Welcome back to the Poole Harbour Osprey Diary! With CJ7 and 022 both returning safely back onto their nest on the 25th March at 18:29 and 26th March at 06:40 respectively, it’s been all go ever since! There’s been lots of nest-building, fish deliveries, and plenty of mating. 022 returned back to his old ways, bringing some black plastic onto the nest, mistaking it for nesting material. Thankfully this has been taken away each time and, in the last few years, has not caused issues for the eggs or chicks. We monitor the webcams and site closely 24/7 for occurrences like this. We’ve spoken to landowners locally about removing black plastic from their land, but with the Ospreys travelling several miles to collect nesting material, it is a difficult task to reach all potential sites.

We are thrilled that at 12:56 this afternoon, CJ7 laid her first egg. Eggs tend to be laid 3 days apart, with delayed incubation until the second or third egg is laid not uncommon. This is where the pair will delay the initial incubation of the first egg to limit its development early on. This can bring the hatching times closer together, resulting in a less significant size and development difference between the chicks.

With the pair back for their fifth breeding year, having produced 13 chicks since 2022, we’re wishing them another successful season. There’s lots more to be excited about, with hopes of 5H3, a male chick from the 2023 Carey nest that returned back to the harbour last year (and showed interest in Lancashire female 6C6) for the first time, coming back and potentially pairing up with any roaming females. We’ll also be awaiting to see if any of the 4 chicks from the 2024 Carey nest (5R0, 5R1, 5R2, and 5H6) which were all male, return back to the harbour. 2 year-olds tend to arrive back a bit later in May/June time, as they do not reach breeding age until 3 years old. They’ll spend the summer looking for potential females and nest sites for the following year. We’re also pleased to say that female 1H1 and Poole Harbour translocated male 374, the second pair of Osprey to breed in southern England for over 180 years last year, have returned safely back onto their nest. On top of that, 5H1, the female chick from 2022 (the first year CJ7 and 022 bred), has returned back onto her nest in the East Midlands, where they bred for the first time last year and produced 3 chicks, with her mate Rutland male 3AY!

We’ll be updating this Osprey Diary throughout the season, sharing key moments, sightings from the Osprey Viewing Platform, and any interesting behaviours. This week we also launch our Carey Osprey Tours, an exclusive opportunity to view the Carey Ospreys from a safe distance at our viewing platform in partnership with Carey’s Secret Garden. The viewing of the nest at Carey is carefully managed to avoid any risk of disturbance to the birds and is only possible via booking on to these tours, with a limited number of tickets available for each session, so please make sure to book onto one of the tours in advance if you would like to visit. 

Diary Entry 4th June, 2026

Friday turned out to be an exciting and satisfying day on the Osprey nest. Egg number 4 hatched at approximately 07.23. It is always a bit of an anxious time as successfully rearing 4 chicks is quite uncommon among Ospreys. It wasn’t long after hatching that the tiny chick managed to hold his head up long enough to get a small share of the fish. 022 kept up his regular deliveries throughout the day with both parents feeding the chicks. The nest cameras gave excellent views of the chicks being fed and a cooler day made them more active.

Over the weekend there seemed to be an abundance of Ospreys in the harbour. The 2 year old Scottish female was being seen regularly in the Middlebere Channel catching and eating fish. At one point she bravely (or foolishly !) was seen harassing a Goshawk that was perched in a tree. The 3 year old Poole bred male 5H3 came along with some nesting material but the female was eating and refused it.

At the nest, the 4 chicks continued to thrive with 022 bringing in ample supplies of fish. At one stage one of the younger chicks was seen fast asleep resting his head on a half eaten fish.

Not Osprey news but very upsetting for the Osprey Re-introduction team, volunteers and all those who’ve watched the White-tailed Eagles in Poole Harbour. It appears that the young White-tailed Eagle, known as G834 who fledged from Dorset last year, has disappeared. He was last recorded over the area in North Yorkshire that seems to swallow up numbers of tagged birds of prey. The matter is being investigated.

