News published January to March 2007

Ospreys in Morocco

Did you know there are small numbers of Ospreys breeding in Morocco? Thousands of their cousins pass twice a year on their migration between Northern Europe and West Africa, but these Moroccan Ospreys are resident there on the sea cliffs of the Al Hoceima National Park. Recently, members of the Rutland project team met members of AZIR, a NGO working to protect the environment and the Ospreys in Al Hoceima. Full details and pictures are here.

New questions pages

Following a major overhaul of the website in late 2006, this part of the website has been revised and we hope you will find it easier to navigate. Perhaps you can contribute answers or questions? If so, please send us an email.

A lucky escape for red 08

In January 2007 we heard about the lucky escape of the most recent translocated Osprey to return to Rutland. We later received some more details and pictures of the bird's escape from a netted fish pond near Farnham in Essex, two months before it arrived at Rutland last year.

On 24 April 2006, near Farnham in Essex, red 08 got himself trapped in netting over a fish pond. The netting is there to discourage Herons from taking the fish, but obviously the Osprey had not seen the netting and dived through.

The owner of the pond did not know it was an Osprey but did realise that the large bird of prey was unable to escape. The bird appeared unharmed and quite calm. The owner called for help and, when local falconer James Rose arrived, he was amazed to find that it was an Osprey.

James said:

I offered the bird a piece of salmon on the fist (using a double thickness glove of course); it took a little and then backed away.

I pulled back the netting and asked the owner to direct a net behind the bird to prevent it stepping backwards and proceeded to pick it up by grabbing its legs. After a few pecks and some mantling it was safely in a box and placed in the back of my van. I phoned my local vets and took the Osprey to be checked over as it had some minor abrasions on its left wing. The vet was somewhat taken aback when I took the bird from its box, he gave it the once over and fortunately the abrasion was only superficial.

Red 08 in the pond
Red 08 at the edge of the pond

The bird was offered fresh salmon from the supermarket and kept in a pen overnight. The next day it was possible to release it.

Extracting him from the pond

Before release
James Rose prepares to release 08

James continued the story

Once we had found a suitable location along a mature hedge/tree line I took the bird out of the box and proceeded to get it to step up onto a branch where I was sure it would sit until dark... However to our surprise and delight, as I released my grip on its legs it flew directly past us and away it went. It climbed up and onto the thermals and it rose effortlessly climbing higher and higher and drifted away out of sight. How spectacular to witness such a beautiful bird flying off into its natural environment and how privileged we felt to have been a part of the whole experience.

The next time 08 was recorded was when it arrived at Rutland Water two months later. After a five-year absence, 08(01) one of the youngsters who was translocated in 2001 had returned for the first time. The account of that return is here.

After red 08's first appearance on Lax Hill he was seen regularly through the summer. He spent time trying to build his own nest and then took over a territory of another male 06(00) after that bird left in early September. (Picture and details)

Red 08 flew south on 23 September - hopefully avoiding Farnham!

The moment of release

Early birds!

At the end of February Ospreys were already beginning to arrive in the UK with a very early report from Wales the and then from the Hayle estuary in Cornwall on 26th. Other migrants were turning up too, with a Sand Martin was seen over Lagoon II at Rutland Water on Friday 23rd, beating the previous county record by 10 days.

There was one reported in Scotland on Sunday 5 March and, on Monday 6th, one in Somerset and another at Little Gransden in nearby Cambridgeshire.

A new look at migration

When do adult Ospreys leave their wintering grounds and start heading north? How long does their journey take? How do we know?

The satellite tracking carried out from 1999-2001 provided answers to questions like these and now you can look very closely at some of the data collected. In the migration section of this website we have added Google maps showing the migration routes, movements at their stopover sites and in the wintering grounds. You can pan and zoom in on these maps to see amazing details. For example, try zooming right in to:

see T04's stopover east of La Rochelle, France;
check that S11 could have landed on a ship as it crossed the Bay of Biscay;
see how S18 moved around the Sine Saloum Delta in Senegal.

Having access to these interactive maps has brought us lots of new insights and we are sure that, if your web-browser allows, you will find this a fascinating way of spending time during the final few weeks of winter! Do give it a try and then send us an email to let us know what you think.

The project team gathered

At the beginning of March, Martin Blee (Volunteer and Information Coordinator) and John Wright (Field Officer) joined Project Officer, Tim Mackrill preparing for what promised to be an exciting season ahead. The two Pauls (Waterhouse and Stammers) would join them as Information Officers at the beginning of April. (Team pictures here)

On 23 March there were no Ospreys in Rutland...

There were a few reports of Ospreys returning to the UK in March and even, this year, in February. However, the return of winter with snow, frosts and strong winds from the north combined to hold up migration. Last year the first Osprey was seen in Rutland on 23 March, but none were seen on that date this year.

... but in Morocco they were already incubating

The picture on the left was taken on 16 March. From a sheer 160m high cliff it was possible to look down on the nest 100m below. When the female stood up she revealed 3 beautiful eggs.

Please click here for more details of the resident Ospreys in Al-Hoceima National park.

The cover came off in Manton Bay

In September we explained that the artificial nest in Manton Bay was covered for the winter. Then the water levels were very low. On Friday 23 March with the reservoir brim full, it needed an intrepid team, a boat and a ladder to uncover it again.

The man on the ladder is volunteer Ron Follows.