Summary of the 2008 season

2008 proved to be another successful year for the project.

Translocated birds 03(97) and 05(00) bred together for the sixth successive year at Site B, their nest on private land. Three chicks - two females, 01(08) and 03(08), and a male 05(08) - hatched in late May and although 01 disappeared ten days after fledging, the remaining two youngsters migrated in late August/early September.

22 young Ospreys have now fledged from nests in Rutland since 2001. For full details of the summer at Site B, click here.

Meanwhile 08(97) and 5N(04) returned to the nest on the Lyndon reserve where they had raised two chicks for the first time in 2007.  5N laid a clutch of eggs, but was deserted by her mate for three days at the start of the incubation period. 08’s absence coincided with the arrival of 32(05), an opportunistic young male, apparently with his sights set on taking over the nest. 5N was forced to leave the nest on numerous occasions to chase the persistent male, leaving the eggs uncovered for a total of five hours over the course of three days. Eventually normality returned, but the eggs failed to hatch in late May. Despite this the two birds remained at the nest site for the remainder of the summer, providing great views for visitors to the Lyndon reserve. 32, meanwhile, setup a territory just a few hundred metres from the Manton Bay nest.

5R(04) who fledged from the Site B nest in 2004, also set-up territory within sight of the Manton Bay nest. In late April he began taking sticks to an artificial nest on the south side of Lax Hill. He attracted a metal-ringed female to the nest in early May, but sadly she didn’t stay to breed. 5R remained on territory for most of the rest of the summer, his nest viewable from the Lyndon Visitor Centre.

For a full review of the exploits of 08, 5N, 5R and 32 check out the Manton Bay diary.

Elsewhere, three other translocated males, 09(98), 06(00) and 08(01) returned to territories they had established in previous years. In addition, two three year-old females, 30(05) and DE(05), returned for the second successive year. 30, the ‘twin’ brother of 32(05), fledged from the Site B nest in 2005 and DE fledged from a nest in the Scottish borders the same year. With the population of Ospreys in the south of Scotland increasing every year we hope more birds from this area will follow DE’s lead and join the Rutland population in the coming years. In addition to the colour ringed birds, an unringed female spent six weeks in Rutland after arriving in mid-July.

Finally, an unidentified male was seen intruding at the Site B nest on 21st July. John Wright’s photographs of this bird showed that it had a metal ring on it’s left leg, but it’s right leg (and therefore colour ring) was obscured by the fish it was carrying. Only time will tell if this bird turns out to be maroon AA(06), a male chick who fledged from the Site B nest in 2006.