Monday brought a change of weather and CJ7 had to keep the chicks warm and dry. The heavy rain made it difficult for both adult birds, CJ7 had to act as an umbrella and 022 found fishing more difficult with the ruffled surface water. The two older chicks are growing fast and looking more dinosaur-like with large heads and feet. The difference in size between the 2 older chicks and the 2 younger ones is becoming more evident. However it was reassuring that chick 4 was managing to get a good feed despite the competition. During the afternoon an intruder was seen on one of the perches, probably 5H0. The rain on the camera made it difficult to get an identification. It was chased off by 022.

Tuesday’s rain held off and it was more of the same for the chicks-sleeping, feeding, sleeping and even more important, growing. Both parents were feeding the chicks and it was good to see the youngest chick feeding well. There was an occasional spat between the 2 older chicks but it never lasted long.

The following day was wet and windy .The chicks are growing so big that it is a challenge for CJ7 to cover them all with her outstretched wings. When the rain stopped there were several meals brought in and it was good to see the youngest chick getting strong enough to push its way to the front. The sun returned the next day but it was still very windy and cool so CJ7 spent most of the day brooding the chicks. 022 brought in at least 3 good sized trout so the chicks ate well.

Diary Entry 29/05/26

What a glorious week it has been in Poole Harbour on several counts. The weather has been very warm and settled, perhaps more akin to the temperatures that CJ7 & 022 experience at their migration sites in West Africa. More excitingly on Friday was to see chick no 1 emerging from its shell at approximately 15.06 to be given its first feed by CJ7 soon after.

The following day was 022’s first attempt to feed the chick very much under the watchful eye of CJ7. By 12.09 chick no 2 hatched and had its first feed from CJ7 within the hour. There was a little disturbance at the Carey’s nest from a Red Kite, but all was well and under control. Around the rest of the harbour in the morning, the Poole Harbour hatched 2 year old male 5H6 was spotted fishing in the Middlebere Channel landing on a nest platform nearby to eat it. Also, at this time another Osprey was seen in the same area. Later in the afternoon 2 ospreys were seen flying over the Middlebere Hide and in the evening 5H6 was seen carrying out “nestorations” on the same nest platform that he was using earlier in the day.

Sunday was a sweltering day, but CJ7 & 022 did an amazing job of using their bodies and slightly outstretched wings keeping the chicks shaded. 022 continues as ever to bring in plentiful fish for all the family which is particularly important in the heat as the Ospreys get their hydration from eating the fish. Despite the heat of the day, 2 Ospreys were sited hunting in the Wareham Channel with 5H6 being spotted and he could well have been the intruder at Carey’s nest site during the day.

On Monday all was calm on the nest with feeding going well. Early in the morning an Osprey was spotted catching a fish near Round Island, 2 Ospreys were seen hunting in the Wareham Channel whilst later in the morning an Osprey was seen over Lytchett Bay. In the evening 022 was spotted catching a fish in the Wareham Channel returning to Carey’s nest soon after.

Another exciting day followed on Tuesday with the hatching of Chick no 3 at approximately 09.56, once again with the help of CJ7. During the day 5H6 was seen flying around the Middlebere area and the Wareham Channel. Later that evening an Osprey which could have been 5H6 landed on a platform in the Middlebere area of the harbour eating a fish where it stayed for an hour. Meanwhile another Osprey was spotted at Lytchett Bay.

The next day there was another highlight bringing great excitement. Whilst on Carey’s nest CJ7 & 022 continued dual feeding the chicks with plentiful fish and providing great shade, in another part of the harbour at approximately 14.00, Poole hatched 2 year old Male 5R0 landed on another nest together with the 2 year old Female from Tweed Valley known as “Teddy”. During the evening an Osprey was spotted hunting off Long Island.

So, at 07.00 on Thursday morning the excitement continued with 5R0 displaying and delivering a fish to 6J8 on the same platform as the previous evening. The early bonding continued and whilst they are too late to produce eggs this season, the hope is that if they stay in the harbour this summer, they could well return to Poole Harbour next year as a possible breeding pair. In the afternoon 022 was spotted in the Wareham Channel flying in the direction of Carey’s nest and once again later in the evening an Osprey was spotted hunting over Lytchett Bay.

