Ospreys at Oundle School
As we wait to hear news from the rest of the team in West Africa, the Osprey Road Show has started the 2012 season in style with a visit to Oundle School near Peterborough. Here is Ken’s report…
Whilst the main focus just now is quite rightly on the fantastic work being done by the Osprey Team in West Africa, some activities are still taking place a little closer to home. Today, for example, Michelle is leading a talk to the Junior Science Club at Oundle School in Northamptonshire, and I am assisting her.
Michelle is not quite sure which continent she is in ~ just two days ago she was in The Gambia watching wintering Ospreys and many other birds and animals in searing heat, and now here she is on a gloomy Tuesday afternoon preparing for the first school presentation of 2012. We meet in a café to update our talk, but in fact I spend most of the time listening to fascinating African tales! If you’ve not watched the video diaries on the ‘News’ pages yet, do so without delay ~ they’re brilliant!
Suddenly it’s time to move to the School, and we make our way to the Needham Science Building, where we find a cheerful welcome from members of staff, including the teacher in charge Ms Fernandez. About fifty chairs have been set out around the lap-top, screen and projector. The boys and girls, aged 11 or 12, come in in small groups and enjoy the drinks and biscuits which have been set out for them. It’s 5.00pm now, so they’ve already had a long day in school. We hear that after our talk there’s prep to do for some, while others have a birthday party to attend! One girl will be writing a report on the presentation, and another member of staff tells us she will be taking a few photos for the school website.
We start, and the familiar pictures appear on the screen. I feel a little ‘rusty’ as we haven’t done this for a few months, but we soon warm up and get into our stride. ‘Has anyone here seen a wild, live Osprey?’ A few hands go up ~ yes, they have seen Ospreys, mainly at Rutland Water, but one person has been to Loch of the Lowes. We describe the main features of Ospreys and their world, and have a small diversion to define and even spell zygodactylic, that special word to describe an Osprey’s ability to turn a toe backwards to allow a better grip on a fish. Michelle deals with all the new data on AW’s and 09’s autumn migration and how we followed them thanks to the satellite transmitters, and she ends with a few photos of areas in Gambia, where she was herself just forty eight hours ago. The pupils are keen to ask questions, but it’s nearly 6.00pm, and everyone has commitments, so after a vote of thanks and a round of applause, we pose for a few last photos and we are given a lovely gift of a bottle of wine each. Ms Fernandez says she will be in touch with Michelle to arrange a trip to the Lyndon Reserve in late May or early June when (fingers crossed) we may have some Osprey chicks for the pupils to see, as well as the adult birds.
And with that we drive off into the Northamptonshire night ~ for me just a short drive home and for Michelle, I hope, a well-earned rest after all her travelling in the last few days………
Michelle and Ken with the ‘Ladies that Lunch’
Thursday 17th November, 11.30am : We’re on our way to Leicester to give another talk about the Osprey Project. We’ve given ourselves plenty of time ~ it’s only twenty miles or so from Rutland Water, and we’re not expected till 12.30. Our destination is The Leicestershire Golf Club, where we will be the guests of the Concorde Ladies Luncheon Club. We have a map and Michelle is navigating. We need to turn left off the A47 at some point. We chat as we drive along, and Michelle tells me about the changes she has made to the presentation as we have a shorther slot than usual for our talk today. The Project took delivery of a smart new lap-top yesterday, and we are giving it its first outing. It’s now 12.10am. Shouldn’t we have turned off the A47 by now? We’re almost in the centre of Leicester now. I see the de Montfort Hall and other buildings which tell me we are a little off course. We stop and ask a postman where the Golf Club is, and he looks at us blankly, but at least gets us back on the A47. ‘We’ve passed that hospital before’, says Michelle helpfully. We can’t be far from the place now. We drive through leafy suburbs and suddenly see a sign for Evington, and then there it is at last : The Leicestershire Golf Club. The car-park is huge, but absolutely heaving! The place is packed! These must be golfers’ cars surely….but no, the people getting out of them are nearly all smart ladies on their way to lunch….and a talk about Ospreys. We sit in the car for a few minutes to regain our composure and equilibrium. ‘OK, let’s do it,’ says Michelle suddenly, and we gather our equipment together and make our way purposefully towards the very imposing club-house.
The bar is filled with a crowd of women chatting animatedly in groups. We are greeted with genuine warmth by the Chairman of the Luncheon Club and others, and shown through to an equally grand dining room where we are to have lunch and then do our presentation. The members are extremely smart. Should I have worn a tie? The building is octagonal in shape, and the dining room covers two, or maybe three, of the eight sides, making it slightly difficult to know where to place our screen so that everyone can see. We choose the best location, and set up. Drinks appear for us. About sixty to seventy ladies are expected. Everyone has to take a numbered disc from a box and this tells them where to sit ~ that way they all meet different people at each monthly lunch. Very clever. Our places are reserved on the ‘top table’ next to Madam Chairman. While we are still setting up, the ladies enter the dining room and find their places. They are all talking. The Chairman bangs the table with a little brass gavel and says a charming Grace which mentions the ‘birds of the air’ ~ very apt in view of today’s talk. As we sit down I survey the scene : here I am, surrounded entirely by congenial and elegant female company, about to enjoy a sumptuous lunch, and then to take part in a talk on a subject dearest to my heart! Is this heaven? Well, it’s pretty close anyway.
Our neighbours on the table chat away as we begin our first course. One lady assumes Michelle can’t have been doing this for very long, as she only looks 20 or 21! That pleases her. The Chairman tells us a little about the Club, and asks us not to be offended if one or two members close their eyes while we are speaking! We won’t be offended, we assure her! My first course is ‘Smoked mackerel and beetroot salad with horseradish cream’, while Michelle has gone for an ‘Avocado Salad’. Both are very tasty! The chatter is friendly, pleasant and very warm. We hear about our neighbours’ families, travels, previous jobs, grand-children…..and ospreys! One lady has seen them in Canada, another visited her daughter and family, who were holidaying this summer just above Lyndon and could see the Osprey nest in Manton Bay from their caravan. Michelle and I start to relax. This is going to be fun.
Time for the main course. It’s amazing. ‘Stuffed roast loin of Pork with apple sauce and seasonal vegetables.’ Michelle’s ‘Double Baked Cheese souffle’ looks delicious too, and she soon confirms this as we start to eat. When did I last eat like this on a Thursday lunch-time? I’ll have to be careful ~ if I eat all this I won’t be able to stand up, let alone do my bit of the talk in a few minutes time! Anyway, I do eat it all ~ it would be rude not to, wouldn’t it? While we are having coffee and scrumptious chocolates, our Chairman bangs the table again and calls for order. After a few domestic notices, she gives both of us really good build-ups, mentioning Michelle’s degrees, my ‘almost four decades’ of teaching………. and then we’re on!
After a few fiddles with blinds, curtains and the screen, and after checking that everyone can see, we go into our by now familiar double act. We even get to use a microphone, so that those furthest away can hear every word! We keep it light, inject a little humour where we can, swap over as seamlessly as possible, and add little details as we think of them. Audience reaction is good, spontaneous and encouraging, and this gives us both confidence as the talk progresses. No-one has dropped off yet. Michelle has added a movie sequence of the Osprey diving and then being followed by the underwater camera as it grapples with the fish and eventually pulls it out of the water. That is very popular, and she has to play it three times, to great acclaim each time. The new lap-top has performed well.
The last slide shows an Osprey sitting in a tree in fading light just off a Gambian beach ~ one of John Wright’s most evocative images. As we look at it, the questions start coming in from our audience ~ and what a wide variety there is! We answer them all as well as we can, and as usual invite everyone to come and see us in the spring, when the ospreys they have heard about today will hopefully be back on familiar territory just 20 or so miles from where we are. Our Chairman thanks us very warmly, and then wishes her members an equally warm farewell. Many of them linger to tell us they have enjoyed it so much, and how much their grand-children would have loved it. We pack up with a rosy glow on our faces as departing ladies wish us and the ospreys well. I think we’ve gained a lot of new fans today…….and no-one fell asleep.
