A Transatlantic Flight

March 24, 2023

Ospreys have been colour-ringed in the UK since the early days of the Scottish recovery in the late sixties. This has provided a wealth of valuable data on natal and breeding dispersal, longevity and, perhaps most excitingly, migratory movements. As someone who is privileged to ring Osprey chicks every year, I know what a thrill it is when a bird you have known as a nestling is seen on its wintering grounds having completed its first migration. Each winter we receive numerous reports of UK Ospreys from wintering sites in West Africa and Iberia, and as the organisation responsible for coordinating the UK colour ringing project, it is always pleasing to be able to pass these sightings onto the relevant ringer. We have received some very interesting re-sightings over the years, from a bird that returns to winter on the Canary Islands each year, to others which have migrated as far south as the Ivory Coast and Ghana. However earlier this month we received what is undoubtedly the most remarkable record of all.

A few weeks ago Michael St John got in touch with photos that he had taken on 9th March of a first-winter female Osprey with a blue-colour ring on its left leg. Nothing unusual there until I noticed where he had seen it – Bawdens Irrigation Pond in the north of Barbados in the Caribbean! The ring number was clearly visible – KW0, which indicated it was a bird from Scotland. Michael had actually first observed the bird six miles away at Fosters private wetland on 25th October 2022, but on that occasion had not been able to read the colour ring. He did, however, take some excellent photos.

KW0 was photographed in Barbados on 9th March (photo by Michael St John)

With an increasing number of Ospreys colour-ringed in the UK each year, and an ever-growing number of Osprey ringers, it can sometimes take a while to track down who ringed a particular bird, but thanks to David Jardine and Hayley Douglas we now know that KW0 is definitely Scottish. It was one of two chicks ringed on 23rd June 2022 at a nest in Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park which lies in Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and North Ayrshire, by the Clyde Ringing Group (Iain and Madonna Livingstone, Kevin Sinclair and Paul Baker). They were assisted by staff from Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park who have supported Osprey conservation and monitoring efforts in the area, which are led by Clyde Ringing Group. Roy Dennis visited in 2010 to advise on the location of artificial nests and the first nesting attempt took place in 2017, and successfully in 2018. Last year the two chicks went on to fledge around 29th July, and likely departed on migration in late August/early September.

KW0 was ringed by members of Clyde Ringing Group on 22rd June 2022 (photo by Clyde Ringing Group)
The second chick in the nest, KW1, was also ringed on 23rd June (photo by Clyde Ringing Group)

As far as we are aware, this is the first time that a UK Osprey has been observed in the Americas. It is 4124 miles from Clyde Muirshiel to Barbados. This is the kind of distance that many Ospreys from northern Europe will migrate each year – some Finish Ospreys are known to winter in South Africa, which is considerably further – but of course what makes this record amazing is the fact that the vast majority of the journey is across the Atlantic Ocean.  We know from satellite tracking studies that Ospreys are able to make much longer sea crossings than most other raptors. Their long narrow wings reduce drag and make active flapping flight, which is usually necessary over the open ocean, less energetically costly compared to larger, heavier species. Juvenile Ospreys, which migrate alone, and rely on a process known as vector summation (an inherited programme of distance and direction) to migrate to distant wintering grounds, are particularly likely to make long ocean crossings because, unlike adult Ospreys, they are usually unable to correct for displacement by crosswinds. In other words, if a juvenile Osprey, which is instinctively migrating south-west, encounters strong easterly winds it will drift further to the south-west. This coupled with the UK’s position on the edge of Western Europe means that juvenile Ospreys often fly direct across the Bay of Biscay from southern Ireland or South-West England to northern Spain during their first autumn migration. Others also make long flights from South-West Portugal to North-West Africa. In one exceptional case a juvenile male Osprey, known as Stan, which was satellite-tagged by Roy Dennis in northern Scotland in 2012, completed an amazing eight-day migration to the Cape Verde Islands, situated in the Atlantic, approximately 400 miles off the West Africa coast.  Stan’s flight included a 620 mile crossing from Portugal to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, and then a non-stop 930 mile flight to the island of São Nicolau in Cape Verde. Unfortunately, Stan’s transmitter stopped working eight days later, and we speculated at the time that this may have been due to the fact that he tried to continue on the same south-westerly course and then drowned at sea.

