The Ospreys are back !!

Lots of good news, with most of the young Ospreys now fledged, including the four at Poole and the pair of males at Balgarvie, also those on a new nest on private grounds near Perth.

However there was a bit of very sad news. One of the chicks from Aylth, that had been translocated to Spain, because they were not being fed sufficiently, has just died after looking so for and having been so well looked after. An autopsy will be carried out to determine actual cause of death but the thought is that it was a degenerative condition which brought on heart failure.

The latest Blog from Keilder Ospreys make for interesting reading.

https://kielderospreys.wpcomstaging.com/blog/

 More good news, from Tweed Valley Osprey Project, which can be seen on their Facebook page.

https://m.facebook.com/tweedvalleyospreyproject

 Edit from yesterday. I said that it was a chick from Aylth that had died when it should have read that it was one of the Loch Arkaig chicks. Sorry for the confusion.

The link for the details of the Loch Arkaig chick.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15457681

It looks as if all, or nearly all, of is year's young that have survived have now fledged. Special mention should be made of the four at Poole, a fantastic success for such a young breeding pair in only their second season.

Should anyone wish to view some great pictures of Ospreys in flight I would recommend the Balgavies Loch Ospreys Facebook pages.

The Spring and early Summer weather certainly hasn’t helped our ospreys, it’s been unusually wet and windy as I’m sure we are all abundantly aware of and those breeding pairs up and down the length of the UK needed settled weather and they didn’t get it. 
Yes, the Poole Harbour birds have been luckier than most, and such a young family too. Interestingly these birds feed primarily on mullet, flatfish and other marine fish species. Maybe more could now be done to encourage the reintroduction of ospreys in similar estuarine environments. I’d love to see this happen around the Humber and Wash areas, after all, they do breed in similar environments else where abroad.