If allowed, Ospreys are a species that has the ability to live alongside humankind peacefully and is also a species that ignites our imagination. There is nothing quite like the thrill of watching an Osprey diving, hitting the water feet first, with its talons outstretched, primed to catch a fish. It is a moment of awe and admiration for the sheer power and grace of the species. These days, Ospreys are slowly becoming more widespread across the country, with strong populations in Scotland, Wales, northern England (Cumbria and Kielder Forest for example) and of course here in Rutland.

Thankfully, these days Ospreys are relatively ‘safe’, in comparison to other raptors in the UK, for example Hen Harriers, which are still facing heavy persecution to this very day. Of course, there are a few exceptions to this, but as a whole, they face little threat from human influences. There are some predators, like corvids, which may prey on unhatched Osprey eggs if given the chance, or there was that video that went round a while ago of a Common Buzzard snatching a young Osprey chick from the nest, but as the third largest bird of prey in the UK, Ospreys don’t have many natural threats aka predators when they are here. And even if they did have more natural threats – natural threats being those uninfluenced by human activities – at least it would be natural.

Like with any migratory species, an Osprey faces more natural threats whilst they are travelling on their migrations, which could be related to things such as weather or even predation. But there is also an increased risk of falling foul to human imposed dangers. Ospreys are seen as competition to fish stocks and persecuted in some areas; in some areas; they are at risk to getting tangled in discarded fishing nets and the ingestion of plastic - similar to many other species which rely on water bodies; and also, the chance of colliding with human built structures, such as power lines or wind turbines. 

Over the years, we have had many sightings of some of the Rutland Ospreys elsewhere in the UK and also, incredibly, abroad. This has enabled us to learn more about Ospreys’ movements, understand how Rutland Ospreys are influencing populations at other locations in the UK, as well as informing us of where some spend the winter months, and more simply, it is always fantastic to hear. Because of our ringing project, we have learnt that Rutland-fledged male, S2(15) is successfully breeding in the Netherlands; the 150^th chick to fledge from Rutland, male 056, overwinters in Gambia; female CJ7 is holding territory down in Poole Harbour in Dorset; and, most recently, we have learnt that one of the juveniles from 2020, female 078, has established a wintering site at the Saloum Delta in Senegal.

We usually make the assumption that all UK Ospreys migrate to the coast of West Africa for the winter months, but because individuals are identifiable by the ring numbers, and are being reported to necessary parties, our knowledge of where Ospreys from the UK migrate to have widened. We now know that Ospreys don’t always migrate to West Africa, but spend the winter months in Spain and Portugal. I cannot really say it enough – and this is going to be a running theme for the rest of the blog – that we only are able to find out this information if people report sightings to us!

A very good example of this, is young male Osprey, 2AA, which fledged in 2016 from an offsite nest. His father was  28(10) and we know he migrated to Portugal for the winter. We would be completely oblivious to where he overwinters if it weren’t for one of our key supporters, Valerie Webber, who has been brilliant at keeping us informed of Osprey sightings, both in the UK and abroad over the years.

Valerie has very kindly written the following piece for us on how the first sighting of 2AA in Portugal in 2016, has led to new appreciations and interest in Osprey conservation in Portugal.

“Myself and Alison Elder have been running our Osprey Facebook group since 2014 (Loch Garten and Other Ospreys). We first got a sighting of Blue 2AA in September 2016 at Vila Franca de Xira, Leziria, Portugal, we thought he might move on as Ospreys often use it as a stopping off place on their way to Africa, but Blue 2AA stayed and he was seen several times that year. This sighting has led to friendships with many Portuguese people who told us of sightings of Blue 2AA and many other Ospreys. Our group now has 120 members from Portugal and they share their photos with us every winter. In 2018 I took over helping the Portuguese ID Ospreys they see, not just UK but also French, German and Finnish etc. In January 2020 myself, Alison and Kenny McGowan decided it was time we visited Vila Franca de Xira and the EVOA nature reserve which is a fantastic area for Ospreys to spend their winter, sadly we did not see Blue 2AA, but we met a lot of our Portuguese friends.”

More information about EVOA’s Tagus Estuary Birdwatching and Conservation Area, can be found by clicking here.

Of course, like with anything, there is unfortunately a flip side to this when we receive news of one of our birds being injured or worse. At this point, I would like to emphasise it is still just as significant we hear about incidents of this note, because how else can we build up a full, non-biased picture of the ecology and other factors surrounding Ospreys?

On Tuesday afternoon, we found out some devastating news, that male 2AA, which had been returning to Rutland since 2018, sadly died, as a result of – what was most likely after post mortem examinations – colliding into a high voltage power line, where he holds territory in Portugal. This danger to Ospreys is shared by many species, and is considered to be a major cause of death for other large-bodied species, from raptors, such as Bonelli’s Eagles and vultures, through to low-flight manoeuvrability species such as swans and cranes. Although, this is an awful event, it has indeed highlighted a key issue Ospreys face in the modern day world and offers us an opportunity to help raise some awareness of a shared threat Ospreys and other species face.

Overall, the ringing and reporting of Osprey sightings is continuing to be a success and there is no denying the majority of the observations sent in to us are the exciting news-pieces we all love to hear about and I think that can be a promising and hopeful realisation in itself. So, we ask you to please continue to send in all your sightings of Ospreys via the methods outlined above, as the more information we gather, the more the picture grows and therefore the more we can learn about the movements and habits of this fascinating bird!