We’re delighted to announce that our Poole Harbour Osprey pair CJ7 and 022 are officially grandparents!! Their chick 5H1 made history back in 2022 when she became the first Osprey to hatch in Southern England since 1847 at the Carey Secret Garden, and she broke the record books again in 2024 when she became the first Poole Harbour hatched Osprey to return to the UK as an adult. Now she’s achieved another major milestone for the project, becoming the first Poole Harbour hatched Osprey to breed successfully!

Remarkably, 5H1 has gone back to her roots, choosing to nest in the East Midlands where her mother CJ7 is originally from. Here she has paired up with male 3AY who hatched in the Rutland population in 2019. They have had incredible success for a first time breeding pair, rearing a whopping 3 chicks to fledging.

5H1 on her nest with her first three chicks 8R3, 8R1 & 8R2

It is not unusual for female Ospreys to disperse long distances to breed, and these movements play an important role in genetic mixing between populations. Given that both of our south coast breeding females (CJ7 and 1H1) originally came from Rutland, it’s wonderful to see these movements now starting to happen in reverse as our population expands. Like her mother before her, 5H1 is playing a vital role in connecting up Osprey populations and helping the species to recover more of its historical range. The nest she and 3AY have settled on is in area monitored by Dr Tim Mackrill, who has been closely watching their progress throughout the season. Sam and Brittany from our Birds of Poole Harbour team were delighted and very fortunate to be able to join Tim recently to help ring the chicks, a truley historic moment for the project.

BoPH’s Sam and Brittany with 5H1’s chick 8R3

This exciting news also comes following an incredibly successful season here on the South Coast, where we now have two breeding pairs of Osprey for the first time since our reintroduction project started in 2017. Our original pair CJ7 and 022 have bred for a fourth year in a row and fledged a phenomenal brood of 4 four chicks for a second year. Our new pair, consisting of translocated male 374 and Rutland female 1H1, have also had a very successful season for first time breeders, fledging two strong chicks, 5R7 and 5R8.

Successful fledging of 5R7 and 5R8 on our new ‘Nest 2’ this summer

And to top it all off we’ve also had the first Poole Harbour hatched male return this year. 5H3 who hatched at the Carey Secret Garden nest in 2023 was first observed back in the harbour in June, and appeared to have already started flirting with passing females, including 6C6, a 2022 female from Lancashire. Could they return next year to become our third breeding pair?

2023 Poole Harbour fledged male Osprey ‘5H3’ exploring the harbour in July 2025 – Mark Wright

Reflecting on all of these successes together, the future of the Osprey population here on the South Coast of England and across the wider UK is looking very bright indeed. Along with yesterday’s news that White-tailed Eagles have bred in Dorset for the first time in over 240 years – thanks to their reintroduction to the Isle of Wight by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and Forestry England – there is so much cause for celebration when it comes to nature’s recovery in Dorset. We’re incredibly proud to see all of this hard work coming to fruition and so excited to share these stories with so many people through our upcoming Osprey Cruises and Osprey & Eagle Pop-up Watches throughout August and September. We hope to see many of you there and to celebrate with you.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to making this season such enormous success, from our staff and volunteers to our collaborators and supporters. If you would like to support our work please click here to Donate to our Osprey Project.

2025 Carey Osprey Chicks 5R6, 5R4, 5R3 & 5R5