at Glentress near Peebles in the Scottish Borders. The filming is part of the Tweed Valley Osprey Project (TVOP), which monitors and aims to protect nesting ospreys. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The birds' relationship Project co-ordinator Diane Bennett said the relationship of the birds seemed "tolerant" and the situation was 'looking good' for the eggs. One of the ospreys has been named Mrs O. She has previously nested at the site, but this time has been joined by a new female named F2 and the young male. Ms Bennett said: "The only tension witnessed so far has been on the arrival of a fish delivery from the male as the two females both make a grab for it. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "Mrs O usually wins the fish and flies off to feed, but has been seen to return with a portion remaining and letting the other female have it. "This nest behaviour with all the birds in the same nest is very rare and as far as we know it is the first time this has ever been on a livestream camera, with most other research involving such a set-up previously conducted through distant observation. "Getting to watch this saga close up as the season unfolds is exciting both for the drama, but also for the important research insights it will allow." The history of ospreys at the nesting site Ospreys have been coming to breed at the project site since the 1990s. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The 'Tweed Valley polygyny saga', as it has been described by observers, can be viewed at the Wildlife Hub at Glentress Forest in Peebles between 10am to 4pm each day. The camera is streaming live onto the big screen at the location, with volunteers on duty most of the time, to interpret what is happening with the osprey family. Livestream feeds of birds of prey nests across Scotland have proven incredibly popular with nature lovers online. Laddie, one of a breeding pair of ospreys at the Scottish Wildlife Trust's (SWT) Loch of the Lowes reserve, had gained fans around the world after first appearing on the nest in 2012 and pairing up with the legendary osprey known as Lady. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The raptor had returned in March 2024, for the 13th consecutive year, and reunited with his mate to the delight of staff at the reserve and thousands of enthusiasts monitoring the nest via the reserve's live webcam.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Nest camera captures rare osprey love triangle
A rare osprey love triangle has been captured on a live camera feed in the Scottish Borders. Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) monitors the nest where two female birds and one male have been breeding in an unusual but apparently amicable arrangement. Cameras were set up as part of the Tweed Valley Osprey Project (TVOP) at Glentress near Peebles, which has run for many years. Project co-ordinator Diane Bennett said the relationship of the birds seemed "tolerant" so far and they had laid a total of four eggs. One of the birds involved - which the project has named Mrs O - has previously nested at the site but she has been joined by a new female, designated "F2", and young male. Ms Bennett said that up to this point the relationship between the three was "looking good". "The only tension witnessed so far has been on the arrival of a fish delivery from the male as the two females both make a grab for it," she said. "Mrs O usually wins the fish and flies off to feed but has been seen to return with a portion remaining and letting the other female have it. "This nest behaviour with all the birds in the same nest is very rare and as far as we know it is the first time this has ever been on a livestream camera with most other research involving such a set-up previously conducted through distant observation. "Getting to watch this saga close up as the season unfolds is exciting both for the drama but also for the important research insights it will allow." More stories from South Scotland Listen to news for the Scottish Borders on BBC Sounds The TVOP posts regular updates on its social media pages of how the birds are progressing. It said that co-operation between the group of three ospreys at the nest seemed to be "working well". Another video clip of "family life" showed the birds working together to incubate the eggs in the nest. The group said it had also witnessed a "touching moment" between the two female birds. "Mrs O was sitting on the eggs when F2 flew onto the nest beside her," it said. "Mrs O was quite vocal and hungry and F2 appeared to lean down to her to offer her food from her beak. "She did this a couple of times until Mrs O gently moved forward and took the tiny morsel of fish from under her right foot and she ate it at the nest and then flew off." FLS said the background and identity of the new arrivals were unclear. While they both have British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) rings they do not have the coloured, alphanumeric Darvic rings that allow researchers to identify individual birds. Mrs O is also only fitted with a BTO ring but because she has been returning to the site for several years, she can be identified from her head markings. Ospreys have been coming to the Tweed Valley to breed since the 1990s and the project - funded and manage by FLS and backed by volunteers - aims to protect and provide safe places for them to settle and nest. FLS said the eggs were expected to hatch in the coming weeks which would only bring "further excitement and intrigue". What happened to Glen the hitch-a-ride osprey? Migrating osprey hitched a ride on cargo ships