Even Stan’s remarkable migration pales into insignificance compared to that of KW0 who is likely to have flown 3800 miles (6114km) across the Atlantic from South-West Ireland to Barbados. It is highly unlikely that even an Osprey could have completed this in a single flight, even with strong tailwinds, and so it is probable that she took the opportunity to rest on boats, which may themselves have been travelling to the Caribbean from the UK. Other satellite-tagged Ospreys are known to have interrupted their journey in this way in the past. In fact, a satellite-tagged juvenile known as Chip almost made it to the Azores from New Hampshire in this way.  It could be that KW0 stopped-off on the Azores en route to Barbados. One thing we can be certain of is that KW0 must have departed on migration in exceptional condition in order to have survived this remarkable transatlantic crossing.

Having spent at least four-and-a-half months in Barbados, KW0 is clearly very settled at present, and, in fact, may well remain there for the foreseeable future. Young Ospreys usually remain on the wintering grounds for the whole of their second calendar year, meaning that KW0 could linger in Barbados until spring 2024. Quite what happens then remains to be seen. Most Ospreys fly north back towards their natal area during their third calendar year, but clearly that is unlikely to be an option for KW0, who may instead choose to remain on the other side of the Atlantic. Let’s hope we receive further sightings of this remarkable young Osprey in the months ahead.

Tim Mackrill, 24th March 2023

KW0 (above and below) was first observed in Barbados on 22nd October 2022 (all photos by Michael St John)

The Art of the Impossible – White-tailed Eagle and Lynx

March 9, 2023

I’m sitting in one of my favourite places in our home; a large upstairs window that looks out over the woods and fields. Below me is a small burn running from the hills on its way to the Moray Firth. It’s twisty and there’s a flooded pool where a clear freshwater spring comes out from under the bank, green with watercress planted long ago by the children of my next-door neighbours. It’s a place where the frogs spawn in the spring, and I’ve noticed over the last few days a grey heron has come to stab away. Earlier this evening it was nice to see three pairs of mallard sail in and start dabbling; a sure sign of approaching spring.

The burn takes a turn on the right under the big bank below a grazing field. Along the bank is a big thicket of bird cherry trees, for when bird cherries are crashed down by heavy snowfall they root and spring upwards in a tangled mass. Today’s fresh fall of snow – although only two inches in depth – has whitened the ground below a solitary beech tree growing in the flat area where I know that soon the daffodils will flower.

A local blackbird flies across the clearing to its night time roost in the dense Douglas firs on the other bank, and the dense thicket, the snowy slope and the eeriness of the evening light suddenly makes me think of lynx. I can imagine one slinking out of the thicket to start its night patrol, placing its paws carefully as it descends the bank before jumping the burn into the Douglas firs. She would already know that sometimes there’s a roe deer hiding there or maybe a couple of brown hares from a grazing field behind the wood. From there she can track up through the fields, into the big larch forest and into a wild country of woods, burns and moorland, with no sign of habitation for six or seven miles. Ideal lynx country despite being so close to the town of Forres in Moray.

Thanks to Stephane Regazzoni – trail camera shot French Jura

Maybe a thousand years ago lynx would have travelled the same road at night before they were all exterminated by man. Now when we talk about having them back people say ‘You’re mad’, ‘There’s no room for them now’, ‘They don’t belong’ and ‘We don’t want you messing about with nature’.

Yet as I watch dusk take over the scene my mind is whizzing south to the Isle of Wight where four years ago my Foundation and the government agency Forestry England started a project to restore the white-tailed eagle to the Isle of Wight, where the species last bred in 1780. People said we were mad, that they would chase away all the wildfowl and waders in the Solent, they would kill the red squirrels, that there’s just no room for them now and then anyway they would kill lambs, in fact they’d be a menace.  And, to top it all large eagles will be unable to thrive among the large numbers of people now living in southern England, close to the big cities of Portsmouth and Southampton

How wrong they were. Those eagles which we first released on the Isle of Wight in 2019 followed by more in 2020 and 21 have settled into England as though they had never been away. Most of the time, about 90%, they sit in trees watching what’s going on, and at other times sail on their great wings.  I’ll never forget during the Covid lockdowns the number of times that we received a message from someone imprisoned in their garden, unable to go birdwatching in their local gravel pits or along the shore, who had suddenly looked up and seen a huge eagle flying over on its eight-foot wingspan. They had been so excited and staggered, and they said how marvelous to know, despite living in highly populated areas in England, that they could see such wildness return.

It’s now four years since we started the project. In the early years the young ones explored much of England, some going back to Scotland and one even venturing into mainland Europe, as far north as Sweden. As they matured, they came back home. There are now three pairs of the oldest birds setting up home ranges and thinking of breeding.  They have seen carrying out their spring display of tandem flying, the two huge birds flying a few metres apart, round and round over their favourite place. Some people have been even luckier to hear them duetting in the early morning with their shrill calls. Will the first pair breed this year? We’ll have to wait and see.

