Painted Lady and Sunshine

One delight was from the odd days sunshine we have had recently was this painted Lady butterfly, which was making the most of the sun at Threave on the estate walk last week.

Osprey Update 25/9/2012

Our Osprey chicks are still showing well from the public viewing platform, but increasingly spending more time further away from the nest gaining strength in preparation for their migration. Our male black 80 was around over the weekend and seen bringing in a fish.

The good news we have an identity for our female Blue XC, Many Thanks go to Emyr Evans. We are awaiting more details on her and I will pass this information on as we receive it, yet another piece in the Threave Osprey story .......

Pastures New:

Hi everyone. My name is Paul and I have been the seasonal ranger with the Dumfries & Galloway countryside team since April this year and have been responsible for creating and updating this blog. 

Having thoroughly enjoyed my time here working with such a great team, in such wonderful countryside, with such wonderful species and encountering all the very friendly visitors, I am off to pastures new. I have been lucky to have been offered a position working for the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire & Northamptonshire. 

So I just wanted to say goodbye and thank you to all who have followed the blog over the past few months and hope that you have enjoyed the few nuggets of info that I have offered up. The blog will be continuing with the help of Ranger Judy, Ranger Dave and Ranger Karl.

All the best.

Osprey Update 13/09:

The female has now departed on her long journey south to Africa. The Male and the 2 chicks are still regularly seen at the nest. The male is usually the last to leave on his migration after the young have left.

Building Bridges:

The ranger team, with the help of our volunteer Barry, have been busy constructing and installing a new bridge for the circular walk around the reserve on the Threave Estate. 

 All the timber used was reclaimed or from off cuts.

The old bridge was not in a good condition and was starting to rot.

During the removal of the old bridge we were easy pickings for the mosquitoes from the ditch. Luckily the water levels were reasonably low on the day that we were working so we didn't get too muddy.

The new bridge had to be firmly anchored to the ground so that it would not float off during the times when the meadow floods.

Our first visitors were Fiona & Neil Bonser from Newark, Nottinghamshire. They ceremonially cut the ribbon (hazard tape) and took the first official crossing of the bridge. I think their happy smiles are evidence of a well made bridge.

The new handrail is also very useful to rest against after a hard days bridge building.

Osprey Update 06/09:

As of the 30/08/12 both chicks had fledged the nest. The second chick was a little less confident initially and could at times be seen calling to asking to be fed by the larger of the chicks rather than feed itself when the adults brought fish back. It was also seen more regularly at the nest. All four birds have been seen at the nest over the last few days although they are sitting at the nest less regularly and can often be seen in nearby trees.