Back at the reserve, dusk is gathering as we go into the Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre. Tim is still in the meeting which prevented him from doing today’s talk, but Michelle will tell him all about it later. We stand by an open window and look out over the lagoons as night takes a hold and begins to embrace the flocks of wildfowl and lapwings which are swimming and standing about. Lax Hill looms large over to the south, and stars are already twinkling through the trees on its crest. We take stock, and conclude today was a good day, a job well done, and we thank one another. I look out over the water one last time. Did you ever read Karen Blixen’s ‘Out of Africa’? I read it first in German, many years ago, and always recall one phrase she used after describing her life in those high African realms :
‘Hier bin ich, wo ich sein sollte.’
I say it quietly to myself now:
‘Here I am, where I ought to be.’
Spreading the word about Rutland Ospreys…..
During the autumn and winter, when our Ospreys are enjoying life down in West Africa, there is still plenty of activity amongst Project staff and volunteers. As well as the winter work-parties (see previous post), and all the administration involved in report writing and preparations for the Gambia trip, Tim and the team members carry out a large number of speaking engagements for organisations, schools, colleges and societies throughout the area. This is a valuable opportunity to inform and educate people from all walks of life about the work of the Osprey Project.
Today Michelle and I are on our way to meet a group of people in Peterborough and give them an illustrated talk about the Ospreys at Rutland Water. As arranged, we meet beforehand for coffee and plan how we are going to present the talk. We have done lots of school presentations, but this is our first ‘grown-up’ event, so obviously we need to change our tactics and use more advanced material for our adult audience. We are both a little nervous, but re-assure one another. It’s good to work in twos! The group have hired a room in The Cresset, a large community facility in Peterborough. Last time I came here was to see a Jools Holland concert, when the audience was numbered in hundreds if not thousands! Fortunately today’s event is a rather more intimate occasion. Our room is called the Milton Suite, and as we enter the audience is already in place and waiting expectantly for us to begin. Our hostess Carole introduces us. She is a former teaching colleague of mine, and this group is called the o5o Club (standing for ‘over 50′). Michelle is the youngest person present by at least 25 years! She has expertly plugged in the lap-top and the projector, and it’s ‘all systems go.’ She has even prepared a slide with our names on and the time and date of the presentation.
The next hour flies by. Our pre-agreed divisions work out well, and we take over from one another at all the right moments. The photos (all by John Wright) are wonderful, and have the audience ‘ooing and aahing’ every few minutes. We take them through every aspect of Osprey biology, status, distribution, migration, diet and breeding. We look at their history in Britain. And then of course we talk about the Osprey Project at Rutland Water ~ from the early translocation days 1996 – 2001, right through to the satellite tracking of 2011, not forgetting all the highlights and setbacks along the way, including first breeding, first chicks returning, first pair not to include a translocated bird, the loss of 08, and much, much more. We have ‘visual aids’ to pass around ~ a darvic ring, a transmitter with its antenna, and a very realistic osprey egg (actually made of wood!). Michelle introduces some of our ‘characters’ – 03(97) of course, 08(97), 5R and 5N, and then our two ‘stars’ of the autumn migration AW and O9. Their journeys are shown on the screen and cause genuine amazement. We briefly look at family relationships, who is related to whom, and so on ~ ‘Hope you’re all keeping up with this’, says Michelle, to the audience’s amusement. They are keeping up, and their questions show they want to know more.
We end by summing it all up and emphasising the rationale of the Project ~ that is, the re-introduction of the Osprey first of all into Central England, and then into the whole of England and Wales. We explain that the only two pairs in Wales this summer both contained birds from Rutland, 11(98) in North Wales and 03(08) in Dyfi. No-one had known that before, even though they have been watching the current Autumnwatch series. We answer questions about the Osprey’s fishing techniques, about the situation in Scotland, about human attitudes towards Ospreys, and many others.
It’s time to stop. Carole proposes a vote of thanks and there is a round of applause (and an envelope containing a kind donation to the Project’s funds). We suggest they might like to come over to Rutland Water in Spring 2012 to see the Ospreys in real life, or maybe an early evening cruise on the ‘Rutland Belle’ with a good chance of seeing one fishing. This is a popular suggestion. One gentleman approaches Michelle and asks if we could possibly do the talk to another organisation of which he is a member. Another lady says how much she has enjoyed it, and ‘how good it is to see such a young person doing such valuable work.’ I think she means Michelle, not me……!
We leave and go back to the cafe where we met early this morning, and have another coffee, and meditate over a good morning’s work. For me, it is an excellent way of ‘staying close’ to the Ospreys even though they are all over 3,000 miles away at present. November can be a dreary month, but not when we can share our enthusiasm and passion with other people like this. I am so grateful to Michelle, Tim and the team for the opportunity to be involved, and to help in a small way. And next week, we’re taking the Osprey story to a group in Leicester, and Michelle has just sent me another e-mail ~ Oundle School want us to talk to their Science Club on January 24th!! And just a few weeks after that……..you guessed it……the Ospreys will be back!
An irresistable call to depart…
Here is the latest diary entry from Ken, brilliantly summing up the last shift of the season. Enjoy!
Sunday September 4th, Manton Bay: Keeping up with AW(06)’s amazing progress through Southern Morocco and Western Sahara has kept me occupied for most of the morning, until suddenly I realise it’s time to leave the house and make my way to Lyndon for what is possibly my final shift of the season in the Bay. I drive comfortably and calmly through leafy lanes and sleepy villages, avoiding major routes wherever possible. My mind is still on that incredible journey being undertaken at this very moment by AW, that sturdy male I watched as a juvenile at Site B in the summer of 2006. He was known as AA(06) then, with a maroon colour ring, and I was lucky enough to be around when he took his first flight during the morning of 14th July. He had two sisters, 7T(06) and silver-ringed AA(06), both of whom flew during the next few days. Just a week or so later, 7T disappeared, and despite extensive searching over the whole area, no trace was ever found of her. The two surviving juveniles stayed around with their parents, 03(97) and 05(00), but all four had departed on migration before the end of August 2006. My next meeting with AW(06) ~ as we’ll call him from now on ~ was on the evening of May 15th 2009, when I was reporting for night-duty at the cottage on the Hambleton road. As I drove in I noticed an Osprey sitting on the T-perch on the new lagoon (Lagoon 4), but at that stage I had no idea which one it was. As I left the car and started transferring my gear into the vehicle Lucy and I were going to use for our night-watch at Site B, I noticed another Osprey in the dead tree in the creek behind the cottage. I did manage to identify this one ~ it was 32(05), a four year old which had been around for a while. So who was the one on Lagoon 4? We were at a loss ~ but then John arrived. He had seen the new bird earlier on, but had not given it much attention as he was sure it would be one of the ‘regulars’. But then he looked more closely ~ no colour ring, metal ring on left leg, strangely familiar feather markings…….We left him preparing to go through his folders of flight photographs to find a match. In the fading light at Site B, and again in the early morning, we saw two intruding Ospreys, one of which could possibly have been the new arrival. During the following day, the exciting news arrived that it was in fact AW(06), minus his maroon colour ring, but with identical underwing feather markings to the bird first photographed in 2006, and now back again in 2009! The following year, 2010, he settled with a female at Site O, and returned there again in 2011, breeding successfully both times! And now, with a new designation and a newly fitted satellite transmitter, he is somewhere in Western Sahara, and sending us fantastic information every day. Long may it continue!
I’m immersed in all these thoughts as I arrive at Lyndon ~ a strangely quiet Lyndon, with hardly a car in the car-park and very few people in the Visitor Centre. Tim is there, of course, in front of his computer screen, studying the incoming data regarding AW’s latest position and migration, which is proceeding at an incredible pace ~ he is covering vast distances each day, barely pausing to rest and eat. He will soon be in the unforgiving desert country of Mauritania……..and only eight days ago, he was still here. A few of us crowd around as Tim goes over his route again ~ this jet-setting Osprey has really hit the hot-spots…..Paris, Madrid, Malaga and Marbella, then over into Morocco, following the northern side of the Atlas Mountains, then Marrakech, and a river valley through into Western Sahara. Another thought strikes us: his female is still here in Rutland, feeding one of the juveniles at the nest! This is not what the books say should happen!
