CJ7 captured on one of the harbour nest platforms

She returned on the morning of the 2nd of April, captured through one of our motion-sensitive cameras on a nesting platform in the harbour. The fleeting visit to the nest occurred at 11:11am, but we expect to make another appearance soon. This is the fourth time CJ7 has come to summer in Poole Harbour, and hopes are high for potential breeding this year. The passage of Ospreys through the harbour so far this spring has been difficult to record due to isolation, but nevertheless we have had several reports of the last few weeks. We are keeping our fingers crossed for the return of male Osprey LS7 soon.

CJ7 & LS7

CJ7 is a female Osprey who hatched from a nest in Rutland in 2015. When she returned to the UK from her wintering grounds in 2017, she summered in Poole Harbour, seemingly attracted by the released juveniles from the translocation project. The following summer she returned again, though no male Ospreys were in the harbour. In 2019 she returned yet again on April 1st, and spent a lot of early spring on nest platforms, even nest building. With fortunately, one of the male Ospreys from the 2017 translocation returned in June.. ringed LS7. He immediately met CJ7 and they spent the rest of the summer pair bonding on nest platforms through the rest of the summer. This led to a fundraiser to install a livestream webcam on one of their favoured nests, which can be found here:

A new Osprey nest webcam which live streams from a secret site within Poole Harbour has gone live for public viewing. The camera which was installed by local charity Birds of Poole Harbour and funded through a public fundraiser that ran over the Christmas period live streams a man-made Osprey nest within the harbour. The charity hopes the nest gets utilised this spring, which if successful will be the first nesting attempt of Osprey in Southern England for the first time in nearly 200 years.

The Birds of Poole Harbour charity in partnership with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and local tech firm Wildlife Windows began a 5-year Osprey reintroduction scheme back in 2017 with the aim of re-establishing a south coast breeding population of Osprey after they were made extinct due to human persecution 180 years ago. The charity have been relocating wild Osprey chicks from Scotland and raising them here in Poole Harbour for the last three years and spring 2020 could be the first time the project team see’s a nesting attempt here in the harbour.

Charity co-founder Paul Morton explained;

‘This is such an exciting time for the project, as we could see the first nesting attempt this year as Osprey begin to migrate back from West Africa. Last year saw the first return of one of our chicks from 2017, a young male called LS7 and he immediately hit it off with a female called CJ7 that had been hanging around the harbour for a number of summers. We set up camera traps on nest platforms last spring and got some incredible photos of the pair together. Last year he was too young to breed, but this spring he should hopefully now be thinking about raising a family”

LS7 & CJ7 photographed on nest platform in summer 2019 on camera trap

Last year the pair spent the whole of the summer in Poole Harbour pair-bonding and were even seen occasionally nest building on several nest platforms around the harbour. It’s hoped that both LS7 and CJ7 return safely from West Africa over the next few weeks and settle on one of the nest platforms that have been erected locally.

Paul added;

“The truth is, we have no idea what’s going to happen this spring or summer but based on our knowledge of other Osprey nesting sites in the UK and the behaviour exhibited by LS7 and CJ7 last summer, we can make an educated guess on how things might pan out this year. We were keen to get a webcam set up on a Poole Harbour nest platform so that the local community can also enjoy this historic moment. There’s every chance they may decide not to nest on the platform we’ve put the camera on, and in fact choose to nest somewhere else. Well, if that’s the case we’ll just wait until the end of the summer and for the Ospreys to leave before moving the camera in time for next spring as Osprey are extremely faithful to nest sites. There will almost certainly be Osprey activity of sorts on our nest web cam during the spring, summer and autumn for people to enjoy though”

 The camera and it’s installation was funded by a public fundraiser campaign as well as generous donations by Osprey Europe and the Fine Family Foundation. The project partners hope that with the current local and global situation, this virtual connection to nature will provide a welcome distraction for anyone in self isolation, as well as potential learning opportunities for parents that are beginning to home school due to the recent school closures. The charity has several other live webcams including a busy feeding station at Livability Holton Lee and nesting islands on the Dorset Wildlife Trust Brownsea Lagoon all of which provide a fascinating insight into the busy lives of our feathered friends.