It seems only the other day that people said it was impossible. And yet it’s happened, and there’s great enthusiasm for the return of the sea eagle. People say it encourages optimism for the future and hope that we can keep planet Earth inhabitable.

How easily the same could happen to the lynx. In fact, even more easy because they cannot fly away. The view from my window reminds me of places I’ve been in Norway and Slovakia, in Romania and Switzerland where lynx live in similar places hunting roe deer, just as close to farms and rural houses. They are not seen nor heard by people; the only evidence is in winter when their pad marks show up in the snow. They simply fit in with local communities and their ways of life. My local town, Forres, is twinned with a town in Germany called Viennenberg, in the Harz Mountains where lynx have been successfully reintroduced. We should emulate our twin town.  

Once they are back – and I hope that happens in my lifetime – people will ask what was all the fuss about and will, again, appreciate that it is possible to restore wild nature.  Although, unlike the eagles, the lynx will be difficult to see in Britain, people will just find their footprints in the snow and know that the ecosystem has become more whole.

The explorer returns

January 31, 2023

During the course of the first four years of the Isle of Wight White-tailed Eagle project, which we run in partnership with Forestry England, the young eagles have followed a fairly predictable pattern. They disperse widely during their early years, but then move back towards the Isle of Wight and the South Coast as they approach breeding age. This is demonstrated by the fact that the first two territorial pairs have become established on the Isle of Wight and in the Arun valley in West Sussex, despite the fact that three of the four birds involved spent time in Scotland during their second calendar year. 

The latest bird to return to the Isle of Wight after a prolonged period away is 2020 male, G463. He was the first Isle of Wight bird to cross the English Channel and spent seven months in Continental Europe between April and November of his second calendar year, favouring the Wadden Sea coasts of Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. When he returned he spent the majority of the winter in East Anglia, mainly in north and west Norfolk, but also visiting the Suffolk coast. Later he also re-visited a favoured area near Chard in south Somerset, where he had spent his first winter, but made no attempt to return to the Isle of Wight. 

On 3rd April last year he made a second crossing of the Channel, and returned to many of the locations he had visited the previous summer, and also made a short excursion into Sweden. It was notable that like many of the other young eagles, he was returning to favoured locations first encountered during his initial explorations. 

G463’s movements from 13th October 2020-31st December 2021 (red) and 1st January 2022-9th January 2023 (white)

One of the places G463 re-visited during his second visit to mainland Europe, was the Biesbosch, a large wetland in the Netherlands which supports breeding White-tailed Eagle and Osprey. Whilst G463 was there we received images taken by a local photographer, kindly sent to us by Dirk van Straalen who monitors White-tailed Eagles in the Netherlands. We were very concerned that the photos clearly showed the bird was missing his right leg below the knee. We initially suspected that this was a recent injury, but when we analysed the satellite data it was clear that G463 had been behaving apparently normally for several months; indicating it probably occurred earlier.

The tag’s in-built accelerometer, which provides data on the eagle’s movement, indicates that G463 probably sustained the injury in December 2021 when he was in North Norfolk. White-tailed Eagles favour the sit-and-wait strategy when searching for food, and consequently are are often static for prolonged periods. However, in this case, the data indicated G463 was more sedentary than usual, and so the Foundation’s Associate Ornithologist, Zoe Smith, a highly experienced raptor fieldworker, made a specific visit to try and locate him. The eagles can be very difficult to track down depending on their location, but with the permission of the landowner, Zoe was able to locate G463 perched inconspicuously, and not easily viewed, in a quiet area of woodland. A few days later we were encouraged that he became more mobile again.

In January G463 moved further south and was seen and photographed at various locations in Suffolk, including at RSPB Minsmere at the end of the month. Close inspection of photos taken at the time indicate that the right foot was missing, even though it again went unnoticed. This supports our hypothesis that G463’s period of inactivity the previous month was due to the injury. 

Having sought advice from the project’s vet and raptor expert, John Chitty, it seems that the injury could have been sustained in one of two ways. The first is through loss of blood due to entrapment or entanglement, and the second is through electric-shock, which is known to cause raptors to loose legs in the manner of G463 (see here for some examples).

G463 at Minsmere on 31st Januay 2022 (photo by Rachel Harvey)

Regardless of the exact cause, it appears that G463 has learnt to adapt to living with only one foot. He returned across the English Channel on 20th September 2022 and initially returned to favoured areas in West Norfolk, where he remained until the end of October.  He then made his way slowly south-west to Somerset and spent six weeks in south Somerset, before heading east to Poole Harbour on Boxing Day. Finally, on 9thJanuary he returned to the Isle of Wight for the first time since 13th October 2020. During his 27-month period away – the longest of any of the released eagles so far – he flew over 17,000km and visited seven different countries. 

