Friends Of Threave Osprey

Can't beat a fire 👍

Great weather for working outside, especially when you get a chance of a fire! The D&G Conservation Volunteers were busy assisting with a large Ash which came down into a field on the Estate. Some damage to the Deer fence and Dyke, but not as bad as it could of been. Thanks to the volunteers 👍

Lovely walk along the Jubilee Path this afternoon.

Walked round the Estate yesterday afternoon in the sunshine. Lots of geese flying over. 150+ teal on the marshes along with mallards, wigeon, and 3 little grebes. Two male goosander on the river.

I had a very enjoyable first walk round Kelton this year. The weather was very clear, and not too cold.
Lots of wee birds around, no deer, and only a distant, but huge flock of geese heading up river. Was on the platform when two kites appeared, one looking comfortable on the osprey nest, the other on the shortened tree perch. This one clearly tagged, maybe some info from RSPB on it.
The nest its self had at least half of it`s height gone round the sides, whether removed by ...Cyril or blown away not sure. I do remember him saying it was getting very heavy for the tree.
There was a very nice pose by a cormorant on the dead perch tree seen from castle side of platform, but no sign of Peregrines, a lot of Jackdaws though. One interesting addition in the river, a log sticking up in mid river above the platform, looks a bit like a swordfish, could be a good perch for Kingfishers!
Will be interesting when the Ospreys return to find the Red kites in residence!!
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A wee video off the phone gives you a feel of what it's like to see Geese like this, but nothing beats the real thing! Some big numbers can be seen just now if you are in the right place at the right time. Quite spectacular ❤

Walked along the riverside path on Tuesday afternoon. Water level high. Heron near steppingstones. Peregrine on the castle. Approx 100 teal on the marshes. Mallards in pairs on river and marsh. While in Castle Hide 19 whoopers arrived on the marsh with 3 greylags. On the walk back to the castle 10 goosanders (4 male) flew in. No deer but a good walk round.

Beautiful morning, topped off with 6 Roe 👍

Nice bit of snow this afternoon 😊

Walked along the river today with Pam. River very low. Snowdrops and catkins in view. Mallards at the steppingstones. A heron flying over. Roe deer, a peregrine on the castle, 4 cormorants perched in a tree the ospreys use, robins, blackbirds. 50+ lapwings in the marsh. Just as we were leaving a large flock of pink feet arrived. A good walk.

Walked over to Rockliffe on the Jubilee path this afternoon. Some bright spots of colour despite the rain

8 Roe in one place on the Reserve this morning!

A couple from Rockcliffe the other day

Happy New Year everyone and all the best for 2019 👍Happy New Year everyone and all the best for 2019 👍

Roe on the Reserve, plus some Whooper flying over in the distance near the end of the video. Excuse the shaky picture

Merry Christmas everybody. According to ukospreys.uk Black 80 is expected back in 89 days 23 hours. Fingers crossed.
The gardens have closed for the winter but the estate is open every day. One of the toilets was open yesterday. Hope this will continue.
Lots to see yesterday afternoon in beautiful sunshine. Mallards, teal, wigeon, mute swans, greylag goose, Shelduck, pintail, buzzard, red kite, peregrine. Roe deer in several fields. Lots of pink-feet at Lamb Island.
... Not too bad underfoot. Well worth a visit. There are whoopers around in the fields too.
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Wonderful place to view ospreys with a great hide and friendly volunteers at a close by viewpoint.

We visited on saturday and found the entire visit fantastic . We saw deer , hares, buzzards, kites and heard the peregrine but it stayed hidden in the castle. The ladies at the platform and the gentleman in the visitor centre were very friendly and informative. We were spoilt at 1700 as the male returned to the nest with a fish .

Was here on Sunday for a visit to the castle with my 3 kids when we took a walk along the path we came across a man and woman set up watching the Ospreys....I must say they where very welcoming and very patient with the kids

Visited on Friday, great natural view of nest with no cameras necessary. Fabulous display of them protecting the nest from nosey buzzard, kite and anyone else joining in the fight...e.g. Lapwing!! All safe and sound, thankfully. Thanks to volunteers for manning the telescope. A really special day out for my birthday!

Thank you to the volunteers today for their excellent help and guidance, making this a truly memorable day. We saw both Ospreys and can’t wait to return to see their offspring!

