Staff at the Loch of the Lowes reserve in Perthshire couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw that their faithful osprey, the oldest female of its kind had returned home to Scotland for the 20th consecutive year. They were even more stunned to discover that despite her age, she had laid another egg — her 56th to date.
Many doubted her ability to keep reproducing but it seems the old bird has a whole lot of love to give and no intention of taking a rest. As reported by Britain’s The Times, the 25-year-old bird, once again returned to her nest last month after a 3000-mile migration from West Africa. And amazingly she wasted no time in getting frisky with her new mate, a toy boy, 15 years her junior.
“We have watched [her] show him the ropes, calling out repeatedly in displeasure to entice her young mate to work harder to please her,” said Emma Rawling, a manager at the reserve, who is astounded by the tenacity of the osprey. “This individual bird is truly a wonder of nature. The osprey faced persecution in the early 20th century and was very nearly driven to extinction by 1916. But our old girl seems determined to do her bit to help repopulate the species.”
And so far, with 46 chicks having successfully flown the nest over the last 25 years — she is certainly doing her bit for conservation. Especially as she is thought to be one of only 200 pairs of breeding ospreys in Scotland with her counterparts producing just 20 eggs during their eight year lifespan.
Now all that remains, is for the precious egg to be nurtured and protected from predators. With staff manning a round-the clock watch to safeguard the nest, over 70 volunteers have come forward to help out.
Let’s hope the osprey’s super-fertile genes will be passed down for many generations to come.
Photo by Donna62 via Flickr.