I’d almost forgotten! I’m here for a shift down in Wader Scrape hide. Barrie and I collect the kit and make our way down, where, incredibly, we find the hide completely empty, all flaps closed, no-one in sight. There are Ospreys here! 5R sits on his perch, with the female and one juvenile (32(11)) still present. It’s great to see them ~ even though it’s slightly unreal somehow…….5R’s younger brother is in Western Sahara, all the other Ospreys, apart from the three here and the two at Site O, have left, and there are no visitors! A very strange atmosphere pervades the Bay, the hide…..and us. We don’t speak much. It’s all very ‘end of season’……..
David Gessner in ‘Soaring with Fidel’ frequently quotes from the 19th Century American poet Walt Whitman, and in one section he refers to a line which seems so right for today:
‘……you are call’d by an irresistible call to depart……’
All the birds today appear to have received the call. Clouds of House Martins and Swallows are dashing around, skittering after insects, chasing one another in intricate patterns of flight. Common Terns are high in the air, circling, calling, preparing to leave. Nervous flocks of waders ~ already part-way through their migrations from the North ~ alight momentarily on the muddy edges but then are off again, glinting in the light, turning and twisting, destined for who-knows-where before they can settle properly. Primrose Yellow Wagtails dance in the air, floppy Lapwings are buffeted by the breeze, a single Sedge Warbler climbs a reed and descends again rapidly. All of them are tense, uneasy, wary, on edge. Only the three Ospreys remain calm: 5R on his post, the female on the perch above the nest, and the one remaining juvenile hunched on the rim. Surely they’ve had the call too, but they are impassive, napping, preparing mentally and physically…….
There is an evocative single German word ~ again found in Soaring with Fidel ~ which perfectly defines Whitman’s ‘irresistible call to depart’. It is Zugunruhe, literally ‘journey unrest’, but better described by Gessner as ‘the restlessness birds feel before they migrate……..the general unease, the bristling, of a creature about to embark on a journey.’ Wildebeest in the Serengeti, Caribou in Northern Canada, even the great Whales in the oceans and the clouds of Monarch butterflies in the United States ~ Zugunruhe touches them all. We humans feel it too. Today it is almost palpable: every migratory creature in the Bay before us is sensing the approaching great journey ahead.
Judging by the almost total lack of visitors this afternoon, people have assumed the few remaining Ospreys have already gone. We are almost resigned to the first-ever visitorless shift, when the door slides open and a few come in. An Australian woman and her elderly mother are thrilled to see Ospreys, and their enthusiasm warms us up: we wax lyrical and try to counteract Zugunruhe! Another couple arrive, having just left the Burghley Horse Trials which are now in their final day. They are refreshing themselves before driving back to North Yorkshire. And so it continues…..a trickle of people on this, the final Sunday of our season. The juvenile has been holding part of a fish all afternoon, and occasionally he takes a rather desultory peck at it. 5R flies over from time to time, just checking if he still has any of it left, as if thinking ‘I’m not fishing again for you until you’ve finished that’. He is finally roused into action by the loud food-begging of both female and juvenile and lifts himself off the perch to fly over the bund. Scattering the gulls, Lapwings and Cormorants, he makes just the one dive…..and with all the skills of an accomplished parent and consummate fisherman, he emerges with a pike, which he takes back to his perch. At this point, we have no visitors at all. We train all four telescopes onto him as he eats. Their lenses peer forlornly out across the water, but with only the two of us watching. About half the pike is left when he dutifully delivers it to the juvenile on the nest, and the caterwauling ceases at last.
As the afternoon draws to a close, Vikki and Liz arrive, closely followed by Lloyd and Becky. What is this? An end-of-season gathering of Information Officers, Wardens and Co-ordinators? There is a clue: Vikki arrived carrying a big box containing a chocolate cake in the shape of a ‘cheeky monkey’. It’s her birthday, and what better way to celebrate it than with her colleagues and friends over a piece of ‘cheeky monkey’ cake while watching over the Ospreys for this last time? Michelle, Mike and Tim are on the way down too. So we leave 5R and his family eating pike, and Vikki & Co eating cheeky monkey……..
I take one last look back. 5R is back on his perch, calm, unruffled, looking good, contemplating his achievements and watching his mate and one remaining offspring. It’s nearly time for us all to go ~ for me a short journey, for them a mammoth one. Suddenly I don’t want to linger, I need to be away. Zugunruhe has kicked in. I avoid the Burghley traffic by following my beloved rural lanes, and I’m soon home. It’s over for another year. I loved it, every single second.
Oh, I’ll see you at the Party next Sunday! I might even write about it if anyone is interested in seeing what one hundred and fifty Osprey staff and volunteers do to celebrate the end of another great summer season……….
On the first day of Birdfair…
Here is Ken’s latest diary entry, and as usual, it’s a cracker! He tells the story of the first day at this year’s Birdfair including the Osprey Cruise with Simon King. For me, it was the best cruise of the season. Seeing 09 catch a fish so close to the boat was certainly one of my highlights of the season. But enough from me, enjoy Ken’s account of the day…
‘On the First Day of Birdfair…..’
‘On the first day of Birdfair,
Rutland Water gave to me,
Friends for a-greeting,
Lectures for a-ttending,
Coffees for a-drinking,
Books for a-buying,
And a cruise on the Rutland Belle’
(Sung to the traditional tune)
Friday August 19th: The day dawns fine, a great relief after the rains of yesterday which dampened down the preparations rather. Even though I arrive early, there are still queues of cars awaiting admission. The efficient car-parking attendants wave us briskly into neat rows in the fields, where only a few days ago sheep were grazing peacefully. Rows of blue portaloos are in the corners. ‘You are in Red Car Park B’ says the notice. The kiosks are not open yet to allow public admission to the site, but exhibitors, volunteers and stewards are hurrying about, setting up stands, arranging their starting points, receiving instructions. I locate the Osprey stand in the LRWT tent, where I will be doing a shift later, and find it already buzzing with activity. The big screen is primed to show highlights of the Osprey season, the tables are arrayed with colourful masks and drawings for children to complete, and Andy and Anne are putting the finishing touches to an impressive display of natural history books, which have been donated by generous volunteers. All proceeds from their sale will go towards funds for the Gambian Foundation. I buy a couple of books which immediately catch my eye. Suddenly it’s 9.00am and the crowds are pouring in. The loudspeakers announce the first of the lectures and book-signings, and the carts selling food and drink start to trundle around. The ringing group on the edge of the site have trapped a Nightingale very early on, and people are invited to go and watch it being ringed and released. A group of colourful African musicians and dancers start to perform in the central area. Crowds build up amazingly quickly. The ‘Flyways’ mural outside the Art Marquee already displays several migrating birds on its panels. Excitement and anticipation in the air. This is Birdfair 2011. It’s started.
I still have plenty of time before my shift, so I begin my tour of the marquees. As always, the diversity is incredible. If I as much as hesitate for a second in front of a stand, an enthusiastic person approaches me to tell me about the attractions of their country as a destination for a birding tour, or offers to demonstrate the latest piece of optical wizardry, clothing to beat even Antarctic extremes, and books and DVD’s which apparently I can’t be without. My own favourites are the conservation stands, and I actively seek out a few which I have been reading about in advance. I particularly want to hear the latest news from the team which has been working in remote parts of Eastern Asia to save the rapidly dwindling population of Spoon-billed Sandpipers, and I meet again dedicated field-workers from Russia and the UK who are leading this project. Then I’m in the Art Marquee, indulging in a ‘Fantasy Wildlife Art’ spending spree, and rapidly ‘acquiring’ wonderful works of art worth well over £10,000! Back to reality, and I buy a brilliant little sculpture ~ a life-sized Treecreeper, delicately carved in wood and climbing up a tree-trunk. Exquisite ~ my one extravagance of the day…….well, apart from that new book on ‘The Norfolk Cranes’ Story’, and that other one, a monograph on ‘The Black Woodpecker’. Birdfair only comes once a year after all!
