Lockdown Listing Top 5 – #1 Osprey!!
The Western Osprey (Pandion Haliaetus) is a large migratory bird of prey that spends it summers breeding in North and West Europe and can also be found breeding in Central Asia and North America. A fish catching specialist, it nests within easy reach of large water bodies and its piscine diet gives it a host of other names around the world such as Fish Hawk, Sea Hawk and River Hawk.
In Britain the Osprey is still a scarce breeding bird with the majority of the population located in Scotland with smaller numbers in England and Wales. The Osprey is another raptor that is beginning to successfully recover from the industrial scale persecution of the Victorian age. By the end of the first world war the Osprey was extinct in Britain but began to recolonise naturally in the mid 1950’s, when first one then a handful of pairs started to nest near remote Scottish Lochs. These nests were closely guarded secrets and were fiercely protected by dedicated groups of conservationists and this allowed the Osprey to gain a foot-hold as a breeding bird.
Osprey (Pandion Haliaetus) Wikimedia Commons 27 April 2013, 16:43, Author Rob Stoeltje, loenen, Netherlands
By the early 1990’s the population had expanded (somewhat slowly due to pressure from egg collectors and contamination of the food chain by Organo-Chlorine pesticides during the early years) to around 70 pairs. Because of the slow geographical spread of the population a pioneering project began in 1996 to reintroduce birds to Central England at Rutland Water. The scheme was successful and now around 8 pairs breed in the Rutland area. A visit to the fantastic Lyndon Reserve over looking Manton Bay on the South shore of the reservoir is one of the most reliable and accessible ways for most of us to view nesting Ospreys in the UK and a pilgrimage I make most years.
Most British breeding birds winter in West Africa (in places like Senegal and The Gambia) and return to their breeding sites from mid March onward. Ospreys can be seen migrating North in the UK between mid March and late April and numbers are boosted by Scandinavian birds which can also migrate North through Britain so late March/early April really is the best time to spot this impressive raptor passing over your local patch (particularly if that patch includes a river or large water body).
Despite plenty of scanning over the years (and even missing birds passing over the neighbourhood!) I’ve never previously managed to add Osprey to my local patch or garden list but that changed on 30th March this year. During a walk around my local patch on the North East of Derby in somewhat mixed weather I clocked a large, long winged raptor coming over low from the South and it began to circle and lose height over the lake. A good scan with the bins left me in no doubt – Osprey! The bird continued to lose height and I had no doubt it was checking out the lake for a potential fishing/rest stop. The scope was set up and out came the mobile to digi-scope/vid a few shots for prosperity when the weather (and Osprey) performed an abrupt U-turn! Very strong winds whipped up from the North and brought a tremendous down pour of hail with them. The Osprey drifted back to the South, still losing height and I’ve no doubt it landed out of sight in one of the many copses and blocks of woodland that dot the area. After 30 minutes and no further sign I returned home cold, wet but very happy for a celebratory beverage! A local ramble I’ll never forget and my Lockdown Listing # 1 – so far……