CJ7 feeding her four chicks on the Carey Nest

Diary Entry 23/04/26

It’s nearly a whole month since CJ7 and 022 arrived back on their nest! Since then, there’s been lots of action, with nest building, plenty of mating, intruders (!), and now 4 eggs. We’ve had interactions with other birds of prey, including a Red Kite mobbing 022 carrying a fish back onto the nest and both 022 and CJ7 seeing it off on the 18th April. CJ7 laid her first egg on the 14th April at 12:56pm, followed by a second on the 17th April at 08:48am, third on the 20th April at 08:26am, and fourth on 23rd April at 6:57am. The average incubation period is typically 37 days, so we should see hatching begin towards the end of May. CJ7 will do the majority of the incubation, although 022 will take his turn when CJ7 flies off to feed on a fish he’s brought back, or if she needs to stretch her wings!

We had an extremely exciting visit to the nest by an intruder Osprey, none other than CJ7 and 022’s young from 2024, male 5RO on the 21st April at 07:41am. Two year-olds typically arrive back later than breeding adults from May onwards, so the fact that 5R0 is back this early is interesting! Male Ospreys display a behaviour called natal philopatry, which means they are drawn to come back to their natal ground, where they fledged as a youngster. 5R0 was first seen in Devon on the Axe Estuary on the 17th April, before intruding on the Carey nest and being seen off quickly by his parents! We hope that 5RO will stick around, set up his own territory, and breed in the next couple of years.

This morning we had the amazing news that the first breeding pair of Ospreys on the south coast of England for 180 years, successfully arrived back from their migration for a 5th year. This is the pair that set up to breed at Careys Secret Garden, as a result of the reintroduction project run by Birds of Poole Harbour and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation.

022 (left) and CJ7 (right) on first reuniting and handing over a large bass

Ospreys are fish-eating birds of prey that were once widespread across the UK, but because of human persecution were driven to extinction in England in 1847. Conservation efforts over the last 70 years, including reintroductions have led to their return and, as of last year, there are now 2 breeding pairs in the south of England. It is hoped that the Poole Harbour project and these birds will help the population spread and connect with other Ospreys. Each year they migrate to West Africa for the winter so it’s always an anxious wait for their return.

The female CJ7 arrived back last night at 6:29pm on 25th March and the male 022 arrived back this morning at 6:40am. This is the famous pair from our live webcameras that have raised an incredible 4 chicks for the last two years running. Hopefully, with their return, they will reaffirm their pair bond in the coming days, start building up their nest and eventually begin nesting.

Sam Ryde the Birds of Poole Harbour Deputy Manager said “This is fantastic news that the breeding pair have returned again. These birds are incredible important in restarting the south coast population of breeding Ospreys and we can’t wait to see what happens this season. Thousands of people engage with the Ospreys through watching our Live Webcams or on our events and it’s uplifting stories like these about nature recovery that are so important for both our environment and people.”

You can watch the story unfold Live from our webcameras online at the Birds of Poole Harbour website (www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/osprey/osprey-webcams/)

Female Osprey CJ7 having just arrived back

Ospreys are a Schedule 1 species, meaning that they are protected by law in the UK. With the exciting arrival of the pair, guided tours to be able to see the nesting pair will be announced soon with Birds of Poole Harbour and Careys Secret Garden, so keep an eye out for that.

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

We have an incredibly exciting announcement to share!

As many of you will know, last year one of our males from the 2021 cohort of our Poole Harbour Osprey Translocation Project, ringed 374, spent the latter part of the summer visiting several of our nest platforms, where he encountered a female from Rutland, ringed 1H1, who fledged from the livestreamed Manton Bay nest back in 2022. They spent much of the latter part of the summer together establishing a pair bond and moving around several sites, giving us high hopes that they might both return this spring and form the second pair of breeding Ospreys in Southern England since 1847.

Sure enough, 1H1 returned in very good time this season and immediately visited the nest site at Careys Secret Garden, trying her luck with 022 before CJ7 arrived back on March 25th. After swiftly being seen off by CJ7 upon her return on March 26th, 1H1 spent some time roaming the local area and visiting many of the other nest platforms which she and 374 had found the previous summer. With so much spare time on her hands she even ventured further afield to Somerset in early April, but the pull to return to the south coast was strong, no doubt because she was anticipating the return of 374. We were all feeling much the same way!

