Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

History-making Angus osprey’s homecoming raises hopes of new dynasty

Angus osprey returns home
Blue YD and Green BF at the Balgavies nest.

There really is no place like home.

Nine years on from a history-making arrival in the island eyrie of an Angus loch, a far-travelled osprey has raised hopes he could be the new dynasty maker in his natal nest.

Blue YD has been a constant source of interest and intrigue for visitors to Balgavies Loch, near Forfar since the coloured ring bearing the initials was attached to his left leg in the summer of 2012.

 

He was the first recorded Angus-born osprey and remains the only Balgavies chick to have been ringed.

Tracking

A satellite tag was also attached to the fledgling in the tricky operation to scale the nest at the Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve.

But after charting the youngster’s migration from Angus and more than 20,000 kilometres of flight, Blue YD dropped off the radar.

Blue YD at Balgavies. Pic: Darren Dawson

It led to fears he may have come to harm.

Fortunately, those proved unfounded and Blue YD was spotted on a beach in the West African republic of Senegal.

There have also been sightings of the osprey in the south of England, Fife and, in the past couple of years, back at Balgavies passing through his home territory.

To the delight of local raptor fans who have followed his journey, Blue YD has now staked what appears to be a successful claim to the nest in which he was reared.

Since the 2012 milestone, osprey pairs at Balgavies have successfully raised more than a dozen chicks.

However, 2020 was a barren season for the resident pair.

Recent arrival

Reserve warden Jim Hughes said the ospreys arrived back on schedule in recent days and Blue YD staked an immediate claim to female Green BF.

Blue YD at Balgavies. Pic: Darren Dawson

“We have seen him here before, but this is the first year he has attempted to take the nest,” he said.

“The female is the osprey which was here last year, but the original male, KR3, is either not here with her or hasn’t stayed around.

“Blue YD seems to be in command of the situation.”

The birds have been seen mating and regular visitors are already captivated by the development.

Angus osprey returns home
Blue YD in flight. Pic: Darren Dawson.

“Visitors to Balgavies and people who follow the ospreys on Facebook are really interested in him,” said Jim.

“Because he was the first osprey recorded here and the only one we have managed to ring people look on him as a special bird.

“A lot of young folk were very interested in him as a chick way back in 2012 and that has continued.

“He’s come back in the past few years, but hasn’t stayed around.”

Jim added: “Last year was disappointing when we had no chicks but hopefully this will be a good season.”

“The car park at the reserve is open but I’d remind people that the hide is still closed due to the coronavirus situation.”