At 11.25am a male osprey flew in and started hunting in the SW corner of Findhorn Bay while I was wader watching. With the scope, when he was hovering, I could see a black ring as his legs hung down and the satellite aerial on his back, which identified him as Talisman. Within three minutes he dived right at the edge of the saltmarsh on the rising tide to catch a small flounder, and made off inland. So he’s still fishing for his young. As he splashed in after a 150 foot dive the redshanks and curlews on the saltmarsh closeby hardly looked up, yet a sparrowhawk dashing out from the trees ten minutes earlier had sent all the waders up in a panic. How well they know their raptors!
Checking the satellite data this evening fascinated to see that the two young peregrine seem to have settled down in their new localities – Freya in the Ladder Hills and Vega has been roosting in woods along the Spey and then flying up on the moors, even north of Lochindorb, during the day. Most nights they choose new trees in which to roost.