Then, on the 5th April, during one of our Spring Safari Cruises, a blue-ringed male Osprey passed the boat. Upon inspecting a photo taken by a guest onboard we were thrilled to confirm that the leg ring read 374. He was back!

With both birds back safely in the UK, we were monitoring things closely behind the scenes, hoping that 1H1 was still in the local area and that the pair would be reunited. Just over 24 hours later on April 6th, they did indeed find one other, landing together on one of our new nest platforms which we’d built in July last year at a private site. They began bonding again straight away, and over the following weeks got straight down to business, adding a huge quantity of sticks to the nest, carrying out daily fish swaps and performing plenty of mating attempts (this bit always seems to take a bit of practice for first timers)!

We are now delighted to announce that on April 24th, 1H1 laid her first egg! A clutch of three eggs was laid in total, and on June 3rd their first chick hatched quickly followed by a second on June 5th: an excellent result for first time breeders!

This is another major milestone for the project, and is a real testament to the hard work that goes into reintroduction projects! Not only is 374 a direct product of this process himself, but 1H1 is also from Rutland: a population which was established by reintroduction nearly three decades ago. In fact, she is the granddaughter of translocated male, no less than the famous 03 who was released in 1997 (otherwise known as Mr Rutland due to being the first breeding male in the population and the vast contribution he made to the population over his lifetime)! Their story mirrors almost exactly that of our first pair 022 and CJ7, and is another demonstration of the vital role that dispersing females play in ensuring the health and connectivity of populations.

Ensuring the ongoing protection and success of this important new nest is our absolute priority, and therefore we will not be sharing the location of the site publicly. We appreciate your support in maintaining this privacy, and therefore ask that if you do know or learn of its location that you do not share this information with others. As always we are enormously grateful for the support of the local Rural Crime team and the landowner in ensuring the safety of the breeding pair, and we are working alongside them to provide protection and monitor progress on the ground and via remote cameras. Please be aware that there is no livestream camera on this nest, but we will provide updates on major milestones as the season progresses. In these future communications we will refer to the site simply as “Nest 2”.

Another huge thank you goes to the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation for the support and advice they have provided throughout this process, and to our own staff, volunteers, and all those who have helped to fund the installation of new nest sites and cameras, allowing us to support and monitor this growing population. If you’d also like to make a contribution to our Osprey work you can donate here.

We share our congratulations with the team at Rutland and all of the supporters of both projects. We hope you enjoy the photos and videos below, captured over the course of the season so far, and we can’t wait to see what unfolds across the two(!!) nest sites during the rest of the season!

1H1 and 374 landing on their new nest on April 6th

1H1 performing some pretty major nest constructions early in the season

1H1 and 374 inspecting their first egg lay

1H1 settling down into her new incubation routine

New Osprey pair 374 & 1H1 feeding their new chicks 08/06/25

New Osprey pair 374 & 1H1 feeding their new 2-week old chicks 17/06/25

What a fabulous few years it’s been for our Poole Harbour Ospreys, CJ7 and 022. Since their first successful breeding back in 2022, the pair have produced a further 7 young, with hopefully another 4 this year all being well. With all the excitement, we thought it was about time to start up our Osprey diaries again. As usual you can watch the nest live 24/7 on our YouTube channel. However, on this page we’ll be providing weekly summaries of all the action from the nest and the harbour, including what we’ve been seeing from our Carey Osprey Tours and of other Ospreys spotted in the harbour. 

22nd May – 29th May

Thursday (22nd May) marked the day of the first Osprey chick of the season, hatching early in the morning at 5:30am. Later that morning, it had its first feed, which was a bit of a messy affair! CJ7 soon got back into the swing of things. 

First feed for the first chick of the season

Just a couple of hours after, we noticed a crack in a second egg and sure enough by 7pm, the second egg had hatched. This is due to a behaviour called delayed incubation, where incubation is postponed until the second egg is laid, resulting in a more synchronised hatching.  Just two more to go! On Friday, during our afternoon Carey Osprey Tour, a Grey Heron got a bit too close to the nest and we watched as 022 went into full defence mode. He chased the Heron up into the sky for a couple of minutes, before it eventually got the message and flew away.