The project team have partnered with the National Wildlife Crime Unit and the Dorset Police Rural Crime Team to ensure the long-term protection of any nesting attempt around the harbour.

Claire Dinsdale from the Dorset Wildlife Crime Team explained

“Ospreys are a schedule one species in the UK meaning they have the highest level of protection under the wildlife and countryside act, therefore making it an offence to disturb them on or around their nesting sites. It’s hoped that the new nest cam will provide the public with the opportunity to see the nesting process of this incredible bird with viewing access of the nest later negotiated with any landowners if it’s safe and responsible to do so. We’re seeking the public’s cooperation in not mentioning on social media where the webcam nest is, as not to increase the risk of disturbance in the early part of the breeding season.

Birds of prey are unfortunately target and victims of crime, often with immense suffering. We will robustly investigate any suspicious death and bring the offenders to justice. We will also take action against those who disturb these magnificent birds, especially when nesting. This includes use of drones or photography”

If any willdife crime is in progress, call 999. Anyone with information can contact Dorset Police atwww.dorset.police.uk, via email 101@dorset.pnn.police.uk or call 101. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

For more information on wildlife crime visit the National Wildlife Crime Unit’s website atwww.nwcu.police.uk.

The Osprey season is officially upon us – this week the first first Osprey, a nesting female, has returned to Rutland Water. Amongst this excitement is our anticipation for our new livestream webcam to go live. Over the past few weeks, the Wildlife Windows team, partners in the Poole Harbour Osprey Project, have been busy installing the camera, as well as doing maintenance and making improvements to several artificial nest platforms.

The fantastic support of our winter fundraiser allowed us to purchase and install the webcam, along with other important aspects of the project, including motion-sensitive cameras on other nest platforms. The new webcam should be streaming on our website in the next week or so, and, once our HQ on Poole Qay reopens, we hope to have it streaming live on screens in there too. Thank you to all who have donated and sponsored us throughout the fundraiser, the response has been immense. You can still support the Osprey project fundraiser through our Just Giving page or through coming along on our Osprey Fundraiser Cruise in May, which has been kindly sponsored by Osprey Europe.

Our latest video blog discusses the new camera installation, which you can watch here:

A new Osprey feeding platform has been installed on Pergins Island, Holes Bay to try and encourage migrating Osprey to use the busier areas of Poole Harbour, therefore bucking the trend of this typically shy bird of prey. The concept is being trialed due to the increase in Osprey activity in the northern area of Holes Bay last autumn, when three different Osprey began using the island as a feeding site in the early part of October 2019. For around two weeks the three juvenile Ospreys could be seen hunting for fish next to the dual carriageway on the outskirts of Poole, before grabbing a Grey Mullet out of the shallows and taking their meal back to Pergins Island to feed.

New Osprey Platform – Pergins Island

Local charity Birds of Poole Harbour are currently running an Osprey reintroduction scheme in the harbour which seeks to re-establish Osprey as a breeding bird in southern Britain for the first time in almost 200 years, but as the charities co-founder Paul Morton explained, these three particular Osprey were nothing to do with their project, and were in fact migrants that had likely originated from Scotland and were on their way south to West Africa.

Paul stated;

“It was incredible to see Osprey hunting on the edge of town last October, with the RNLI building and Twin Sails Bridge in the background, it was almost an iconic moment. Our reintroduction scheme is hoping to see nesting Osprey in the Poole Harbour area sometime in the near future, but it’s also key to remember that each year we see good numbers of Osprey pass through the harbour on their migrations back and forth between their breeding sites up north and their over-wintering sites in West Africa. It’s for that very reason Poole Harbour was chosen to host the project”

Peak Osprey activity in Poole Harbour tends to take place during April and August, with quiet sites such as RSPB Arne and Middlebere seeing most activity. However, last year’s three juveniles obviously took a liking to the Holes Bay area and seemed un-phased by the busy road as they often flew close to the cycle path that borders the bay.

Paul continued..