So lucky 2 find this hidden gem! All the staff and volunteers are the best. We love checking in with the birds of prey every year and never want to leave! Keep up the amazing work. See you soon �

Made our few days away a little more magical :-)

It was fantastic to see the whole family yesterday. Donald gave us lots of information & helped us to appreciate exactly what we were seeing.

Hi All, Watched our ospreys mating on nest yesterday, Sunday, about 2.15. Great news.

Wonderful place to view ospreys with a great hide and friendly volunteers at a close by viewpoint.

We visited on saturday and found the entire visit fantastic . We saw deer , hares, buzzards, kites and heard the peregrine but it stayed hidden in the castle. The ladies at the platform and the gentleman in the visitor centre were very friendly and informative. We were spoilt at 1700 as the male returned to the nest with a fish .

Was here on Sunday for a visit to the castle with my 3 kids when we took a walk along the path we came across a man and woman set up watching the Ospreys....I must say they where very welcoming and very patient with the kids

Visited on Friday, great natural view of nest with no cameras necessary. Fabulous display of them protecting the nest from nosey buzzard, kite and anyone else joining in the fight...e.g. Lapwing!! All safe and sound, thankfully. Thanks to volunteers for manning the telescope. A really special day out for my birthday!

Thank you to the volunteers today for their excellent help and guidance, making this a truly memorable day. We saw both Ospreys and can’t wait to return to see their offspring!

So lucky 2 find this hidden gem! All the staff and volunteers are the best. We love checking in with the birds of prey every year and never want to leave! Keep up the amazing work. See you soon �

Made our few days away a little more magical :-)

It was fantastic to see the whole family yesterday. Donald gave us lots of information & helped us to appreciate exactly what we were seeing.

Hi All, Watched our ospreys mating on nest yesterday, Sunday, about 2.15. Great news.

Wonderful place to view ospreys with a great hide and friendly volunteers at a close by viewpoint.

We visited on saturday and found the entire visit fantastic . We saw deer , hares, buzzards, kites and heard the peregrine but it stayed hidden in the castle. The ladies at the platform and the gentleman in the visitor centre were very friendly and informative. We were spoilt at 1700 as the male returned to the nest with a fish .

Was here on Sunday for a visit to the castle with my 3 kids when we took a walk along the path we came across a man and woman set up watching the Ospreys....I must say they where very welcoming and very patient with the kids

Visited on Friday, great natural view of nest with no cameras necessary. Fabulous display of them protecting the nest from nosey buzzard, kite and anyone else joining in the fight...e.g. Lapwing!! All safe and sound, thankfully. Thanks to volunteers for manning the telescope. A really special day out for my birthday!

Thank you to the volunteers today for their excellent help and guidance, making this a truly memorable day. We saw both Ospreys and can’t wait to return to see their offspring!

So lucky 2 find this hidden gem! All the staff and volunteers are the best. We love checking in with the birds of prey every year and never want to leave! Keep up the amazing work. See you soon �

Made our few days away a little more magical :-)

It was fantastic to see the whole family yesterday. Donald gave us lots of information & helped us to appreciate exactly what we were seeing.

Hi All, Watched our ospreys mating on nest yesterday, Sunday, about 2.15. Great news.

Wonderful place to view ospreys with a great hide and friendly volunteers at a close by viewpoint.

We visited on saturday and found the entire visit fantastic . We saw deer , hares, buzzards, kites and heard the peregrine but it stayed hidden in the castle. The ladies at the platform and the gentleman in the visitor centre were very friendly and informative. We were spoilt at 1700 as the male returned to the nest with a fish .

Was here on Sunday for a visit to the castle with my 3 kids when we took a walk along the path we came across a man and woman set up watching the Ospreys....I must say they where very welcoming and very patient with the kids

Visited on Friday, great natural view of nest with no cameras necessary. Fabulous display of them protecting the nest from nosey buzzard, kite and anyone else joining in the fight...e.g. Lapwing!! All safe and sound, thankfully. Thanks to volunteers for manning the telescope. A really special day out for my birthday!

Thank you to the volunteers today for their excellent help and guidance, making this a truly memorable day. We saw both Ospreys and can’t wait to return to see their offspring!

So lucky 2 find this hidden gem! All the staff and volunteers are the best. We love checking in with the birds of prey every year and never want to leave! Keep up the amazing work. See you soon �

Made our few days away a little more magical :-)

It was fantastic to see the whole family yesterday. Donald gave us lots of information & helped us to appreciate exactly what we were seeing.

Hi All, Watched our ospreys mating on nest yesterday, Sunday, about 2.15. Great news.