During the 2004 season, 6 non-breeding adult males, were frequently recorded in Rutland, as well as the regular breeding pair. All eight adults were birds that had previously been translocated. Based on the previous experience of translocation in North America, it had been expected that these males would have been able to attract passing females to stay and breed, but this was proving not to be the case. Indeed the two breeding females in 2003 were females that had themselves been translocated.
Following detailed discussion, early in 2005 a detailed proposal was made to Scottish Natural Heritage and English Nature. We requested permission to collect a further batch of young Ospreys from Scottish nests during 2005, but this time trying to select females rather than males.
Eventually, in June 2005, permission was granted to bring chicks from Scotland to England in order to redress the gender imbalance in the Rutland population. Eleven chicks were moved south and nine of these turned out to be females. One disappeared very soon after its release but the other ten migrated in September.
Newly arrived chicks with their view of the reservoir |
Four young females comtemplate freedom. |
The story of the 2005 translocation as it unfolded was told on the pages of this website. To read it in diary form, you may like to start with the news for July 2005 .