Familiar faces are everywhere. Ray, my brilliant night-watchman from Site B, is demonstrating hedge-laying to a crowd of onlookers in the central area, and another night-watchman, George, is on the LIPU-UK stand. Rick is on the Leicestershire and Rutland Ornithological Society stand, and then on the track outside I run into Anya, who accompanied us on a school visit earlier in the season. Her exam results went well last week, so she can go on confidently to her final ‘A’ level year next month. I remember to compliment her on her special ‘Osprey Cakes’ ~ I had one last week! Michelle is in one of the optics marquees. We have a quick word and she asks me to deliver a collecting box she has made to the Osprey stand ~ all donations to Tim’s ‘Berlin Marathon’ fund! As I arrive with the box, the LRWT tent is thronged with people ~ some browsing and buying the second-hand books being offered for sale, others ~ especially the children ~ sitting at the tables and making a variety of items with card, crayons and scissors. Still more are gathered around the screen, where Osprey staff and volunteers explain what has been happening with our birds this year.
My shift begins with Norman, part of the Tuesday afternoon Site B team, and we are soon busy with visitors wanting to know everything about the Manton Bay Osprey family, whose 2011 edited highlights are being shown on the screen. Many are incredibly well-informed, and ask detailed questions about the juveniles from all the nests. Others are less well up, and say things like ‘Is this being filmed at a Scottish nest?’ ‘No’, we say, ‘it’s actually less than a mile from where you’re standing, and you can go and see them for yourself if you want to.’ ‘Well, I never knew there were Ospreys in Rutland’ is the response. Several visitors have come from Wales, and one couple expressly thank Tim for sending them Nora, or, as we prefer to call her, 03(08)! Fellow volunteer Moira is here with her son and his friend. The two boys run off and return with a bag of delicious mini-doughnuts, which they generously share around. Lynda is here too and we talk about our latest diary entries. All the while, Andy and Ann are selling books. How well organised they are! The books are disappearing fast : Ken Baker has found a little gem of a picture book by James McCallum, and another chap has ‘put aside for later’ over £50’s worth of books. As he hasn’t returned yet, it is decided I should take them to him on his own stand and collect the money! This works very well, and the cash box is filling up!
3.00pm and I’m feeling the pace. Time for a break. I meet yet more old friends and colleagues on my way back to the car, and finally sit down for a late lunch/early tea. A very satisfying day so far, but it’s not over yet! At 4.00 I’m in the Lecture Marquee hearing all about efforts to save another threatened bird, the Sociable Lapwing, or Sociable Plover as I used to call it back in the days when I managed to see one not far away in Northamptonshire. An excellent presentation and yet more evidence of the valuable work of Birdlife International and the Preventing Extinctions Programme. After a final brief stay on the Osprey stand, I bid farewell and make the short drive around to Whitwell Creek, where my next date is with ‘Rutland Belle’ for the Celebrity Osprey Cruise with Simon King!
Weather : sunny, calm, set fair. Passengers all gathered on the quay by 5.30 ~ an air of quiet excitement pervades the early evening sunshine. Osprey team: Liz, assisted by volunteers Anna, Mick, Ken Baker, and me. Skipper today: Matt. All present and correct then ~ just need the Celebrity Guest now. A large BMW arrives at the quayside. Simon King emerges, in trademark cap, smiling and genial as always, and accompanied by two representatives from Zeiss, one of whom, Nanette, will join us on the cruise. Out on the water, Simon takes the microphone and greets everyone. Many of those on board are old friends of his, having joined him on previous trips or holidays in Shetland. We scour the skies for Ospreys, but find none. Liz takes over the microphone for a while and fills everyone in on the Osprey Project, its history and successes so far. We see many other species, of course ~ terns, egrets, a buzzard, grebes, geese and ducks. Simon suggests we re-name the cruise ‘The Canada Goose Cruise.’ We have spotters in the bow, the stern, port and starboard, and we visit all the well-known bays favoured by the Ospreys. Observers on the shore keep us informed as to which Ospreys are ‘at home’, and which are away from their territories. The atmosphere on board is relaxed and friendly, and Simon and Liz do expert jobs with the commentary. Just as we are beginning to think this might not be an Osprey day, skipper Matt from the wheelhouse calls out ‘Osprey ahead!’ and there it is, circling and soaring high over the water in definite fishing mode. We ensure everyone is ‘on it’ and then proceed to follow it as it passes over us, from side to side, giving tremendous views against the blue sky. A shout goes up ‘It’s fitted with a transmitter!’ and everyone strains to see its back-pack and antenna, fitted just a few weeks ago. So we now know who this is! Liz tells everyone the story of 09(98) ~ his translocation from Scotland thirteen years ago, his regular returns since 2000 and lonely vigils at Site C, his recent liaison with 5N(04) at Site N following her widowhood, and, of course, his most recent fitting with the satellite transmitting apparatus, which has already given us so much valuable information about his flights and fishing trips. Everyone is buzzing when he suddenly goes into a dive and hits the water not far from the boat with a great splash. Nothing this time. But he’s up again, still looking down, crossing in front of us and coming straight towards us when he suddenly banks again and arrows into the water for a second time, much closer to the clicking lenses and sharply focussed binoculars! This time we know he has struck! He flaps in the water, feet strenuously working beneath the surface to secure the fish. Once, twice, he tries to rise. No good. It must be a monster. Matt silences the engine. The Belle idles in the water, the Osprey not far away still struggling with its mammoth catch. At last he rises, a monstrous trout precariously hanging from one talon. He approaches the boat, the fish writhing and twisting vigorously. He makes a massive effort to secure the fish with the other foot, but in so doing he releases his grip for a moment and it falls back into the water. A collective groan rises from the deck. ‘Oh, no!’ calls Simon over the microphone. As always happens in these instances, 09 does not descend to look for the fish, but rises high above the water and flies up one of the arms to the north before disappearing over the hill. We do not see him again.
The rest of the cruise passes in relative calm and tranquillity. Several people have captured the catch and the attempted lift on camera, and are comparing results. Our friend from Zeiss, Nanette, is thrilled: it’s her first English Osprey, and a spectacular one at that. Liz sums it all up brilliantly in her commentary. Simon thanks everyone and hopes they have enjoyed a wonderful cruise. And how could they not? He lingers after the boat has docked to sign autographs and pose for pictures. Everyone is thrilled to have met such a genuine, committed and friendly person, who has made such a contribution to the evening’s success. And Liz was great too. And Matt. Oh, and not forgetting 09(98)……the star of the show! Hope you caught another fish after we lost you. And thanks to Lesley, who took lots of brilliant photos from the boat, including these two!
- Thanks to Lesley for sending this picture
- Thanks to Lesley for sending this picture
It’s nearly 9.00pm when I get home! That was some special day at Birdfair. Tomorrow and Sunday will find me over at Lyndon, in the hides overlooking the Osprey nest in Manton Bay. All part of the great Birdfair experience!
All Alone at Site B….
Tuesday 2nd August : Week 20 : 8.00 – 12.00 at Site B : Warm, 19 degrees C, calm and sunny.
I’m still on a high after the amazing events in Manton Bay on Sunday afternoon, so there’s a real spring in my step as I walk down to the watch-point, breezily greeting the bullocks and the horses on my way. Tom and Ann report a busy two hours since they arrived at 6.00am, with a fish delivery and a lot of action around the nest. We chat for a while, and out of the corner of my eye I spot 33 slide off his perch and fly purposefully south. The time is 7.59 : my shift has not even started yet, and he has left! We know where he is likely to be heading, don’t we? Of course, he’s had his fishy breakfast and now he’s off to spend the day with his new chums in the Bay! And there’s a Family Fun Day there today too! No doubt he will join in with the fun! That could be the last I see of him today!
Oh, well, at least his Mum and Dad are here…..but not for long. Time : 8.05 : 03 leaves his perch and flies strongly east. Is it a fishing trip, or another day excursion to see ‘the boys’ at the other nests? Five minutes into the shift, and I’m down to one Osprey. Time : 8.14 : the female launches into the air and flies along the front of the wood and then south-east. Where is she off to? Goodness only knows. So, 15 minutes gone, three and three quarters hours of shift remaining. No ospreys. Every few minutes, I scan the empty nest and all the favourite perches, and forlornly search the skies for a familiar shape returning. Nothing. This has the feel of early September, not early August. It could be a long morning……
So, what does an Osprey watcher do when there are no Ospreys to watch? Well, if you’ve got a companion with you, you chat, you set the world to rights, you generally pass the time with light congenial conversation. But if, like me today, you’re a lone worker, you have to invent some more ingenious strategies to prevent the onset of delirium. For a start, I pretend the wooden shed is in fact a charming beach-hut like the one I used to love at Frinton-on-Sea. I take a canvas chair outside, set it up under the oak-tree, and take my boots off ~ wonderful! I pour a coffee and eat a sandwich. I take out my note-book and make a list of ‘things-to-do’ in the next 225 minutes :
- watch and study in minute detail the behaviour of every living thing I can see (birds, butterflies, insects, mammals). If desperate, extend the list to include inanimate things like clouds and aeroplanes.
