NEWS PUBLISHED IN MARCH 2006

Early March: a new Osprey season in Rutland Despite the very wintry weather the Rutland Osprey project was underway once again. Project Officer, Tim Mackrill, who had been working right through the winter, was joined by regular staff members John Wright, Tricia and Barrie Galpin. Please click here to visit the staff page. We were delighted to announce that there would be two extra staff joining us from the beginning of April: Martin Blee and Paul Stammers will be working as Information Assistants in the Visitor Centre. A feature of this summer will be video images from the breeding nest displayed in the Visitor Centre. A camera is being installed and this will also enable us to play frequent live web-cam images on this website. So, hopefully from the end of March... watch this space!	Osprey and Wildlife Cruises in 2006 Our evening cruises aboard the Rutland Belle were already proving extremely popular. Full details are here.   Items for sale The Rutland Osprey DVD, and a limited-edition print - details are here.
Osprey news from mainland Europe Rolf Wahl, who monitors Ospreys in the Forest of Orleans, Central France, started looking for Ospreys on his patch on the first of March. The weather there had been very cold with snow. Rolf said that a few migrating Ospreys were reported in SW France around 20 February and there had been sightings through the winter with at least two resident in two different places. Rolf's work is described on the LPO website. There are particularly interesting photos showing a young Osprey being ringed by Rolf last June and then photgraphed in Parc National du Djouj, Senegal in November. On 20 March Rolf reported 16 Ospreys identified on or close to 8 of the 15 Ospreys back at nest sites that he monitors in the Forest of Orleans. The first Osprey arrived in the region on 7 March, four days earlier than last year. From the Netherlands Ruud Kampf sent an email pointing out the latest addition to his website. Follow this link and you will find amazing pictures of an artificial Osprey nest that has been built high on a powerline pylon amid a frozen flat Dutch landscape. Ruud's website http://rekel.nl/visarenden is full of interesting Osprey pictures from around the world.
What happened to the nest during the winter?
This picture was taken on 3 September as the Ospreys left ...	... and this is how it looked in early March
We're always anxious to see what the winter weather has done to the breeding nest while the Ospreys have been away. As the pictures above show, it wasn't too bad this year. As usual the top level of loose sticks had disappeared and in its place there was some grass beginning to grow!

19th century Ospreys

Robert Ovens of Rutland History Society has drawn our attention to a book by C Reginald Haines: The Birds of Rutland, which was published in 1907. Here is what Haines said about Ospreys, with some comments below.

OSPREY, Pandion Haliaetus. (Fish hawk.)

An occasional visitor on its spring passage to the Burley and Exton Ponds (1) . One came on the same day, and even almost the same hour, to the Burley Ponds every year from 1878 to 1883, staying thirty hours on each occasion. In 1884 it was shot at Coleorton in Leicestershire, (2) and another was not seen till April 2, 1886 (3). Again in the spring of 1894 it was seen at Exton by W. Whittington, park keeper, and again on February 21 and March 5, 1898 (4). There is a stuffed specimen at Burley House, which was most probably shot at the ponds.

The late Mr. R. Tryon describes the fishing operations of one which he watched at Burley Lower Pond - no doubt one of the above mentioned birds. It dropped like a stone with its wings slightly open, then rose from the water with what might have been a Jack in its claws.

(1) The country houes at Burley and Exton had large estates, both to the north of the existing reservoir. Their ponds were no doubt stocked with fish and an important food supply for both humans and passing Ospreys. Burley Ponds were incorporated into the reservoir when it was built. They formed the area known as Fishponds in the north-west corner of the reservoir. In the 21st century it is once again a good place to see Ospreys fishing.

(2) Coleorton is in north-west Leicestershire, some 50 km away. Haines assumes that this was the same Osprey but must have had little way of knowing.

(3) The point here is that there were very few Ospreys indeed passing through England at that time - far less than are seen on migration now. The Scottish population may have become extinct in 1908 and these records show that it was not only persecution on the breeding grounds that was responsible for their demise.

(4) These are most surprising dates. If W. Whittington was right in his identification the Osprey(s) in 1898 passed through nearly a month earlier than their descendents 100 years later.

Any comments?

If you have any thoughts about the above please send us an email. In particular it would be fascinating to know whether anyone can supply dates or details of migrating Ospreys in other parts of the country at the end of the 19th century.

Mid March: Ospreys heading north

Many Ospreys were now back at their nest sites in Central France (see above) and reports of Ospreys in England were beginning to trickle in. For example, the Northamptonshire Bird Club website reported an Osprey at Pitsford Water at 9:00 am on 13 March, and another at Harlestone on 19th March. One reported in Devon on 21st.

Until 23 March there were no reports of Ospreys (or any other summer migrants) in Rutland - very understandable in view of the weather!

The chart below gave a clue as to when our first Ospreys might arrive. The earliest sighting since records began at the Nature Reserve was 13 March in 2001 - a migrant passing through. Last year the breeding male arrived on 22 March.

23rd March: one Osprey here

At 3:45 in the afternoon as members of the team approached the nest where breeding has occurred since 2001, John Wright saw an Osprey dropping down and landing on the nest for about a minute before flying away towards the reservoir. Could it have been 03(97) back for another year? It was certainly a male. Tim Mackrill next picked up the bird as it was looking for fish along the north shore of the reservoir and it then flew off towards the dam. With cold strong easterly winds it was clearly having trouble finding fish near the surface.