The second chick to hatch shortly after the first

There wasn’t long to wait for the next hatching, as the third egg hatched late on Saturday night. It was fabulous to see all three chicks doing well and CJ7 and 022 being so attentive as usual.

CJ7 feeding her three chicks

Away from the nest during Sunday’s Spring Safari, the BoPH team saw 022 in the Wareham Channel firstly catching a fish, before being harassed by a Common Buzzard and then skydancing in reaction to seeing another Osprey in the harbour identified as 1AO, a Scottish ringed male. 

Scottish ringed Osprey – 1AO – dizzygirl66.bsky.social

And that wasn’t the only intruder! On Monday, we had 2-year-old Rutland female 3H9 pay a visit to the Carey nest, whilst CJ7 and 022 were there. Later on, she landed on another of our nest platforms, joined by 022. She’s also been seen at other spots around the south coast this week. Hopefully she’ll stay around and who knows, could be a future local breeder!

022 (left) with 3H9 (right) on another nest platform in the harbour

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, the fourth and final chick of the Carey Osprey nest hatched. CJ7 and 022 are great parents and it’s always a joy to see them very carefully feeding the chicks so each gets a sufficient feed including the fourth chick. It’s only in about 1% of Osprey clutches that they lay 4 eggs, and even rarer for them to all hatch. Now that the hatching is out the way, we should see a rapid growth and development of the chicks over the next few weeks, very quickly turning from being extremely cute to looking like mini dinosaurs!

Four Osprey chicks on the nest

What a week it’s been – here’s to another successful season for our Carey Ospreys.

30th May – 6th June

Welcome back to the Osprey Diaries. 

Now that 022 and CJ7 have hatched their four chicks, they are on high alert for any threats from predators. On Saturday, the last day of spring, one of Poole Harbour’s adult white-tailed eagles flew over the nest. This also happened during incubation, when CJ7 hunkered down over the eggs and kept an osprey eye out as it soared overhead. Today, 022 soared into the sky and made sure to see the white-tailed eagle on its way!

By Wednesday, our chicks had grown a lot already. Chick number four is quite small compared to its siblings, but the eldest are a whole week older. As the younger chick, it doesn’t need quite as much food as its older siblings but still manages to get plenty of fish from 022 and CJ7, especially when chicks one to three are asleep!

Chicks one to three sleep while chick four enjoys a feed

Ospreys, like many bird species, can hold food in their crops for a few hours. Crops are muscular pouches near a bird’s throat, and act as an extension of the oesophagus which can store food for later. For our osprey chicks this is particularly important while they wait for 022 to deliver their next meal.

022 and CJ7 were still keeping their eyes on the skies and visitors to Carey’s Secret Garden were treated to both adults seeing off intruders. At midday, an adult buzzard got too close to the nest for CJ7’s liking. As CJ7 approached the buzzard, it tried to defend itself with its talons. CJ7 briefly flashed hers and the buzzard was soon soaring east. 

Later that afternoon, while both adults were on the nest, a red kite approached. This time, it was 022 who defended the nest, circling around the kite as it flew away. Once the kite was gone, 022 flew back to the nest with a series of acrobatic tumbles. This was another example of sky dancing, mentioned in the last osprey diary, a behaviour that displays stamina to rival ospreys, predators and potential mates. 

Elsewhere in Poole Harbour, Thursday kicked off the weekend of heavy showers and high winds, but that didn’t dissuade 2023 Rutland female 3H9, who was seen visiting one of our other nest platforms on numerous occasions. Fingers crossed she’ll nest here next year with a male!

Female 3H9 on one of our other nest platforms on 6th June

Don’t forget that you can keep up with the Carey Ospreys by watching the 24 hour live feed on our YouTube channel, or you can come and see them in person, plus lots more, with our Carey Osprey Tours. Hopefully, we’ll see you soon!

7th June – 14th June

A week later and the 4 Carey Osprey chicks are definitely in their reptilian-looking stage! Chick number 1 is now over three weeks old, with chick number 4 over 2 weeks old. If you’ve been watching the webcams, you’ll seen they’ve grown and developed incredibly quickly, with their juvenile feathers also emerging. Osprey young are usually almost fully developed by around 5 weeks.