“The views were so good our charity decided to put on some ‘pop up’ viewing stations along the Holes Bay cycle path with telescopes and binoculars for people to use. Over a few days many people turned up to see the birds, and people were getting some incredible photos. This new platform which was kindly sponsored by a local from Lytchett Matravers will hopefully encourage Osprey to use Pergins Island on a regular basis and provide similar opportunities in the future”

Osprey – Holes Bay – Fiona Liddiard

Ospreys are timid birds by their very nature due to the history of persecution they suffered across Western Europe, often favouring to stay away from humans. The Birds of Poole Harbour team, in partnership with BCP Council, are keen to see that behaviour change and agreed to place a feeding platform on the western edge of Pergins Island which will hopefully give any migrating Osprey’s a reason to stick around. The platform essentially looks like a nest, though is smaller in scale than a true Osprey nest, but it’s hoped that over time they’ll begin utilising this platform and start getting used to busier areas.

Pergins Island is owned by BCP council but has no public access so should Osprey begin using it on a regular basis in the future then they should feel safe from the hub-bub of the busy shoreline. Plus, with the nest being visible from the Upton CP shoreline it’s hoped that if any Osprey do utilise the platform during migration then visitors will be able to encounter these special birds.

Councillor Dr Felicity Rice, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Climate Change  stated ‘This is a very inspiring project and demonstrates that we can potentially bring wildlife back into our urban areas.’

Jez Martin from BCP council added

“This is a wonderful opportunity to encourage this fantastic bird to be more regularly seen in Holes Bay so close to Upon County Park”

Although it’s thought that Osprey will initially attempt to nest in a quiet corner of the harbour somewhere, it’s hoped that over several years their behaviour and confidence will change and possibly see them attempt to nest at sites like Pergins Island.

Last week saw the first reported sightings of Ospreys back in the UK, therefore it’s only a matter of time before we start to see birds passing back through Poole Harbour.

With it being such a crucial and exciting time for the project, this year we’ll be posting video updates from the project, giving you more insight into what we’re up to, whats happening with Osprey activity and of course info on any nesting attempts we may encounter!

We’ll be covering topics such as the new nest cam, nest protection, Osprey activity in the harbour, Osprey migration and more! So, with Spring now well underway, here’s our first video to kick off the season: Enjoy!

We were treated to an early Christmas present on December 24th 2019, with the first sighting of one of our newly-released Ospreys seen at Gunjur Quarry in the Gambia. Since then, the same individual, ringed 019, has been reported twice in the same location, on January 19th and February 29th.

After their first migration, young Ospreys spend much of the winter roaming large distances to find an ideal over-wintering site. Gunjur Quarry is very suitable for Ospreys, often supporting 30-40 individuals at a time. 019 was first reported there by Joanna Dailey with her local guide Fansu Bojang. Since then Chris Wood, who has spent a lot of time near the site, has seen her on 2 occasions.

019 – Chris Wood

This could suggest that 019 is settling in at Gunjur Quarry, which is promising as we know it is well-monitored and perfect for supporting Ospreys. During the project last year, 019 was the smallest individual to be translocated, the last to fly, and the last to leave on migration. Evidently, her slower development has not impacted her survival instincts, and she can be seen looking very healthy in the most recent photo we have been sent by Chris Wood.

This is very exciting news, especially as we enter UK Osprey season in the next few weeks. Will she be reported there again and will we have reports of any other translocated juveniles in their wintering grounds? We need to be on the lookout for any returnees so keep your eyes on the skies, and stay updated about local Osprey information with our blogs.

Now over halfway through the project, we will start to see the impact of our hard work, and hopefully be closer to our aim of restoring a breeding population of Ospreys to the South Coast.

We’ve got another busy translocation season ahead and will be releasing a new cohort of juvenile Ospreys from Scotland, with up to 12 individuals. Over Christmas, we received fantastic news affirming the success of our 2019 season, which was a sighting of recently released juvenile 019 in The Gambia. This sighting was reported by Joanna Dailey who sent us some beautiful photos of 019 looking healthy and in her element at Gunjur Quarry, some 3,500 miles away (see photo). She’s now been seen there on two occasions, most recently on the 19^th of January, reported by the team from the Osprey Leadership Foundation. The translocation work will start again in the summer, but before then we will have plenty to be getting on with…

We’ve been working hard over the winter to plan for this season and to fundraise for our project developments, including the much-anticipated Osprey nest webcam! Last year, the project saw the first signs of success when 2-year-old translocated male, LS7, returned to the harbour in June. By a stroke of fate, he met a Rutland-born female, CJ7, who has been summering in the harbour since 2017, and the pair quickly began bonding and nest-building on platforms around the harbour. The response to this story and to our fundraising campaign has been incredible, meaning that we will be able to stream live Osprey updates online, should we be so lucky as to have nesting birds. Although nothing can be guaranteed this season, including both of their return, we have our suspicions of their preferred nesting site, and so will be installing the webcam on that nest over the next month or so. We are hosting another fundraising cruise, sponsored by Osprey Europe, on the 10^th of May for the campaign, so come join us during the Osprey season as we explore the harbour.

