Many wildlife enthusiasts are celebrating the 50 year success story of the return of breeding ospreys to the UK .
Scotland welcomed back the first breeding pair in 1959 after ospreys had been absent there for half a century. These magnificent birds had been driven out partly because they competed with anglers for trout. So this pair were sensibly given round the clock protection.
Today ospreys are back in a big way with birds now breeding in the Lake District , Wales and Rutland Water as well as their main breeding grounds in Scotland .
The comeback of the osprey has been a spectacular recovery and one of the great conservation success stories of the twentieth century. There are around 200 breeding pairs in Britain now and the numbers are rising each year.
Ospreys are not resident though. They are summer visitors and come to the UK to breed.
In Ryedale, now is our chance to see these noble birds as they migrate from Scotland over our county on their 3600 mile journey to West Africa .
Their journey usually takes them just over a month, but as they fly over England they often stop to feed on their way to build up their fat reserves that they will need to take them over the Sahara Desert .
Well stocked lakes, rivers and trout farms attract the attention of these fish-eating birds en route. If fishing is good, they can sometimes hang around in one location for a week or two.
If you spot an osprey its worth keeping an eye on it. Seeing one hunting can be a spectacular sight.
I saw this when an osprey decided to stop off and refuel one year at Givendale ponds where my father was the farm manager.
The osprey hung around for about a week catching fish. It seemed to be alternating between different ponds in the area.
I noticed that when it was at Givendale its favourite resting place was one particular tree with dead branches. Ospreys have a five to six foot wing span and need space to land.
My dad and I decided to try and get some photos of it and put a hide near this tree. We used an old 1 tonne potato box with a hessian roof. I had the first stint in the hide on the off chance it might come.
I had just got settled in when I spotted the osprey out of the corner of my eye. It was hovering high over the lake. And then it dived, plummeting down with great speed. At the last moment it thrust its talons forward into the water with an enormous splash. It seemed to be completely submerged.
It re-emerged a second later without a fish in its talons much to my disappointment. I watched in awe as it flew down the lake shaking its plumage violently to remove the water from its feathers. But I wasn't ready for it appearing right in front of me on one of the dead branches as I'd only been in the hide for 20 minutes.
I photographed it as it tried desperately to dry off in the weak September sunshine flapping its wings and puffing out its feathers.
From its vantage point, the osprey could spot more fish and wanted another go. But it needed dry feathers to avoid any further mistakes.
Just as the osprey was nearly dry and ready for another attempt, some birdwatchers arrived. Word had obviously got round and my viewing was sadly over.
My father and I had many more stints in the hide over the next week. But the osprey did not appear when we were there. But I still remember the special viewing I had on that first attempt. |
Wildlife Diary -