CJ7 with her 4 chicks, feeding chick number 4

It was a cold morning followed by a hot afternoon on Wednesday. 022 brought in a fish at about 8.30 and returned periodically throughout the morning with twigs, and to watch over the chicks while CJ7 stretched her wings. After a long while sat on one of the branches by the nest, CJ7 began pipping and 022 left again to go hunting, returning at 13.58 with the second fish of the day. 

Thursday’s weather was very changeable, with downpours in the morning to sunshine in the afternoon. CJ7 did her best to shelter the chicks from the rain and 022 continued to provide, bringing in a brown trout in the morning and a mullet at midday.

CJ7 attempting to shelter her growing chicks from the rain

On Friday the hot weather continued. There were two fish deliveries from 022 not long after sunrise, then a break for CJ7 to fix up the nest, bringing in twigs which the chicks are started to move around and peck at. She flew east for about 15 minutes and we waited eagerly to see where she had gone. She then returned with a big bundle of hay for the nest. Comfy! At 10am, two Ospreys circled high above the viewing platform though they didn’t seem territorial. We don’t think it was 022 – so perhaps one other Osprey and 3H9 who was seen in the harbour that morning?

The next fish delivery came at midday followed by another before the last Carey Osprey tour wrapped up. The chicks were getting feisty in the nest, with lots of pecking and bickering, but it all settled down come feeding time!  CJ7 was on Buzzard watch a lot of the day, with a raptor fest seen from the Osprey viewing platform including Peregrine, Common Buzzard and lovely views of a hovering Kestrel. 

On Saturday 022 arrived in at 4.30 am with a very early fish, making the most of the early mornings. Later on, at 10:30, CJ7 had a tussle with a red kite low over the nest. Too close for comfort! At 1:30pm that afternoon, CJ7 saw off another red kite (or the same one?) that got too close to the nest. 

CJ7 on watch

We’ve seen 022 on multiple occasions fishing in the Wareham Channel during our Sunset and Summer Safaris, which is always a delight to watch. In other news, on Wednesday, whilst both CJ7 and 022 were on the nest, a new (male?) Osprey was seen in Lytchett Bay. Rutland female 3H9 has also continued to make appearances in the harbour. On Friday morning, she settled on the Middlebere Channel nest platform, viewable from Coombe Heath and RSPB Arne.

Rutland Female 3H9 on the Middlebere nest platform

15th June – 22nd June

It’s been an exciting week for Ospreys all-round! The Carey Osprey chicks are doing incredibly well and CJ7 and 022 have been on raptor watch as the warm weather means Buzzard and Red Kite have been particularly active, soaring on the thermals nearby. The four chicks now have nearly all their juvenile feathers through and are starting to look like their parents! 022 has been bringing in several fish a day, mostly sizeable bass which there are lots of in the harbour at this time of year. At this nest Bass seems to play an important role in their diet in the nestling stage. Chick number 1 is now just over 4 weeks old, almost fully grown!

CJ7 feeding her four chicks

During our Carey Osprey Tours on Tuesday CJ7 flew north at pace and disappeared for a while, so we wonder whether she spotted a distant Goshawk and wasn’t taking any chances.

2 White Stork came close to the nest on Saturday before drifting over Careys Secret Garden, but not a threat to 022 and CJ7.

On Friday, it was all action on the Carey Osprey nest during our tours. Female CJ7 began alarm-calling at 9am in the morning, closely followed by an adult female Honey Buzzard appearing behind the nest and landing in a nearby tree. CJ7 then went in pursuit and we had a fantastic aerial display of both birds, with the Honey Buzzard eventually being driven away. You can see this moment from our Osprey webcams here. 4 Red Kites were seen from the Osprey viewing platform during the afternoon session.