Adding to the anticipation for the Osprey season, is the increased likelihood of returnee adults. Last summer, we saw LS7 and CJ7 pair-bonding in the harbour, but this year they could be joined by others. Ospreys will typically first return to the UK aged between 2-3 years, which means we could see new individuals both from year 1 and 2 of the translocation project. We also may see individuals like Beaky, a female who has spent a lot of time in the harbour last year during spring and autumn, return and potentially summer in the area.

For now, we can sit tight and wait for the next 2 months to pass, keeping our fingers crossed for another successful season!

TO DONATE TO OUR JUST GIVING PAGE CLICK HERE

The Osprey reintroduction project aims to restore a breeding population of this charismatic bird of prey to the South Coast, led by Birds of Poole Harbour, the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and Wildlife Windows. Ospreys were present throughout the UK 200 years ago, until they were driven to extinction through persecution and egg collecting. Fortunately, they naturally recolonised Scotland in the mid 1900s, but help has been needed to bring them back to England and Wales. Following the success of a reintroduction project in Rutland in 1996, which has since led to the colonisation of Wales, the Ospreys are having a helping hand in spreading their population once again through this reintroduction project in Poole Harbour.

We are now in the third year of the 5-year project, which started in 2017. During this time, we have permission to collect up to 60 chicks from Scottish nests, provided by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. The chicks are then raised and released near Poole Harbour, and will leave for wintering migration within 3 months. They typically winter in West Africa and will return to the UK in a few years time, once they are mature and ready to breed themselves. We are just over halfway through and have had our first Osprey return from 2017 this year (LS7), a fantastic achievement as the migration routes are treacherous. He has been fortunate enough to find a female (CJ7) this year a success story from the Rutland project being offspring from one of those now natural nests in the Midlands. We are hopeful that in the next few years we will have the first breeding pair of Ospreys in nearly two centuries, and we want to be able to reach and engage with as many people as possible about this exciting achievement. One way in which we are planning to do this is through having a camera attached to the nest to live-stream the season next year – a successful engagement tool used at many Osprey breeding sites in the UK. We have been using motion-sensitive cameras on the artificial nests around the harbour, which take fantastic photos when birds land on the nests, as seen in the cover photo of LS7 and CJ7. These cameras give us great insight into which nests the birds are favouring, but a live-stream camera would give us a whole new perspective and mean that people can watch from their own home too. We are fundraising to buy and install this live-stream camera, as well as erecting new nests and developing infrastructure for the Osprey Project over the next few years. Your donations will go a long way in contributing to the restoration of breeding Ospreys and engaging people with these incredible birds on the south coast.

LS7 and CJ7 on artificial nest platform

June and July were busy prepping for the arrival of this year’s Osprey chicks, brought down from Scotland by our project partners, the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. It was the start of the third season of the project and would eventually mark the halfway point once the birds were released in early August. Following the hardships of last year where some of the chicks died due to a vitamin deficiency and heatwave affecting the younger birds, we decided to do an overhaul of the process to ensure that it would not happen again. With this in mind we made many changes, including an increase in staff working on the project, adjusting the pen design and monitoring systems, changing the release site and fish supply, and, most significantly, increasing the age of the birds that were brought down to Poole. A change in release site meant there was lots to do in preparation, but everything was ready in place for their eventual arrival on July 15th.

Over the course of the 5-year project, we have permission to receive up to 60 chicks from Scottish nests. This year, we had 11 feisty juveniles arrive, all stronger than in previous years due to their older age. On the morning of their arrival the birds settled well into the pens, and we had some of them wing flapping within the first hour! By the end of day, 3 of the chicks (017, 022 and 025) were even making short flights within the pens. It was a great sign of the success to come this season.