On his first night back on the Isle of Wight, G463 roosted close to the release area, but like other returning eagles, he had the Island’s resident birds, G274 and G324 to contend with. The satellite data showed they roosted very close to each other that night, and then G463 remained in the local area for most of the next day. However, on the morning of 11th, the tracking data indicates that G463 was seen off by G274 and, after spending two further nights on the Isle of Wight, albeit in areas away from the resident male’s core territory, G463 headed back across the Solent during the afternoon of 13th. He flew north across the New Forest and spent several days near Amesbury in Wiltshire, before heading south-west and returning to Poole Harbour. 

G463 at Chard Junction Gravel Pits on 27th November 2022 (photo by Dave Helliar)

Poole Harbour has become something of an eagle hotspot over the past twelve months and on the morning of 21st January G463 was photographed by John Thorpe, Pete Scott having an aerial tussle younger male G812, who has been a regular visitor to Poole Harbour in recent months. He then spent the rest of the day with 2020 female G466, who returned to the South Coast in early October after spending last summer in northern Scotland, and has been another regular in the area. With both birds now in their fourth calendar year they are reaching the age where we might expect them to pair up and establish a territory, and so it be interesting to see what happens over the coming weeks. We will be paying particular attention to G463 to understand better how he has adapted to living with only one foot. Birds can be remarkably adaptable and there are examples of Bald Eales living with only one foot in North America (see here). The fact that G463 has survived for more than a year, is certainly encouraging. We will be sure to keep you updated over the coming months. 

G463 (below) tussling with younger male, G812 at Poole Harbour. The missing right foot is evident in this photo (photo by John Thorpe)

G463 (below) with G812 (photo by John Thorpe)
G463 at Poole Harbour on 21st January (photo by Pete Scott)

Happy New Year

December 30, 2022

New Year is a good opportunity to reflect on the last twelve months. Working in conservation inevitably involves highs and lows and 2022 was true to form in that regard. However, we think it is import to focus on the positives, and to consider what can be achieved with our proactive approach to the restoration of nature. 

It is very encouraging to report that two territorial pairs of White-tailed Eagles are now established. G274 and G324 were part of the first cohort of six young eagles released by us and Forestry England, our project partner, on the Isle of Wight in August 2019. They paired up very early, in autumn 2020, and have remained together since. They have become fiercely territorial of two coastal sites on the Isle of Wight and as they approach their fifth calendar year, the two birds look resplendent in near full adult plumage. Project Officer, Steve Egerton-Read, who is based on the Island, has been monitoring the two birds closely, particularly in relation to their diet. Steve’s important work has shown that the two birds readily catch both marine and freshwater fish throughout the year and are also proficient at predating any weak or injured Canada Geese, as well as a range of other bird species, particularly corvids and gulls.  They are also expert at stealing food from other species, including Grey Herons, and Marsh Harriers. We are hopeful that the two birds may show the first signs of breeding behaviour in the spring, and will be monitored closely. 

Elsewhere a second pair of eagles has also become established. G405 and G471, were both released in 2020 and, as we have come to expect, explored widely during their second calendar year. G471 summered in the Southern Uplands in the south of Scotland, while G405 spent time in Exmoor and, later, Bodmin Moor. Both returned to the Isle of Wight and surrounding areas last spring, and met each other in the Arun valley in West Sussex during March. They have been together since, and are a regular sight at Pulborough Brooks and Amberley Wildbrooks. During the cold spell before Christmas the two birds were photographed by Mike Jerome catching carp through a hole in the ice at Pulborough. Our diet studies have shown that fish becomes an increasingly important component of the diet as the eagles become older. 

G405 catching a carp through the ice at Pulborough Brooks (photo by Mike Jerome)
G471 coming in to land next to G405 (photo by Mike Jerome)
The two eagles caught four carp with seemingly very little effort, while Mike Jerome was watching (photo by Mike Jerome)

Although a year younger than the pair on the Isle of Wight, G405 and G471 have become territorial and are showing encouraging courtship behaviour. Indeed, on one occasion they were observed seeing off a compatriot from the 2020 release, female G466, who visited the Arun valley having been chased off from the Isle of Wight by G274 and G324.  Having recently returned from a summer in northern Scotland, the fact that this young female had encountered two eagle territories in southern England would have been a significant experience for her, and it is encouraging that she is now spending much of her time at Poole Harbour. She appears to have displaced a younger female G801, released in 2021, who had become a near permanent resident at Poole Harbour, and has recently been spending time with a 2021 male, G812. 