We also announced some extremely exciting news on Friday afternoon. We’re over the moon to say that we now have a second breeding pair of Osprey in southern England, Rutland female 1H1 who fledged from their Manton Bay nest in 2022 and Poole Harbour male 374, who was translocated in 2021 as part of our Osprey project in partnership with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. We are delighted to announce that on April 24th, 1H1 laid her first egg! A clutch of three eggs were laid in total, and on June 3rd their first chick hatched quickly followed by a second on June 5th: an excellent result for first time breeders! You can read further about this fantastic news here: https://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/osprey-news/breaking-news-second-breeding-pair-of-osprey-in-the-south/

1H1 and 374 landing on their new nest on April 6th

On Saturday’s stunning Sunset Cruise male White-tailed Eagle G463 chased down male Osprey 022 for his fish, which he gave up, before going to get another! We saw this during our Osprey Cruises at the end of last Summer, where unsuspecting young Osprey where catching fish a bit too big and the Eagles quickly caught on. This behaviour of the Eagles ‘pirating’ Ospreys and other species for food, in this case fish, is called kleptoparasitism.

Male White-tailed Eagle G463 chasing down male Osprey 022 – Harry McBride

23rd June – 30th June

It was another exciting week for ospreys in the south. The hot weather has been bringing many raptors close to the nest, with CJ7 on high alert for any threats. There were Peregrines, Hobbies, Kestrels, Buzzards and Red kites, the latter two CJ7 has been seeing off with particularly acrobatic displays in flight. On Wednesday evening, we had an amazing sight of CJ7 seeing off an adult Honey Buzzard, with a Hobby flying up above at the same time!

On Thursday, despite the heat, morning drizzle and high winds meant conditions for hunting weren’t favourable, with 022 not returning to the nest with food until the early afternoon on several days. Ospreys hunt for top-feeding fish, those that swim close to the surface. Poor weather conditions can disrupt the surface of the water and make prey difficult to see for our ospreys. With the chicks growing rapidly, space is becoming limited in the nest. CJ7 is now spending more time out of the nest, sat on perches at the edge of the nest or on top of the webcam. With a few weeks to go until fledging, and the chicks now testing their wings, it’s only going to get more cramped.

Carey Osprey Nest at Night

Throughout the week, chick one (female blue ringed 5R3) has been testing her wings, outstretching and gently beating them. We’re sure that soon she will begin displaying ‘helicoptering’ behaviour – chicks hover just above the nest, testing and strengthening their wings before they fledge. 

Eldest chick (female 5R3) flapping her wings

This was the week that our chicks finally reached the right age for ringing! This is usually done at around 5 weeks and early in the morning so it’s nice and cool. Ringing the chicks is done in-situ, on the nest, under license. With CJ7’s strong instinct to guard her nest and young, her alarm calls tell the chicks to ‘pancake’ to the nest and stay still. The ringing process is done quickly and efficiently with great care, and this small period of disturbance doesn’t deter them from nesting the following year. We can now confirm their ring codes, weights, and sex:

5R3 – 1.75kg – female
5R4 – 1.44kg – male
5R5 – 1.45kg – male
5R6 – 1.35kg – male

The eldest chick, which we ringed 5R3 was a whopping 1.7kg which clearly indicates a female weight, where as the other three were all sub 1.5kg which indicates males. Having three male chicks is always good news, as it is the males which display natal philopatry and have a draw to come back to where they fledged to later breed!

1st July – 8th July

What an eventful week! We’ve had the first ‘helicoptering’ of this years chicks, 022 managed to impress further by bringing in two fish at a time (one on each foot), and it’s getting closer and closer to when we expect them to begin fledging from this Friday (11th July)! Osprey chicks tend to begin fledging at around 7 weeks old. On Thursday (1st) we noticed 5R3 taking the fish brought in by 022 and feeding herself, whilst CJ7 kept on feeding the younger three. We’ll see this happen even more in the next couple of days. On Wednesday, after our last Osprey Tour of the day, we had an ‘intruder’ Osprey high up over the platform. It wasn’t CJ7 and 022 and despite getting distant photographs we weren’t able to identify it or read the ring code, but it’s good to know the nest continues to interest ‘new’ Ospreys. Throughout the week, CJ7 has been on guard for other birds of prey venturing too close to the nest. On Tuesday (8th), she disappeared off the nest for a while, after alarm-calling and stooping down near the bare trees around the nest. Eventually she settled back on the nest, but we were unable to identify what was bothering her. About 15 minutes later, we heard a Common Buzzard calling and could see it was mobbing a Honey Buzzard close to the osprey platform! Perhaps the Honey Buzzard was once again the culprit? Also that afternoon, male chick 5R5 began to helicopter, giving it a good go before settling back onto the nest with his siblings.

