So cold! Mid-week was delightful with even a hint of spring warmth, but today was proper chilly. Cold enough to bring 2 Eider into Pilots Point and 4 Great Northern Diver into the harbour at dawn. The 2 Mandarin Duck were still in Poole Park and the Cattle Egret was still in the Norden Fields with the highland cattle. There were 6 different White-tailed Eagles in and around the harbour at different points during the day with some new arrivals arriving in from further north and one from the Isle of Wight, plus our local pair and the wandering 1st year individuals. A ringtail Hen Harrier was seen again in Middlebere.

Finally, we’re delighted to share that our Osprey Cruises were awarded the GOLD AWARD for ‘Experience of the Year’ at the 2024/25 Dorset Tourism Awards yesterday evening! This award celebrates the culmination of years of hard work for our team and partners, from the delivery of the Osprey reintroduction project, to aspiring to give every one of our customers a memorable, exciting and informative experience on our boat trips. We’re proud to be showing that reintroduction projects not only form a critical part of species recovery, but are drivers of eco-tourism and environmental education too.

Huge thanks goes to Greenslades Pleasure Boats and all our fabulous volunteers who help us deliver our trips to such a high standard. It was also wonderful to see Carey Secret Garden (home of Osprey pair CJ7 and 022) take home 3(!) awards last night! Congratulations to all the winners.
Thanks to the Dorset Tourism Awards for this opportunity and for everyone who has supported our charity by joining our events. We’ll be announcing our Osprey Cruise dates for 2025 very soon, so watch this space.

Mandarin Ducks – Poole Park – John Newman

Collecting our Gold Award at the Dorset Tourism Awards last night