Poole Harbour has become something of an eagle hotspot over the course of the last year and it has been wonderful that so many people have been able to enjoy seeing the eagles from the fantastic Birds of Poole Harbour boat trips. If you haven’t been on one of these trips, then we thoroughly recommend booking onto one in 2023. You can find more details on the Birds of Poole Harbour website here. We are so encouraged by the enthusiastic responses we receive about the eagles. 

Male G812, photographed from a Birds of Poole Harbour boat trip (photo by Mark Wright)

It is not just White-tailed Eagles that Poole Harbour has become important for in recent years. This summer a pair of Ospreys bred successfully. Male 022, who we translocated to Poole Harbour from the famous B01 nest near Roy’s home in Moray, which has been occupied by successive generations of Ospreys since 1966, reared two chicks with female CJ7 who fledged from a nest near Rutland Water in 2015; the first breeding Ospreys on the South Coast of England for two centuries. It was tragic that one of the young was killed by a Goshawk a few days after fledging, but these are the hurdles in restoring nature – it’s not easy. The remaining juvenile 5H1 departed on her first migration in early September; a very significant milestone for the project we run in partnership with Birds of Poole Harbour. Hopefully, now wintering in West Africa, she will be the first of the new South Coast Osprey clan. The ancient local name ‘mullet hawks’ can be reclaimed.

A close-up view of 5H1 soon after fledging at Poole Harbour (from Birds of Poole Harbour webcam)

Projects to restore lost species like White-tailed Eagles and Ospreys are not a fast process, but events this year give us real optimism for the future. We are very grateful for all the support we have received from many people; from members of the public to farmers who have been excited to see White-tailed Eagles on their land. We have been extremely heartened by messages from people who have been thrilled to see these species back in southern England.

Recently Forestry England repeated the public questionnaire that we ran when we first proposed the project and this showed that the public’s attitude towards the reintroduction of White-tailed Eagles is overwhelmingly supportive, even more so than when our idea was first suggested five years ago (watch out for the full results soon). It was also valuable to know that people are really keen that more reintroductions of lost species are undertaken. In some ways it is clear that the conservation bodies, government and NGOs, are behind the curve and people want us to move ahead more quickly. This makes us even more determined than ever to continue and widen our work and to play our part in the restoration of nature at a time when it is urgently required. We are working on several other ideas for 2023.

A big thank you to everyone who has followed our projects during 2022, reported sightings, shared photos, made donations or sent messages of support. May we wish you all the very best for 2023.

 Roy, Tim, Steve and Zoe

Very many thanks to everyone who has made donations to the Foundation and the White-tailed Eagle project in the past few months. Your support is greatly appreciated. If you would like to donate to our work, then you can do so via the link below.

Returning home

October 7, 2022

The satellite tracking work that we have undertaken during the first three years of the Isle of Wight project, which we run in partnership with Forestry England, has provided a fascinating insight into the dispersal of young White-tailed Eagles. This has shown that many of the young birds explore widely in their early years before returning to the South Coast as they approach breeding age.  One of the most notable examples last year was G466, a female that was released on the Isle of Wight in 2020. She flew to northern Scotland during spring 2021 and then spent six months in Caithness and Sutherland where she favoured Loch Naver and also Cape Wrath, the most north-westerly point in mainland Britain. She subsequently spent time in the Cairngorms, Loch Rannoch and the Kintyre peninsula before heading south on 4th February. 

She arrived back on the Isle of Wight on 22nd February having flown south through western England over the course of two-and-a-half weeks. 

Once back on the South Coast G466 remained on the Isle of Wight and neighbouring areas until 5th April, when she headed north once again. She arrived back in Caithness on 17th April; just two days later than the previous year. She remained into September, returning to all of the areas she had favoured during 2021 over the course of the next five months. The map below shows the similarity in her movements over the course of the two summers. At times she was joined by two other Isle of Wight birds, 2021 females G542 and G547. 

G466’s movements in northern Scotland during 2021 (white) and 2022 (yellow)

Having spent five months in northern Scotland, G466 began heading south again on 22nd September, and this time with real purpose, arriving on the South Coast on 28th September and the Isle of Wight the next morning, having flown 1003km in seven days. 

G466 flew 1003km back to the Isle of Wight between 22nd-28th September
G466 in the early morning mist on the Isle of Wight after her return from Scotland (photo by Steve Egerton-Read)

Having arrived back on the Isle of Wight G466 intruded at the now well-established territory of G274 and G324 who are resident on the Isle of Wight and rarely let other birds settle for any length of time. Project Officer Steve Egerton-Read photographed G466 in the company of male G274 for a short period, before she was seen off by resident female G324. Such encounters are important for young eagles as they settle in potential breeding areas because the presence of other eagles on territory is a real draw. 