- make list of jobs I’ve got to do when I get home.
- write a story for children about Ospreys, for use when we start going to schools again in September
- listen to other people’s conversations on the radio link with Lyndon and Manton Bay (This one fails badly as soon as I hear John say ‘Yes, all five birds present in the Bay’)
- contemplate the season with all its comings and goings, ups and downs, thrills and spills.
- think about all the new people I’ve met this year, the old friendships strengthened, the new experiences, the exciting times to come.
It’s 9.50 now. No Ospreys maybe, but my sweep across the blue sky with the binoculars produces just a few migrating Swifts at a terrific height, and ~ up there with them ~ a single Hobby~ my second in three days~ circling, soaring, drifting, darting ~ its body full of curves, arrow-sharp, aerial perfection. Maybe a local breeder, or a migrant, who knows? Today is all the better for seeing that.
Tim phones and says I needn’t stay if I don’t want to in view of the lack of Ospreys. Actually I’m enjoying it. The Ospreys may be away, but this is still their home and I’m almost ‘house-sitting’ for them ~ except that I’m not doing a very good job and those dratted Magpies are all over the nest, searching for little fishy morsels that might be in there. And Buzzards are sailing around without fear of dive-bombers from above today ~ are they still intruders even though no-one is at home? Anyway, I couldn’t possibly leave. What if they come back? What if my relief team (Bob and Norman) reached the hut and found it all locked up and deserted? Not good form at all.
I look back in the notes. ‘No Ospreys all shift’ someone had written on Sunday, and ‘Ditto’ was written underneath for Monday. Well at least it’s not been that bad today. I did have them for 14 minutes!
11.00am : No change : From my low position in the canvas chair, I survey the clouds (Desperate Measure No.1). I’ve got a fabulous book called ‘The Cloud Spotter’s Guide’, but I wish I’d paid more attention to it because I’m still having trouble sorting out my ‘cumulus mediocris’ from my ‘cumulus humilis’. Tiring of that, I spot a row of five ladybirds walking along a strand of barbed wire in front of me (Desperate Measure No.2). Different sizes, different number of spots. Four are red with black spots, one tiny one is yellow with black spots. The front one comes to a barb in the wire and stops. The others line up behind him, but then grow impatient and try and climb over him. Two fall off, one flies, the front one turns round and goes back. I am attempting something Darwinian to explain this, when my mobile rings. It’s my car dealer. My vehicle is being recalled for an urgent safety check and could they have it as soon as possible? Great. Is it going to explode? Or fall to pieces? Oh no, Sir, nothing like that, we just need to check it over for you….So that’s tomorrow sorted.
11.50 : My relief approaches! I hastily put my boots on and return the beach hut to its former identity as a shed. As always, we talk for a while, about the Ospreys (or lack of them), about cricket, the public school system, and other vital topics. As I walk back, I conclude that this has been a very enjoyable morning which I would not have missed for the world. It’s all part of the Osprey Experience, and the knowledge that this pair and their juvenile are now acting independently away from the nest for much of the time is yet another useful piece of the jigsaw.
Back at Lyndon, the Family Fun Day is in full swing. Paul is making loads of bug boxes for eager youngsters, and Tim and Michelle are being interviewed by a reporter from Radio Rutland. Later Michelle introduces me to a super Osprey puppet called Peter, specially created for the grand Puppet Show. How strange! Only an hour ago I was at Site B writing an Osprey story for children and wondering what to call the hero of the tale. Now I know : ‘This is the story of an Osprey called Peter….’ Watch this space for the first instalment!
I drive home (very carefully in view of that phone call!). I wonder if the Ospreys came back for Bob and Norman…….
Four’s a crowd
If you were watching the webcam yesterday afternoon, you might have thought your eyes were deceiving you. Not three, but four juveniles on the nest. So what was going on? Volunteer Ken Davies takes up the story…
Sunday, 31st July, 6.15pm : Just back after the usual Sunday afternoon shift at the Manton Bay nest. Did I say ‘usual’ ? Well, delete that, and start again……Just back after an incredible and amazing experience at the Manton Bay nest, shared by ‘hidefuls’ of people with crowds all afternoon in the Visitor Centre watching the action on the big screen…..
No indication at first of what is to come. All three juveniles are at various points in the Bay, taking occasional flights and changing positions regularly. Nice chat in the hide, plenty of families with keen and enthusiastic children happy to see the Osprey family. A typical late July Sunday afternoon in Manton Bay….Barrie and I anticipate a busy but fairly routine afternoon.
Oh, wait a minute, there’s another Osprey coming in ~ probably one of the adults back from a fly-around visiting the other nests. Wait while it gets closer and we can find out who it is. Hang on, there’s another one with it….and a third one not far behind! Our three juveniles are still where they were, so that’s six in view at the same time. Right, now who’s who? Well ~ and this where we take our reputation and credibility into our own hands ~ one is definitely an adult, large and familiar-looking. That’s right, she’s the Manton Bay female, who has been away for two hours. Surprisingly though, she doesn’t stop, but goes right over the nest and disappears to the south! Doubts creep in, but we stick with our original ID ~ it was our female for sure. The second stranger is a juvenile ~ in flight the speckled plumage and pale fringing on each feather is clearly visible ~ but who? As for the third visitor, he (we think he is a he) disappears before we can really get to grips with him. So let’s concentrate on this juvenile : blue ring ~ not helpful : they’ve all got blue rings! Vital that we get a number if he lands. Unfortunately he heads back out over the main reservoir, circles and soars for a while with another larger Osprey (our female again) before alighting on a perch near Goldeneye hide, opposite the Visitor Centre. Too far away for us down here in the hide, but maybe someone in the centre can get a number on that ring?
Minutes pass. Our three juveniles have relaxed again after the multiple intrusion into their tranquil bay. Then the two distant Ospreys are in the air again, coming our way, vaguely interacting, but nothing too distinct or aggressive. Closer and closer. The juveniles are tense again. The intruding juvenile is right over the nest now, hovering, looking down, surely not considering a landing? The adult female has almost seemed to have escorted him back, rather than drive him away. What is going on here? She flies over the nest, and out of sight to the south again, while the juvenile, incredibly, lands on the perch close to the nest containing two of the ‘legal’ tenants. At last we can read his blue ring : 33 ~ the Site B juvenile! Missing for over 24 hours earlier in the week, now obviously away from home again (as the watchers at Site B confirm). His nest is away from the reservoir, so he has not had the same experience of water as the others have ~ and he is not used to other young Ospreys! But here he is, bold and fearless, just a few metres away from another nest and three young Ospreys a few days older than himself! His father (03(97)) is the grandfather of the other three ~ which makes him their uncle, doesn’t it? Get the family tree out!
But we’ve barely time to take all this in before he takes a quick flight and is actually on the nest itself! The radio sputters into life as the Visitor Centre sees him on their screen ~ ‘33 is on the nest, please confirm’. This is unprecedented. Not so much ‘unusual’ ( see previous diary entry) as unheard of! A juvenile lands on another pair’s nest and is tolerated by the occupants. Admittedly his posture is different ~ he knows he is somewhere he shouldn’t be and looks slightly ill at ease, but that’s all. There are no moves to oust him.
