Osprey ringing 2026 update

Can you believe that we’re now into our fifth year of breeding of Ospreys here in Southern Britain! When the project started back in 2017, thoughts of ringing wild hatched Osprey chicks seemed so far away, and it was! With breeding not occurring until 2022, we had to wait five years before that opportunity became a reality, but here we are in 2026 with not just one, but two nests to visit each summer to ring the Osprey chicks.

Carey Ospreys being ringed at the nest

Yesterday (July 1^st 2026) we went and ringed both nests on the same day as all chicks were of ringable size, so we thought we may as well get it all done in one day. The day started early with the ringing of the four chicks of male 022 and female CJ7 at Carey Secret Garden which is always a privilege but also a challenge due to the size of the 30m+ tree. In 2022 we lowered the chicks to the ground to be ringed, but have since opted to ring the chicks in the nest as it reduces any risk whilst lowering them. Ringing the chicks in the nest also presents a slight challenge due to the fact that four large chicks often take up much of the space, with ringing and measuring space being rather limited. We had an extra dilemma this year too due to the fact that the recent storms had seen our webcam microphone break, meaning we had to order new parts to fix it, which we couldn’t do until we went to ring the chicks. Ideally we would have ringed the chicks on either June 28^th, 29^th or 30th, but the new microphone parts didn’t arrive until late Tuesday, meaning we had to wait 2-3 days longer than normal, and 2-3 days growth in Osprey terms is a lot. On the whole they were mostly well behaved, despite some nipping, and angered wing flapping and for the safety of the birds (and the ringer!) quickly each of the chicks were ringed, measured and weighed, albeit with the blue darvics being put on the wrong way round….doh! So for this year the ring numbers and sexes are…….

Carey Osprey Nest

6T6 – Presumed female

6T7 – Presumed female

6T8 – Presumed female

6T9 – Presumed female

After ringing the Carey nest we made our way to the ‘Nest 2’ site, where our male 374 and his mate, Rutland 1H1 are now in their second year of breeding. Last year they produced two young, and we’re thrilled to announce that this year they have three healthy chicks in the nest. This is a great result and means that (hopefully) by the end of this summer, SEVEN new Ospreys will have fledged from ‘South Coast’ pairs this summer, making that a combined total of TWENTY TWO since they established in 2022.

Nest 2

7T0 – Presumed male

7T1 – Presumed male

7T2 – Un-sexed but possibly male

It’s also important to remember that it’s not just our south coast Ospreys that are producing young which are contributing to the wider population recovery across the UK. There are also several females that have originated from Poole Harbour which have gone on to nest elsewhere with Poole females 014, 019 and 372 all breeding at sites across Wales, and our first ever chick to fledge from Carey, female 5H1, who is now an established breeder herself close to the Rutland population and is now in her second year of nesting.

So, as we enter the latter part of the nesting season and we wish our chicks a safe fledging process (and eventually) a safe southward migration, thoughts of next year already come to mind and with three new males of ours desperate to breed locally (it seems), will our ringing efforts return double digits next year? Who knows, but one thing we do know is that Ospreys are fast becoming a favourite and permanent fixture to our already stunning south coast landscape.

Nest 2 chicks being ringed