G466 (left) perched briefly with three year-old male, G274, before being seen off by the resident female, G324 (photo by Steve Egerton-Read)

It will be fascinating to see what G466 does now. Will she remain on the South Coast and search for a mate, or return north once again? We will keep you updated. 

G466’s movements since her initial dispersal away from the Isle of Wight in March 2021

Ospreys and White-tailed Eagles at Poole Harbour – a sign of hope 

September 1, 2022

Over the course of the first three years of the White-tailed Eagle project based on the Isle of Wight, which we run in partnership with Forestry England, we have become accustomed to the young birds living a highly nomadic lifestyle in their early years, dispersing as far as northern Scotland and in one case, continental Europe. However, as they become older, and approach breeding age, we expect them to return to the South Coast and establish territories within 50 km of the release site. The early signs are certainly encouraging. As reported in our last update, three-year-olds G274 and G324 are well-established as a pair on the Isle of Wight, while G405 and G471, both released in 2020, have been showing early courtship behaviour in West Sussex. Meanwhile five different birds have become regular visitors to Poole Harbour in Dorset, with one-year-old female, G801, an almost permanent resident since the spring. 

Poole Harbour, as the name implies, is a huge natural harbour, covering some 36km2. The northern shore is urban, but most of the southern and western areas, as well as the Arne peninsular, and five islands, including the well-known Brownsea Island, are much quieter. The harbour is extremely shallow, with an average depth of less than half a metre. These factors, coupled with abundant populations of fish such as Grey Mullet, mean that we expect it to become a favoured locality for White-tailed Eagles, and, potentially, a future breeding site. 

Roy and I have got to know Poole Harbour well over the past few years because it is the site of the Foundation’s ongoing Osprey translocation project, which we are running in partnership with local charity, Birds of Poole Harbour. This year has been a significant one for the project because a pair of Ospreys – male, 022, which we translocated from northern Scotland in 2019, and Rutland-fledged female CJ7 – have bred successfully for the first time, rearing two chicks. Although one was killed by a Goshawk after fledging it seems likely that the remaining youngster, 5H1, has now set off on her first migration. This is the first time young Ospreys have fledged from a nest on the South Coast of England for two centuries and so is a real milestone for the project. The video below shows 5H1 landing on the edge of the nest soon after fledging on 23rd July.

Poole Harbour’s location on the South Coast means it is also a prime location for Ospreys on migration, and numbers reach a peak during late August and early September as birds from further north move southwards. With this in mind, Birds of Poole Harbour have been running twice daily boat trips in search of Ospreys as well as a range of other species – White-tailed Eagles included – since 19th August. Knowing this would also be an excellent opportunity to observe the behaviour of G801 and any other eagles that were present, myself and White-tailed Eagle project officer, Steve Egerton-Read, have joined the Birds of Poole Harbour team on a number of trips over the past three weeks.

Monitoring the diet of the released eagles has been a key part of the project since the outset, and we have now amassed over 320 feeding records. However, such observations are hard to come by because White-tailed Eagles favour the sit-and-wait strategy for hunting; usually spending more than 90% of every day perched, quite often on the same favoured tree. Nevertheless, thanks to the work of Steve and dedicated volunteers, we have found that fish become increasingly important for the eagles as they become older, constituting up to 50% of the diet. This, we feel sure, is why G801 has remained at Poole Harbour for such an extended period, but monitoring her is not easy at such a large site. 

G801 photographed from a Birds of Poole Harbour boat trip on 1st September (photo by Mark Wright)

Our suspicions have been borne out during the boat trips, and we have twice seen G801 feeding on fish when the tide has been low or just rising. The Ospreys haven’t disappointed either with multiple birds seen on most trips, some catching Grey Mullet very close to the boat. We have, on occasion, also been treated to some close fly-bys by G801. On one memorable morning when I was on the boat, she flew almost directly overhead, providing amazing views and drawings gasps of excitement from those lucky enough to be on board. 

On another occasion Alison Copland filmed G801 flying close to the boat.

It is important to remember that Ospreys and White-tailed Eagles were once both widespread along the South Coast, before being eradicated by historical persecution. Whilst it is still early days for both projects, the fact that the two species can now be seen together once more at Poole Harbour is, I think, a sign of hope for the future. We are living in a time of great concern for the natural world but the return of these species shows that with a proactive approach to the restoration of nature, it is possible to make positive change. We are very grateful to the Birds of Poole Harbour team for organising the fantastic boat trips and for enabling 1600 people to enjoy the spectacle of these two species – sometimes interacting with each other – over the past three weeks. For me, the excitement of people on board when an Osprey caught a fish or a White-tailed Eagle flew past were always a highlight of the trips. 