Visitors and volunteers alike are full of questions : Why don’t the others drive him away? What would happen if 5R came back with a fish? We don’t know. We have never witnessed this behaviour before? We’ll have to wait and see. We keep the communication channels with the Visitor Centre open, and tell them exactly what happens, as it happens. The centre is packed, with crowds around the screen. Oh, and I nearly forgot…..at some point in all this action, a Marsh Harrier comes over the Bay from the right. It’s a juvenile ~ tawny head and rich brown plumage ~ and it has a good look before spiralling up to a huge height, where it is joined by a Hobby. The two cause a momentary distraction, during which, of course, the juvenile Ospreys move around and we have to start again. ‘Which one is that flying?’ ‘Where has 33 gone?’ ‘I’ve lost 22 now’…..and so on. Thank you to all the visitors who helped out in getting some order back into proceedings! We think we’ve identified all four juveniles again, when two of them decide to practise their developing fishing skills and start flying, hovering and even plunging (I can’t call it ‘diving’) into the water. One of them is 33, who starts circling just to the right of the stone bund before making several splashes into the reservoir. No catches, but it’s only a matter of time. Suddenly he is being chased back to the nest by an adult, and it’s 5R, back after a long absence from the Bay. He doesn’t seem to mind that 33 has gone back to the nest, where he sits food-begging with his new playmates! 5R resumes fishing and soon catches a medium-sized roach just by the bund, where fish are plentiful just now. He takes it to his perch back in the bay, before delivering it to the nest, which now contains FOUR noisy juveniles, and guess who is the first to grab the fish from the adult’s talons? That’s right, it’s the bold and errant 33! He has it for just a few moments before 22 snatches it ~ 22 gives 33 a couple of sharp pecks when he tries to retrieve it! As far as we can see, 22 eats the whole of this fish himself, which leaves three hungry ospreylets still calling for food….and, oh yes, Mother has also arrived back and is on the perch! So SIX Ospreys are in view again….what did I say about a normal late July Sunday afternoon? Check out John Wright’s photos of the action – and also the video link.
We spare a moment for the watchers at Site B, who have not seen an Osprey all afternoon. The juvenile is here, the female has not been seen all day, and 03(97) has obviously gone for a ‘boys day out’ somewhere. Our hide down here empties for a while, but quickly fills again with a new contingent of watchers, who need to be brought up to date with everything.’I thought this family had three young’, says a newly arrived visitor, so we start to explain again. Sandpipers, Sedge Warblers and Sand Martins provide temporary diversion, but then 5R is up and fishing again in the same area just beyond the bund. This time the roach he catches is much larger and he flies right past us with it, to the delight of several photographers, who proudly show us their fantastic action shots. In the nest, four excited juveniles tussle with one another for the fish, and for a while it’s hard to see who is actually eating amid a flurry of wings, heads and beaks. We think 32 is tucking in when his Mother intervenes and takes the now somewhat reduced fish to the perch to enjoy some of it herself. Incredibly, the first juvenile to join her there is not one of her own, but the amazing 33. He stands next to her, hoping for a nibble or a proferred morsel. It was only five days ago, on his home territory at Site B, when I watched him shuffling close to his Father in a very similar manner (see previous entry). This female does not object to him, but just continues feeding. The photos below show the action as it happened.
Time has gone so quickly, and it’s almost time for our relief team to arrive. Barrie tries to bring them up to speed, but where to start? Suffice to say that as we leave at 5.00, 33 is still there, still eating from the remains of the fish, and looking very much at home in his new surroundings. Will his parents expect him home tonight? Is he going to stay the night? Is it a sleepover (thanks for that Laura!)? Only the next few hours will tell. As we are arranging our gear at the end of the track, John Wright (Field Officer) comes along. He has observed the whole afternoon’s action from the next hide down, and agrees that it was a terrific display of Osprey behaviour. Probably, he says, this sort of thing happens regularly at Scottish Osprey nests, and he reminds us how last year juveniles from Site N came visiting here in the Bay. This nest, as Tim has said before, is obviously the ‘des res’ of the region, and the other Ospreys want to come and look and stay for a while. And as our loose ‘colony’ continues to develop, such observations may become more common as territories around the reservoir overlap. Let’s hope so!
Back at the Visitor Centre, Paul, John and Michelle are already going through the video footage, picking out the highlights for future use. I need to go home and get these notes done before they get even more mixed up in my head! Hope John’s photos make things clearer! August 1st tomorrow ~ the last full month of Osprey action. Enjoy every moment…..(Oh, and the Osprey Family Fun Day on Tuesday too) !
And it wasn’t just 5R who was fishing – John managed to capture some great photos of 33 and 32 having a go themselves. As John’s photos show, both juveniles have definitely got the right idea!
32 fishing in Manton Bay
Unusual Behaviour at Site B ~ Numbers 1,2 and 3
Tuesday July 26th : Morning 8.00- 12.00 : Week 19 : Cloudy, cold, 13 degrees C.
Barrie and I arrive at the watch point to find Hannah there. She’s just had a close encounter with a fox! We chat for a while before she leaves for a day at Chatsworth. She reports it’s ‘All quiet on the Osprey Front’.
But not for long! The splendid juvenile 33(11) starts calling for food, until his father 03 can stand it no longer and retreats, first to a more distant perch, and then away over our heads, away towards the reservoir. Breakfast is on the way, just be patient! 33 keeps up the noise, even pursuing his mother when she flies off to collect a few twigs and leaves for the nest. He watches in disgust as she drops her bundle in the nest, as if to say : ‘What’s this? I can’t eat that!’ Then something strange happens (‘Unusual Behaviour No. 1′) ~ the juvenile flies over towards us, swoops down low over the field and scoops up in his talons a clump of dried grass, which he delivers to the nest! He repeats this behaviour again just a minute or two later. Is he copying his mother’s actions? Or in the absence of water here, practising skimming and trailing his feet as we have seen the Manton Bay juveniles do? We are still discussing this behaviour when we suddenly realise we have an intruding Osprey in front of us! All three (our female, our juvenile, and the intruder) twist and turn in the air over the wood for a minute or two, before the intruder heads off south. We could not get a ring colour on the intruder, but he had the general look of a male, and we did notice that he had a slight ‘nick’ in his left wing, where one of the feathers had either broken off or was missing. That might help with identification later. Once again, we are in discussion over these events when voices crackle over the radio. It’s John, our colleague on watch in Manton Bay, and he is describing the arrival of an intruding Osprey there too, just minutes after ours and in exactly the same direction as ours was last heading! Could it be the same one? Possibly the nick in the wing will be a helpful identification factor.
Any such musings are interrupted once again by the arrival of 03(97) with the most delicious-looking large rainbow trout, its multi-coloured flanks glinting in the light as he flies around the nest with it before alighting on the perch below. The trout is very much alive and wriggling. The juvenile, who had disappeared following the intrusion, is suddenly back on the nest and loudly demanding that the fish be delivered to him. 03 obliges after a few minutes of feeding, by which time the fish, though still largely intact, has ceased its struggles. Then (and this is ‘Unusual Behaviour No. 2′ of the morning) 03 starts to feed the juvenile with small pieces of fish delicately torn off ~ even though this bird is fully fledged and perfectly capable of feeding itself! Now we know some male Ospreys do occasionally directly feed their young, but this session lasts almost half an hour, and 03 takes hardly any himself! Meanwhile, the female stands nearby on the nest, not taking part, but looking on as if to say ‘Should I be doing that?’ Eventually, she takes interest in the fish and we watch as all three of them start tugging and pulling at it in something approaching a feeding frenzy. 03 soon tires of this, and takes the fish (now about half its original size) to a favourite position on a branch at the top of a small oak tree. We have terrific views through our telescopes. All is quiet for a while, but then 33 decides he’s hungry again and flies to join his father on the oak tree. 03 is not ready to share at this point, so the juvenile assumes a hunched, submissive pose and just sits on the branch next to his father. He gradually relaxes and seems to ‘drop off’ for a while ~ his head droops and we can see the ‘nictating membrane’ flicking over his eye. Then he’s alert again, shuffling closer to his parent, who is still feeding on the fish. At last the older bird relents…and (‘Unusual Behaviour No. 3′) starts to feed his offspring again, on the branch at the top of a tree, well away from the nest! Neither of us has witnessed a juvenile being fed in this manner before, away from the nest.
So much to talk about! We are still deep in discussion when our relief team Bob and Norman arrive. In response to our list of Unusual Behaviours, Norman reminds us that, way back in the translocation days (1996 – 2001), eight or nine week old young Ospreys recently released from their hacking pens on Lax Hill were sometimes observed swooping low over the fields and picking up dried grasses from the ground, just as we saw 33 (11) do today. So not unknown then…..but still interesting and unusual.
