Wildlife to See in April : Ospreys 

Ospreys can now be seen again at various sites in the UK after returning from their winter homes.

Having spent a full season helping out as volunteers at one the visitor centres in the Scottish Borders, this is a subject that we know quite a lot about and have had the privilege of watching a couple of pairs throughout their breeding season; from choosing nests, sitting on eggs through to hatching and rearing their young before finally fledging. Incidentally we believe that we may be part of a small record between ourselves and The Tweed Valley Osprey Project – Jack was about 10 days old on our first ‘shift’ manning a centre after he was born back in 2006! Surely one of the youngest ever volunteers!

Ospreys in the UK

Having spent the winter in the warmer climes of West Africa, ospreys have now made (or are at least in the final stages of) the 5000 mile journey back to our shores, arriving from mid March through to the middle of April.

Ospreys in the UK have had a troubled and turbulent past, becoming extinct as a breeding bird in 1840 in England and 1916 in Scotland.

Thankfully natural re-colonisation began to occur in 1954, and after a very slow start the number of breeding pairs rose to around 160 in 2001, the vast majority being in Scotland. In the same year though, England enjoyed its first breeding pairs for almost 160 years, with a natural pair in the Lake District and a reintroduced pair at Rutland water.

An osprey chick’s childhood is remarkably short and the amount of food provided for them is reduced until they are forced to leave the nest to find their own food at around 6-8 weeks. Their rapid development does not stop here and they are only allowed around a further 6 weeks to not only master the art of fishing, but also to strengthen their flight to allow them to attempt their first migration. All in all this is only 13-14 weeks from hatching through to beginning their first migration of 5000 miles – a real baptism of fire! To make things tougher still, the adults leave before the young who are expected to find their own way to their wintering grounds – nobody yet knows for sure how this is achieved.

As can be expected by this survival of the fittest, mortality rates amongst young osprey are very high, with 40-60% of the young birds not surviving their first year. For the lucky ones who do make it, they are allowed what is perhaps their first reprieve and do not generally return to breed to 3 years.

Article by Andrew Crystal