EMPTY NEST SYNDROME

August 18, 2012 in Wildlife Village by nickthegreek

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And so, with another week over we edge ever closer to the final stages of Osprey season, and that dreaded condition suffered only by Osprey watchers, EMPTY NEST SYNDROME!! 

Extensive research has shown that ENS is wholly incurable, with the only known relief from it being the viewing of Ospreys either live, or more frequently, via the variously located webcams around the country. Sufferers exhibit easily recognisable symptoms such as restlessness, anxiety, staring vacantly into space, or worse, at the empty nest itself, as if willing something onto their computer screen!!
Long suffering spouses and partners are by now, well used to their enquries regarding meals being met with stock replies such as “Gerrit yerself, you know where the oven is!!” or “Your tea’s burnt, the chippy’s on fire!!”
 
 

NORA, SHOWING US THE VIEW FROM HER WINDOW!!

 
As ever, in just a few short weeks we’ll all be suffering from those symptoms, and storing our memories for recall during the winter months ahead! Several females have, as we know, already begun their migratory journeys – Lady we know, should be well on her way, as should Nora, and they’ve been followed by EJ, and Rutland’s Site B female, and I’m sure, by many others from around the country.
 

NORA SETS OFF SOUTH

 
And so it’s left now to the various males to continue keeping a watchful eye on their fast developing offspring.
A number of the youngsters have been making their first attempts at fishing for themselves, with varying degrees of success! Good signs I feel, that their instincts are functioning well. Some won’t taste success until they’re actually en route to their wintering grounds, and others will be more fortunate – as we now know, our own BLUE44 is already one of those that has actually landed his first catch, on wednesday of this week!! Not, by all accounts, the biggest fish he’ll ever catch, but at this stage, just the fact that he’s been successful is the most important factor, and he can be justifiably happy with his efforts for now!! 
 
I won’t dwell on the sadness that this time of the year elicits in us, as it’s not quite over yet. Rather, I feel we have some great memories to draw upon from around all our favoured nests. Those memories  certainly contain the traditional blend of excitement, frustration, disbelief, laughter, tears, and just plain “AWWWWWW” moments, as we witness the daily goings on in an Osprey family’s life. 
 
Instead of us “suffering”  from ENS, perhaps we should view it as the end of a chapter in a much loved book, with the next chapter straight ahead of us?? 
Ok, who am I trying to kid??!! See you all in THE SUNSHINE HOME FOR THE BEWILDERED!!!!
 
Images by kind permission, and  © copyright Dyfi Osprey Project. Many thanks as always.
 
 

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The Dyfi Osprey Project and the Scottish wildlife Trust  have kindly given their permission for us to post still and video images from their webcams. To visit their sites please click on the relevant link.    Loch of the Lowes.  Dyfi Osprey Project.


 


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