As we walk back, we notice our juvenile has moved to a very distant perch, where he sits, well fed and content…..for a while anyway. We close the gate behind us and take one last look : Female on nest, 03 still with fish on oak tree, 33 on distant perch. ‘All quiet on the Osprey Front’……….
Frequently Asked Questions
During the course of a season, Osprey Team staff and volunteers are asked hundreds of questions when leading wildlife walks and cruises, or monitoring the Manton Bay Ospreys in the Lyndon Visitor Centre and the hides on the reserve. Most of the questions relate to the Ospreys and other birds, animals, plants and insects encountered on the reserve, and we hope the answers we provide satisfy all those inquisitive minds! This website also has a section ‘Osprey Info’ which should fill in any gaps still left after a visit to Lyndon.
Osprey-related questions apart, the commonest question from visitors after a morning or afternoon at Lyndon is ‘Is there a decent pub around here?’ Well, that one’s easy ~ ‘The Horse and Jockey’ at Manton is just a few minutes away, and is the regular haunt of Osprey staff and volunteers alike! They even do a dish called The Osprey’s Nest, which is a bowl of chilli topped with nachos and cheese, and they donate 50p to the Osprey Project for each portion sold!
Here are two more FAQ’s and answers…
FAQ No. 1 : Are there any good books about Ospreys?
Yes, there are! If you want to start building your own ‘Osprey Library’, consider some of these:
Ospreys ~ A Natural and Unnatural History, by Alan F Poole, Cambridge University Press, 1989.
This is still THE book for all Osprey addicts, even though it is over 20 years old now and unfortunately out-of-print. Second-hand book websites usually have it, although prices have shot up recently as more and more people want to know all about Ospreys! Alan Poole covers all aspects of Osprey distribution, behaviour, breeding, migration etc., mainly from a North American perspective, but as the Osprey is ‘a world citizen’ (R.T.Peterson) the information is relevant to all regions. Essential text book for all Osprey fans, both professional and amateur.
The Return of the Osprey, by Philip Brown and George Waterston, Collins, 1962.
The story of the Osprey’s extinction as a UK breeding species, and its return to the famous eyrie at Loch Garten in Scotland in the 1950’s and early 60’s. Out of date now, of course, but very well written and illustrated, and interesting for those who want to know the whole story of re-colonisation in Scotland. Usually available second-hand. Also has chapters on the Black-tailed Godwit, the Avocet, and some other rare breeding birds.
A Life of Ospreys, by Roy Dennis, Whittles Publishing, 2008.
World-renowned Osprey expert and good friend of the Rutland Osprey Project, Roy Dennis tells the story not only of the Osprey, but the Osprey watcher. He follows the bird’s fortunes in Scotland, from a single pair in the 1950’s to over 220 pairs less than sixty years later. Roy also gives accounts of the Osprey’s story in other parts of the UK, including the re-introduction scheme here at Rutland Water. He shows how satellite tracking allows us to follow and map the migrations of Ospreys to Africa and back. Included in this superbly illustrated book are Roy’s personal diary entries, written at a time when no-one knew whether or not his lifetime’s work would succeed, and which add a unique sense of history to this very personal tale. Highly recommended to all Osprey watchers.
Lady of the Loch, The Incredible Story of Britain’s Oldest Osprey, by Helen Armitage, Constable, 2011.
This is the story of Lady, the Scottish Osprey from the Loch of the Lowes, which in 2010 produced eggs for a record-breaking twentieth time, raising 48 chicks along the way, and completing an amazing number of migrations to and from West Africa. It is an inspiring tale, well told, and with four colour photos showing Lady and some of her offspring. Here at Rutland Water we don’t yet have any Ospreys of that vintage, but we do have our male 03(97), whose latest chick brings his total to 24! A book about him one day maybe?
Two terrific books from award winning American author and Osprey fanatic David Gessner :
The Return of the Osprey : A Season of Flight and Wonder, Algonquin Books, 2001
Soaring with Fidel : An Osprey Odyssey from Cape Cod to Cuba and Beyond, Beacon Press, 2007
I read these books over and over again, especially in autumn and winter, when our Ospreys are far away. David Gessner’s passion, joy and sheer intensity are inspiring and never fail to excite. He truly reminds us on every page why we study and cherish these magnificent birds of prey.
Many organisations working with Ospreys have published their own booklets to tell visitors to the area about them. A few examples are shown in the photograph.
…….and if you want to go back a really long way (exactly 100 years in fact) try and find a copy of The Home Life of the Osprey, by C.G.Abbott, Witherby 1911. Abbott left the UK in 1897, by which time there were no Ospreys at all in England and precious few in Scotland. In America he spent his summers studying and photographing the Ospreys, which were still common on the coasts of New Jersey and on Gardiner’s Island, New York. The author’s photos, which are amazing considering the years in which they were taken (1907 -9), are mounted as plates on 32 pages at the back of the book, making it seem like a photo album. An amazing piece of Osprey history! I found one by chance in a lovely shop in Norfolk a few years ago now.
I hope that answers that question! I’m sure there are other Osprey books still to discover, and, who knows, we might write one of our own about the Rutland Water Ospreys one day!
*****
FAQ No.2: What’s the big house on the hill that you can see across the Reservoir from the Lyndon Visitor Centre?
We get asked this all the time. It’s Burley-on-the-Hill Mansion. Not to be confused with Burghley House, which is a few miles away near Stamford. Photographs of the Ospreys in Manton Bay often show Burley-on-the-Hill Mansion in the background.
The Mansion is in fact the second great house to be built on the site. The first one was owned for many years by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who was accustomed to provide lavish entertainments for his guests. On one occasion, when King Charles I and Queen Henrietta were visiting, the highlight of the banquet was an enormous pie, carried in by a team of servants. The crust was cut to reveal a very small man inside! This was Jeffrey Hudson, who earned fame as ‘The Hero of the Pie’ and ‘The Smallest Man of the Smallest County’. Buckingham was murdered in 1628, and the house was destroyed by Parliamentarian supporters after the Civil War.
The second house, which we see now, was completed by around 1710. By that time, the estate was owned by the Finch family, who had the title Earls of Nottingham. The house was built with fine materials, and decorated by the best painters and sculptors of the day. It was filled with pictures, tapestries and porcelain from all over the world, and was one of the ‘great houses’ of England. The Finches lived in the house for several generations: Lady Charlotte Finch was governess to the children of George III, and a very fine statue of her can still be seen in Burley Church. George Finch was a member of the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) and is credited with inventing the ‘6 ball over’ in cricket ~ many prestigious games were held on the lawns of the house. The ‘Finch’s Arms’ in Hambleton is named after the family.
A later member of the Finch family rented the house out to some cousins of Winston Churchill. Churchill himself was there in August 1908 when a fire broke out and much of the interior of the house, including many precious and irreplaceable items, was destroyed. Apparently the nearest fire appliance was a horse-drawn affair at Melton Mowbray, and it took three hours to arrive. Churchill wrote to his fiancée that the whole thing had been tremendous fun, but his hosts did not agree! A period of restoration followed, and the house was used as a hospital for wounded officers in World War I. It was open to the public for a period in the 1950’s, by which time it had passed into the hands of Col. James Hanbury. It was sold again in 1990 to Asil Nadir, whose company Polly Peck intended to turn it into a grand hotel and sporting estate. As everyone knows, this did not happen, and rescue came in the form of a return to ownership by the Hanburys, who converted the house into a series of luxury dwellings and apartments, which were sold into private ownership.
And so it still stands today, presiding over a very different landscape “standing serene on the edge of Rutland’s ancient woodland”.
Information from a very fine book ‘Burley-on-the-Hill Mansion’ by Raymond Hill (2001)
Reflections on Site B
Volunteer Ken puts pen to paper after reminiscing about his many visits to Site B over the years…
Tuesday July 12th: 8.00am: Site B: I’ve just arrived at the watch-point after the walk down through the fields and along the hedges. It’s colder today, but dry at least ~ it’s Week 17 of the monitoring season here, and I’ve yet to experience a really wet shift. Now that I’ve written that, no doubt it will pour down in the weeks ahead. My change-over with the early-morning team is swift and efficient as always ~ almost as good as 03 and his mate during incubation.