There were no further sightings that evening - though it was not for the want of trying! As darkness fell the bird had not returned to the nest site. So was it 03(97)?... or one of the other Rutland males?... or a migrant bird on its way further north?

Perhaps we would know tomorrow.

The 8-year-old male, 09(98)

24th March: Now 3 or 4 Ospreys The morning dawned wet and murky. Field Officer John Wright was out early trying to locate yesterday's new arrival and before long he found the bird sitting in a dead tree eating a trout. He was able to get close enough to read the ring and take a photograph - it was 09(98), a male who has been here every summer since 2000. (Details here). During the afternoon the weather improved slightly and visitors were reporting Osprey sightings from near Lax Hill and from the main Visitor Centre. Surely there must be another Osprey about? Soon we were able to see his white ring as he sat on a perch over the water. It was the infamous 08(97) whose exploits merit a complete page of this website to himself. (Click here for his life story.) More pictures also below -see 29th March.

One of 08's favourite nest sites is in Manton Bay, an artificial nest on a pole out in the middle of the water. Every winter this nest is covered during the winter to discourage geese from nesting there before the Ospreys return. So with 08 back in town it was time to uncover the nest - an "interesting" job which involves using a ladder, a flat-bottomed boat with a five man crew, and intrepid volunteers Dave Cole and Ron Follows. Meanwhile we could see 08 sitting watching, from his perch half a mile away. Just before we launched the boat, a message came through from John Wright that he could see 03(97) sitting on his nest. 03(97) and 08(97) had returned yet again, and yet again they had arrived on exactly the same day! Of all the males that return each year, it is 03(97) who we are keenest to see - it is he who has now fathered 9 Rutland chicks, having bred here since 2001. Details are here. Welcome back ! Finally, while removing the cover from the nest the mobile rang bringing the news of yet another Osprey in the area. One had been seen catching a fish at nearby Eyebrook Reservoir.

The view from the boat as Ron Follows uncovers the nest platform in Manton Bay.

26th March: 03(97) is back and building

Field Officer John Wright was watching 03(97) at the nest yesterday morning, less than 24 hours after the breeding male's return. John said, "the nest is the worst I've ever seen. It's virtually a huge ball of soil/turf without any sticks holding it together. " So there was lots of work for 03 to do before his mate 05(00) also returned. (Fingers and talons crossed!). John was also able to confirm the arrival of a fourth male, 06(00). So there were at least 4 Ospreys in Rutland again: 03(97). 08(97), 09(98) and 06(00).

29th March: Good old 08!

The male 08(97) is now nearly 9 years old and, although he has spent every summer since 1999 at Rutland Water, he has never yet bred. His full life story is here. He arrived five days ago and has spent his time mainly around the Manton Bay / Lax Hill area of the nature reserve. Highlights of his week have been: defending the Manton Bay nest from another Osprey, probably 06(00); disappearing from the area - presumably he was up high, waving a fish to attract passing females; repeatedly dive-bombing a Canada Goose that had the temerity to land on the Lax Hill nest; posing for the camera of John Wright - who took these photos.

When 08(97) is building up the Manton Bay nest, the best place from which to watch him is the hides on the Lyndon Reserve.

  Now where are the females?

With four males back in residence, of course we were now anxious to see the females. Last year the breeding female arrived very early, on 1 April. And then there are the 5 unringed females we saw last summer. Favourite to return and breed must be U4, the one who acted as foster mother to the transloacted females. (Details are here). And if she were to return early, which male would she choose to breed with? Could it just possibly be good old 08?

31st March: A Scottish visitor

The first female Osprey of the year was seen on 29 March. During the late afternoon it was clear that there was a second Osprey on 03(97)'s nest tree. A visit to the nest early yesterday morning revealed a female with an orange ring on the left leg, probably indicating a bird ringed as a fledgling in Scotland in 1998. The female was around for the whole of the day though very strong winds made it difficult for Ospreys and observers alike to maintain steady positions. By the evening the wind was moderating and Tim Mackrill and John Wright were able to read the ring number: it was VB. This should enable us to find out more about this females' history.

John who managed to take the "record shots" below described what happened later:

03 came back with a trout while female VB was sitting on the nest. He then took half of the fish up to the nest but stood holding the fish with his back to the female, teasing her. 03 then left the nest with the fish, returning to a lower branch to continue eating. The clumsy so-and-so then dropped the whole half fish into the brambles below the tree, leaving VB none too pleased!"

The female is on the left. You can just see her orange ring

03(97) tries to have his way with her. What will happen when/if his regular mate returns?

31st March: 05(00) is back too! At 4:15 in the afternoon the breeding female returned to her nest site. Last year she arrived at 5 pm, just one day later on 1st April . This is the bird who, with 03(97) has raised 8 chicks in the past three years. Project Officer Tim Mackrill was at the nest site, looking in vain for the female VB. She had probably moved on to her established nest and mate in Scotland. From perching in a nearby ash tree, 03(97) suddenly set off with the remains of a piece of fish. He called frantically over the nest and then flew upwards almost out of sight - a sure indication that there was a female up there. Then on a sure trajectory, using a flight path that she knows so well, 05(00) flew idown, inch perfect, no hesitaton, no looking around, straight onto the nest at speed. The green ring confirmed that it was the bird we had been most anxious to see - it was 05. Things look good for another successful breeding year for the Rutland Ospreys.