Eldest female (5R3) flapping away!

Chicks hunkering down

Unidentified blue-ringed Osprey – Lytchett Bay – Richard Stephenson

022 landing with not 1, but 2 fish!!

5R5 starting to ‘helicopter!’

The fourth egg of the season was laid on Tuesday 22nd April at 13:23, making a complete clutch for the year. Ospreys will typically lay a clutch of three eggs, with only around 1% of Osprey nests estimated to hold four eggs. This is the second year that the pair CJ7 and 022 have produced four eggs, and after the successful fledging and migration of all four chicks last year, we’re hopeful for another great season.

CJ7 standing over her clutch of four eggs

The prior eggs were each laid 3 days apart, with the first laid on the evening of the 13th April. We anticipate hatching to take place from the 20th May onwards, with incubation usually lasting an average of 37 days, often with the first egg taking slightly longer. Both CJ7 and 022 will incubate the eggs, and CJ7 will stay close to the nest at all times, with male 022 doing all of the hunting for the pair.

We’re running our Carey Osprey Tours in partnership with Careys Secret Garden throughout the season, providing views of the nesting birds at a safe distance and the opportunity to learn more about the project. These tours are available by pre-booking only, and we ask that people do not turn up to Careys Secret Garden and attempt to view the nest outside of these tours as it risks disturbing the birds. All available dates up until mid-May can be found here on our website. You can also follow along with all the updates on the LIVE webcams here as we await the next egg to be laid!

After lots of courtship, fish handovers, nest building, mating and the odd intrusion by another Osprey(!) we now have the first egg at the Careys Secret Garden nest. This is fantastic news and 2 days earlier than last year. We’ll expect the next eggs to be laid 3 days apart, so Wednesday could be when we see the next one. The average time for the eggs to hatch is 37 days although the first egg often takes 40 days, due to delayed incubation. So, we’re looking at hatching between 20th-23rd May! Since egg-laying both CJ7 and 022 have been dutifully brooding.

Close-up of the first Egg

Our Carey Osprey Tours start this week offering the exclusive chance to come and see the nesting pair and now their first egg in person! If you’re lucky you could even witness the next eggs being laid. Now that we have our first egg, CJ7 will be spending almost all of her time at the nest as she begins to brood, so it’s a great time to come and see the Carey Ospreys. You can find out more and book here.

CJ7 and her first Egg

You can follow along with all the updates on the LIVE webcams here as we await the next egg to be laid!

The pair, identified by their leg rings as CJ7 (the female) and 022 (the male), have bred at their secluded nest site at Careys Secret Garden near Wareham since 2022. They are currently the only breeding pair in the whole of the South, having become established due to a reintroduction project which started in 2017, led by local charity Birds of Poole Harbour and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation.

Ospreys CJ7 (left) and 022 (right) reunited

Ospreys are a fish-eating bird of prey, making treacherous migrations each year to breed in the UK, travelling from their wintering grounds usually in western Africa. The species were once present across the whole of the UK, but were sadly lost as a breeding bird due to human persecution. Significant conservation efforts, including reintroductions, have been used to help them return to their former range over the last 70 years, and it is hoped that the Poole Harbour project will help them to spread across the South Coast.

Last year the pair reared a record number of four chicks, which is an uncommon occurrence on UK Osprey nests, and it is hoped that they will do so again this year. 

Liv Elwood, Birds of Poole Harbour Manager, commented: “It’s wonderful to see the return of this special pair of Ospreys once again. They are playing a very important role in the recolonisation of the species in southern England, and we are excited to see what happens on the nest this year. So many members of the public love watching these birds online via the webcams, and it’s stories like these that help give people hope for the future of our wildlife in the UK.”

Ospreys are a Schedule 1 species, meaning that they are protected by law in the UK. Guided tours to be able to see the nesting pair will be announced soon with Birds of Poole Harbour and Careys Secret Garden, but in the meantime the livestream webcams can be watched online via the Birds of Poole Harbour website (www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/osprey/osprey-webcams/).

Female Osprey CJ7 on the nest on Wednesday morning