Wildlife Feature - Spring 2009

Inspirational Ospreys

 

Photographs by Charlie Phillips. Go to his website for lots more of Charlie's wonderful pictures.

Ospreys are remarkable birds, inspiring many who see and learn about them to become life long fans. They are specialist fish feeders, often seen hunting at river mouths, lochs and along the coast.  Watching them hunt is a thrilling experience. They will hover up to 70 feet in the air for several minutes, before executing a dramatic plunge into the water. If you're lucky you will see them re-launch carrying a struggling (and often surprisingly large) fish. If unsucessful they usually just give themselves a thorough (and rather comical) shake to remove excess water, before returning to the hunt.

I became interested in Ospreys while volunteering at the WDCS Wildlife centre in Spey Bay in 2001. As well as the many visitors who came to our exhibition to learn about the dolphins living in the Moray Firth, we also had many bird watchers visiting Spey Bay who would point out the Ospreys and tell us all about their behaviour and population recovery. My co-volunteers and I quickly became Osprey enthusiasts and took great pleasure in introducing these fascinating and charasmatic birds to other wildlife centre visitors.

A bit of background...

Ospreys were extinct in England by the mid 1800's and in Scotland by the early 1900's, following heavy persecution by Victorian egg collectors. Happily, in 1954 a pair of Ospreys, probably from Scandinavia, started a natural recolonisation of the UK by breeding in Scotland.  In the early days the RSPB had to work hard to protect these first recolonising pairs from egg collector persecution, and recovery of the population for the first twenty years was slow.  In more recent decades, with increasing public interest and support , the recovery of this species has sped up dramatically and there are now thought to be 158 pairs throughout the UK, a real success story for the recovery of this wonderful bird.

Where to see them...

Scotland is still the stronghold for ospreys and since 1959 there have been breeding pairs at Loch Garten in the Cairngorm National Park (just 45 minutes south from our Wild at Heart office). The RSPB facility at Loch Garten is an excellent place to view these birds on their nests, using their 'nest-side' CCTV cameras, which link to screens in the visitor centre. Visit the Loch Garten site for more details about this excellent visitor centre and for live footage of the nests.

Further south in Scotland, the Loch of the Lowes Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve (near Perth)  is another great place to see breeding Ospreys, and they also have cctv cameras.

A sucessful re-introduction of Ospreys to Rutland Water in the East Midlands now means you can also see them in central England. More details can be found here. 

Where we go to see them...

Loch Garten and the surrounding Abernethy forest is one of our favourite places to take Wild at Heart guests for Osprey watching, walks and picnics This is a beautiful spot and there are lots of other wildlife species to be enjoyed as well including crested tits, crossbills, red squirrels and dragonflies.  

We also enjoy watching them fishing over pretty Findhorn Bay, just down the road from our main accommodation provider (Tulloch Lodges) - and I still see them regularly at Spey Bay. After falling in love with this area during my volunteering in 2001, I returned in 2005 and have continued to work here, with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, ever since.

If you'd like to watch Ospreys, dolphins, seals, seabirds and lots more marine and coastal wildlife, come and join us for one of our Wild at Heart holidays, short breaks or day trips. Full details are available on our Programme page. Or contact us by email: enquiries@wildatheart-ecoholidays.com, phone: 01309 674768 or use the Contact Form, to find out more and to book.

Findhorn Bay - a good place for Ospreys	Spey Bay - another very good place for Ospreys