This is a very interesting female osprey, she 'took over' at Logie's nest B10 near Forres, Moray in April 2008, before Logie returned from Africa. She settled in at the nest on 18th April, with the old male, and over the next few days there were attempted matings and nest building. On one day, using a high power Swarovski telescope, I managed to read the last two digits of her metal BTO ring (49). Logie returned on 23rd April and chased off this individual and I did not find her again until I trapped the female at nearby nest B16. While Moira Hickey and I were fitting the transmitter to the resident female, this female turned up at the nest and decided to defend the nest and was herself caught by the decoy owl and net. She proved to be a five year old osprey 1305949, ringed as a chick by Mick Canham at a nest on Forestry Commission land near Keith, Moray on 8th July 2003.

Decided to call her Morven, after the distinctive highest mountain in Caithness, which she passed on her trip to Caithness. It is very prominent on the northern horizon from Findhorn and she would have been able to use it as a landmark as she crossed the open Moray Firth on 22nd July.

Photo taken from head of bay looking north towards the Findhorn yacht club, with Morven in the distance.

We caught this female osprey in the evening of 9th July 2008 using a decoy and a dho gaza net. She was in very good condition weighing 1952 grams: her wing length was 520mm and tail 226mm. Her ring number was BTO 1305949. We added a white colour ring PE to her left leg and fitted a GPS satellite transmitter. When released, she flew away north after the resident female scolded her. This will be a very interesting young adult to follow - what will she do before migrating and will she get her own nest in 2009.

24 September 2009

Morven wintered again in the same place on the coast of Mauritania in 2009/2010, and then returned again to breed at the same nest in Scotland in April 2010.