Rutland Ospreys - Future Fund

For nearly 30 years the Rutland Osprey Project has been one of the UK's greatest conservation success stories, but we need your help to continue our work and protect ospreys for the future. 

In 1996, Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust in partnership with Anglian Water launched a project to bring ospreys back to central England, where they had been extinct for 150 years. Osprey chicks were translocated from Scotland and slowly released at Rutland Water. The Rutland Osprey Project was a conservation success and there is now a self-sustaining breeding population. Since 2001, there have been over 250 young ospreys fledged from nests in Rutland Water. 

However, our work is not complete and we face ever-increasing costs. With your support we can continue and expand the work we are doing to protect ospreys, and educate and inspire more people about these magnificent birds of prey.

Please support our appeal today to ensure ospreys continue to thrive and soar in our skies for the future. 

Help us protect ospreys through our conservation efforts

It costs around £6,500 a year to undertake vital osprey conservation tasks at Rutland Water and the surrounding areas, including osprey recording and monitoring, nest checking and maintenance, and bird ringing. 

With your support, we can continue this vital work and could expand what we are doing by:

• Making improvements to existing nest platforms
• Installing remote cameras on nest platforms to improve nest monitoring, which would allow us to gather more data about ospreys and increase our knowledge 
• Building relationships with more landowners and businesses in the local area to expand our work 
• Train more volunteers to help with osprey monitoring
• Connect and work with more osprey centres and organisations across the UK, Europe and Africa

Donate today

Help us engage thousands of people in the local community and beyond

Thousands of people across the world tune-in every year to the Manton Bay webcam to witness a unique insight into the lives of a very special pair of breeding ospreys. We also welcome thousands of visitors to Lyndon Visitor Centre, who come to learn about ospreys and see if they can catch a glimpse of one themselves. 

With your support, we can continue to inspire people about ospreys and reach new audiences by:

• Ensuring the webcam is maintained, which costs over £2,000 a year
• Improve the audio system on the webcam, which would provide a better experience for viewers and give us a better insight into the behaviour of breeding ospreys
• Make improvements to the birdwatching hides so they are more comfortable and engaging for visitors 
• Train more volunteers to help at Lyndon Visitor Centre, and engage with visitors in the bird hides and on Osprey Cruises

Donate today

Thank you for your support, every donation whatever the size will make a huge difference to our work for ospreys.