I settle down. Temperature, wind direction, visibility all recorded. Log begins ‘Female at nest with chick, male on perch nearby.’ All is calm. Have you ever thought about a particular place that you know: ‘This is the most perfect spot in the whole world’? Well, for me, this is it ~ sitting in a canvas chair under an old oak tree, note-book on knee, coffee cup on a flat stone nearby, looking across towards another oak tree, at the top of which is the great structure originally created by 03(97) over ten years ago.
Yes, it was a decade ago, almost to the day, when members of the pioneering Rutland Water Osprey Project must have been in a celebratory mood. Here at Site B, the first English-born Osprey for 150 years had just been ringed, weighed and measured! It was a red ring with white lettering ~ 13(01) ~ and the chick (thought to be a female) had weighed in at a healthy 1500 grams. The records show that some familiar faces were present at this momentous event ~ among them a young Project Assistant called Tim Mackrill! Both Tim and the chick fledged successfully ~ one to become the Project Officer and the other to begin her long and solitary migration on 30th August. Unique among Rutland Ospreys, 13(01) was given a name, chosen by young viewers of the BBC’s Newsround programme. She was called, appropriately, Aqua. Sadly, she never returned, but she was certainly the start of something magnificent ~ her Father 03(97) is still here, sitting proudly in front of me as I write this and guarding the latest of his 24 chicks, blue-ringed 33(11). I feel a sudden strange affinity with the birds and their protectors from those early days, and almost out loud thank them for their faith, courage and determination.
It’s still quiet. The log shows that the chick fed well just after 6.00am this morning, so there is no urgency to find more fish at the moment. Time for more reflection. I was first brought here six years ago now, in August 2005, for an evening watch. The excitement mounted during the walk, and then suddenly we were here ~ with the iconic 03(97) and his long-term mate, the greatly missed 05(00), watching anxiously as their three chicks flew around. I vividly recall that evening ~ gazing around in rapt wonder as FIVE Ospreys wheeled above me, eagerly soaking up Osprey knowledge so expertly passed on by my companion, learning the ‘shift etiquette’ ~ never arrive too early for your shift, and never linger for too long once your shift is over ~ then straining to see the yellow rings on the juveniles and beaming with pride when at last I could read them through the ‘scope ~ 30, 31 and 32! Two of them returned in subsequent years, and one ~ the female 30(05) ~ is still in Rutland as I write this. We had to leave at 8.00pm, but I would willingly have stayed all night! I’ve been here hundreds of times since then. No two watches are the same, as my note-books, diaries and memories testify…..Just flicking back through the pages for May, June and July this year highlights a few pictures in my mind….
10th May: Jays, Cuckoos and Whitethroats everywhere. Ospreys change over incubation duties very regularly, with the female always doing twice as much as the male. Small green caterpillars are descending on silken threads from the oak tree above me. Each time one reaches the ground, a female Blackcap hops out and grabs it I decide to try and reach the next one before the bird does, but I’m too slow and the bird wins every time. Later I find several caterpillars drowned in my coffee cup. I toss them out, but the Blackcap doesn’t come for them. I’ll try de-caff for her next week. I realise that the Cuckoo calling incessantly above me always finishes on ‘cuck’ and not ‘oo’. Is this a generally known fact, or have I just discovered an astounding new facet of Cuckoo behaviour? Must test it out on other Cuckoos.
24th May: I relieve Tom and Ann, just back from their daughter’s wedding in America. It was an outdoor service, and during the ceremony Tom added a new bird to his life-list ~ a Townsend’s Solitaire! Brilliant name, brilliant bird! I look it up in my American field-guide later! I hear on the radio that hatching is imminent at Manton Bay. The excitement crackles over the airwaves as I sit here at my remote outpost. This pair still have a few days to go.
31st May: Won’t be long now. It’s been a long incubation, but they’ve never been alone, not even for five minutes. Six Fallow Deer go leaping through the crop field. During night duty I had them down as SAS men, but they’re clearer today in the bright sunshine. Off they go, pronking like South African Impala. Maybe there’s a cheetah after them. Not so fanciful ~ the Rutland Panther was reported near Uppingham earlier in the month! A brief hail-storm covers everything in white ice-balls for a few minutes, but they soon melt. That must have tested our Ospreys out there. A sudden roar of engines and an ancient Dakota aircraft clatters over the wood barely above tree-top height. It still has its D-Day livery painted on the fuselage. Thousands of pigeons, crows, jackdaws and other birds leave the wood in blind panic in a whirl of wings and a chorus of cries and calls. Just two birds remain unmoved: 03 on his perch on the small oak, and his female on the nest. Devotion to duty indeed. The Dakota pilots of old would be proud.
14th June: On the walk to the watch-point, 03 suddenly appears over me carrying a massive branch which is interfering with his flying. If he drops it, I’ll retrieve it and add it to the artificial nest outside the Visitor Centre at Lyndon….. But he doesn’t, and drops it across his own nest….The crop-field, once a brilliant yellow, then green, is now gashed and dappled with patches of red poppies. First good view of chick in nest.
21st June: The ‘Day of the Swifts’ ~ I’ve never seen so many in one place. Maybe there’s been a hatching of insects, which is providing rich pickings for them this morning. Where can they be going? Not leaving already surely? I decide to follow one for as long as I can, to see if it’s going anywhere in its dashings and dartings. It is going gradually south. I do the same with another, and another, and another. They’re all going gradually south, constantly replaced by hordes of others coming in circuitous fashion from the north. At one point 03 rises with them, towering ever higher until he is just a dot. He doesn’t drift south with them, but east, until lost in the distance. Happy fishing. Marsh Tits, Wrens and Whitethroats are all around me today, busily searching, churring, living. In a St Francis of Assisi moment, I have them all at my feet at once, joined by a Robin, Dunnock and a Chaffinch. I decide not to talk to them as he did ~ anyway, it’s those little caterpillars they’re all after, rather than any homily from me. 03 is suddenly back with a fish, and his mate is still feeding the chick as I leave.
5th July: 03 is absent as I arrive, but before too long I see him approaching from the east. A rakish Hobby engages briefly with him, and an enthralling aerial entanglement ensues, joined by the female, who cannot resist a tumble and a chase. The juvenile watches intently from the nest. The Hobby soon tires of this game, and zooms away at great speed, leaving the Ospreys to settle again. The Swifts are once again plentiful ~ last week’s contingent are probably well on their way to Southern Europe by now. I heard today that a Cuckoo fitted with a satellite transmitter in East Anglia in May is already back in Africa! No doubt the Swifts will be there too before long……………
‘And earthbound men, whom you so little heed,
Shall lift with joy their winter-weary gaze
To welcome your return with summer days’ *
At 9.30 precisely the female embarks on a sudden joyous, exuberant flight, culminating in two complete sideways flip-overs! I’ve only ever witnessed this once before, by the regal matriarch 05(00) several years ago. I remember thinking then that maybe this was some sort of display to an unseen rival, or perhaps a demonstration of the thrill and freedom of flight to the young and still flightless juvenile in the nest below? Or was it just a release of energy and fun as she realised that her task was almost done, and the long confinement at the nest almost over? Who knows? Great to watch whatever the cause. The chick responds with vigorous wing-flapping, up to 20 consecutive flaps at a time. Looking good for a launch in a few days.
And so back to today, 12th July: The chick is jumping around the nest, from side to side, and flapping vigorously. Today or tomorrow? It can’t be long now before the first flight. 03 and his mate seem much more intolerant of Buzzards and Red Kites today, and chase these inoffensive neighbours away every few minutes. I realise quite suddenly that the hordes of Swifts have gone. There are a few scattered ones, but nothing like the dense clouds I saw last week. Where are the ones I tracked carefully last week to determine their direction? I wonder.
‘…..some strange signal that shall bid you fly,
On your far pilgrimage, by ways unknown…’ *
Two days later, the chick flew, thus becoming 03(97)’s 24th successfully fledged chick from the Site B nest. We wish 33(11) well and hope to see him back in 2013!
*Extracts from the poem ‘To Swifts on Migration’ in ‘Verses and Tales’ by Violet Boyd (1954)