A juvenile Osprey photographed from a boat trip on 1st September (photo by Mark Wright)

There are still spaces available on the final two Osprey cruises, which take place at Poole Harbour tomorrow. Birds of Poole Harbour also have a comprehensive programme of events taking place this autumn – check out their website here for more. You won’t be disappointed!  Steve and I will again be joining the boat trips when we can, particularly if the eagles continue to linger in the area.

We are also very interested to hear your views on the White-tailed Eagle project.  If you have a few minutes to spare please click on this link and complete our short survey.

White-tailed Eagle G816 and an Osprey over Lytchett Fields, Poole Harbour, on 30th August (photo by Mark Wright)

Tim Mackrill, 1st September 2022

The difference made by one man

August 26, 2022

Not far from my home in Moray is a beautiful loch called Lochindorb, lying in a big hollow among the heather moors north of Strathspey. It is a recognised beauty spot because of the ancient castle in the loch.  Historically it is famous because the island castle was the lair of Alexander Stewart, named the Wolf of Badenoch. He was a troublesome neighbour and his bloody raids including the burning down Elgin Cathedral in 1390. In retribution the castle lost its fortification and it’s been deserted since.

I often drive that way and always love cresting the last little rise before the loch is laid out in front of me. Early-morning visits with the water surface like a mirror reflecting the blue skies on a May morning; or the steely grey churning waves of a November day. In cold winters it can be frozen, sometimes strong enough for skating;  not  unlike the January day when my wife and I were married among the ancient pine trees by the loch shore. 

For much of the last century, the loch was favoured by brown trout fisherman; just a couple of rowing boats idling across the surface.  Small brown trout were plentiful in the peaty waters; hunted by ospreys overhead and large ‘ferox’ trout in the depths. The 1930’s Irish author, Maurice Walsh, captures the magic so well in his famous novel ‘The Key above the Door.

A pair of black-throated divers at Lochindorb by Mike Crutch. Mike holds a Schedule 1 licence from NatureScot to monitor and photograph the divers.

It wasn’t ospreys that drew to me to the loch, but the breeding pair of black-throated divers. These rare breeders are more usually found in the north and west Highlands; with this pair being real outliers to the south and east of the nesting range and thus of conservation importance. The pair was special as well because they were so easily seen by birdwatchers, without disturbance, from the small local road running along the shore.

At the end of last century, times started to change for the divers. The new access legislation in Scotland resulted in the loch being subject to so many more human activities – canoes, windsurfers and paddle borders – one day  I even saw a floatplane land on the loch. And of course many people camping overnight beside the water.

Another dramatic change at the same time was that irresponsible anglers released live pike into the waters to create future fishing opportunities. Well, the pike prospered on the scores of small brown trout. Trout fishing collapsed but coarse fishing for pike boomed. It became common to see anglers with  two or three rods each, often camping and fishing during the night beside the loch. 

With the two threats, there was no doubt the pair of divers looked as though they were doomed, but Mike Crutch, a local birder, who is a regular at the loch decided he would do something about it.  He loved photographing the divers from his car window and like many of us he was horrified, in 2015, when the juvenile diver, nearly ready to fly, tried to swallow a live-fish-bait on a three hooked lure.  A horrible method of trying to catch large pike. The poor bird had to be euthanised by a vet – another sad failure for this special pair of rare birds.

There are no, in-the-field, wildlife guards in the wider countryside to protect rare and sensitive species in Britain so Mike decided to do something about it. He spoke with the landowners, the estate keeper and the police about the problem and explained that he wanted to protect the divers. In 2016, he designed special waterproof posters about the need for black-throated diver protection and clipped them on to the layby signs, along the loch side.  During his regular visits to monitor the divers he talked with regular birding visitors as well as anglers and campers, about the problems for the special birds.

One of the adult black-throated divers feeding its chick (photo by Mike Crutch)

Last evening he sent me a beautiful photograph (below) of one of the latest young divers; the pair has two young this summer and they are just about ready to leave. Since that appalling death in 2015, they have bred every year, four times successfully and have raised a total of seven young; which is excellent for this species. 

It’s a brilliant example of where one man decides that if the big conservation bodies cannot protect this pair of rare birds he will do it himself.  Sincere thanks from all of us for your efforts to make sure these beautiful birds continue to live on the dark waters of Lochindorb.  Their incredible wailing duets on calm spring evenings are an aural tribute to your successful efforts.