The juveniles stayed in the pens for the next 3 weeks, with the dedicated staff and volunteer team monitoring their behaviour and health, as well as preparing plenty of fish (c450kg to be precise) to ensure their growth before release. This summer wasn’t as hot as 2018, but there were a few days of heat where we took extra precautions to cool the birds and made sure there was a fresh fish supply to avoid the food from drying out.

While they were in the pens the birds developed well and showed ever-increasing strength so that by the time of the releases, they were ready and raring to go. The releases took place in early August when all the birds had successfully made short flights, and many had been carrying fish to perches within the pens. Earlier that week the birds were radio tagged by Roy Dennis, Tim Mackrill and Jason Fathers, which ran smoothly. This tagging is a vital part of the translocation, which meant that the Ospreys could be released safely, and we would be able to track them.

Juveniles in flight – Alison Copland

We released the birds over 3 days, with 021 and 023 leaving on the first morning and showing off their strong flying skills immediately. After early starts with the pens being opened at 5:30, the following days showed the new release site to be an excellent choice, as the birds made the most of the surrounding habitat and stayed close to the site for most of the season. We spent August then tracking the birds via their radio tags and were pleased to see them venture towards and around the harbour as September drew near, including views from one of our BoPH Osprey cruises!

The birds took us by surprise in that we only had them on the release site for a further 4 weeks before they left on migration. Rather than a staggered departure of the birds leaving, the final 6 all left on the same day, and by the 6th of September, we were left with empty nests! During the week of migrations, we were met with mixed feelings as, unfortunately, 025 was found by the team on the release site having been predated. This was particularly sad to discover as 025 was in prime condition for migration and was likely to have left over the following days. Predation is a natural threat to Ospreys, whether they are from natural nests or reintroductions, but nevertheless it was disappointing for the team. However, it was great to know that the other birds would have also been in fantastic conditions when they left, and we gave them the best start possible for their migrations. Let’s hope we see them back in 2021…

Looking ahead, we are really excited for next year as we could potentially have natural nesting attempt. We will therefore be fundraising throughout the winter and spring before they arrive back to provide a live-stream camera on the nest that LS7 and CJ7 have been favouring. This means that you will be able to view their progress from home if they nest next year! We have launched a Just Giving page in aid of the Osprey Project, including the live-stream camera and other project developments which you can donate to here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/harbourospreys

We will keep you up to date with our continued work on the Osprey Project throughout the rest of the year and keep our fingers and toes crossed for next year!

As many of you will know, this year we entered the third year of our Poole Harbour Osprey translocation project. With our first returning bird (male LS7) from 2017 arriving back this summer we’re already beginning to see the fruits of our labour. However, until recently there was still three years of translocation to carry out. Well, we’re glad to announce that on July 15th this year, the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation arrived here in Poole with eleven big, healthy Osprey chicks for our 2019 project, which were received by our Birds of Poole Harbour Osprey team here in Poole who began the long and dedicated process of raising these youngsters.

After three long weeks and A LOT of fish pepping, we’re thrilled to announce that all eleven fledged successfully this past weekend and have been happily settling into their new surroundings with lots of active flying, calling, playing and generally getting up to mischief. The hard work is by no-means over as it’s now our role to keep a track of these birds as they begin to build in confidence and eventually begin to explore the wider harbour in a few weeks’ time.

It’s possible that when they begin venturing towards the harbour, they may settle on some of the harbour nest platforms such as Middlebere, so please be on the lookout for ring numbers 015 – 025, blue ring on right leg.

This is such exciting news that we thought you’d like to see some footage of two of the class of 2019 feeding on one of the feed platforms just after they’d been released. In fact, it was so exciting that would you believe it, only hours after releasing the first couple of birds, guess who turned up…..yep……CJ7. She has now been with the chicks every day since, and today even tried stealing fish from one of them on one of our feeding nests!

Thanks everyone for all your generous support and kind words over the year. Next spring could be incredibly exciting which makes all this hard work and constant fish smell so worth it.

We’ll post a full blog in due course, but we’re currently trying to keep track of eleven delinquent Osprey chicks, so in the meantime, enjoy the video!