Roy Dennis   25 August 2022

Juvenile black-throated diver (photo by Mike Crutch)

White-tailed Eagle update – summer 2022

July 14, 2022

We are now in the fourth year of the project we run in partnership with Forestry England to reintroduce White-tailed Eagles to southern England, through the translocation of Scottish chicks to the Isle of Wight. Early signs have been encouraging with two pairs forming, and other young eagles learning to live successfully in the English landscape. 

Early pair bonding 

Two of the birds released in 2019, male G274 and female G324, are now well-established as a pair on the Isle of Wight, as project officer Steve Egerton-Read described in his latest Forestry England blog. Steve has dedicated a huge amount of time to monitoring the birds in the field and this has provided an extremely valuable insight into their daily foraging habits and diet. We have been particularly encouraged that they have been catching fish around the coasts of the Isle of Wight throughout the year, and that they readily catch cuttlefish in the seagrass beds of the Solent. This rich local food supply will be extremely valuable when the first pairs begin breeding. Elsewhere a second pair have become established in West Sussex. Male G471 and female G405, both released in 2020, have been favouring the Arun valley and surrounding areas, and the male also makes regular trips to the coast. 

We have also been extremely encouraged that one of the 2021 females, G801, has taken up almost permanent residence at Poole Harbour since her arrival there, in early March. Recently G801 has been joined by two different males: G816, who has been summering in Wiltshire, and G812 who spent much of the winter and spring in north Dorset. The proximity of Poole Harbour to the Isle of Wight, coupled with the rich food supply, including fish such as Grey Mullet and Bass, make this another potential early breeding site. Although most White-tailed Eagles do not breed until they are five years old, the satellite data demonstrates that pairs can form much earlier, and we are hopeful that one of these visiting males will settle at Poole Harbour with G801. 

G812 is the most recent White-tailed Eagle to visit Poole Harbour (photo by Jamie Randall)
G801 and G812 at Poole Harbour (photo by Paul Morton)

Returning to favoured sites 

Some of the younger birds dispersed widely in the spring and five individuals are currently in northern Scotland. 2021 females G818 and G487 are in the Cairngorms and two other females released last summer, have been spending time further north. G542 is currently in Caithness and G547 is living around Cape Wrath and other locations on the Sutherland coast. The fifth bird is 2020 female G466 who has returned to northern Scotland for a second summer. She spent much of 2021 in Caithness and Sutherland before flying south in February this year and then spending two months back on the Isle of Wight. She headed north again in mid-April and is now back in the Caithness having spent much of the past few weeks in and around Cape Wrath. The map below shows her 2021 (yellow) and 2022 movements (white). 

G466’s movements in northern Scotland during 2021 (yellow) and 2022 (white)

Another bird that has returned to an area that it visited last spring, is G463. This male released in 2020 crossed the English Channel in April 2021 and remained in mainland Europe until November, favouring the Wadden Sea coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. He visited several locations in southern England during the winter, before spending the early part of the spring in East Anglia, returning to sites he first visited 12 months earlier. Then on 3rd April he crossed the English Channel in the same location as 2021, but three days earlier. He has since returned to many of the sites he visited in 2021, with one notable exception: a short excursion to southern Sweden between 28th April and 1st May. The map below shows how faithful G463 has been to sites he first visited last year (2021 = yellow, 2022 = white). He is currently heading south-west through Germany, and so may return to the areas she previously visited in the Netherlands, or perhaps return across the English Channel once again. 

G463’s movements in mainland Europe during 2021 (yellow) and 2022 (white)

Like the two 2020 birds, G318 has also returned to a previous haunt. The 2019 female wintered in Dorset, but then flew north to the Peak District on 16th May and has returned to the moors in the Dark Peak that she frequented for more than two months last summer. This bird has been a lagomorph specialist since release and it seems that Mountain Hares could be the reason she has returned to this particular area. 

The fact that three birds have returned to sites that they first encountered on their initial explorations, illustrates the superb navigational capacity of the young eagles, and the value of the initial wanderings and the associated knowledge they assimilate about the landscape.  

G318 has returned to the Peak District for a second successive summer (photo by Nick Corley)

2022 translocation cancelled 

During June we were intending to translocate the next cohort of chicks to the Isle of Wight. However, the worsening situation with Avian Influenza which has resulted in major mortality of breeding seabirds around eastern and northern coasts of the UK, and poses a considerable risk to White-tailed Eagles – which can contract the virus by eating infected carcasses – meant that we felt the most responsible approach was to not translocate any chicks this year, particularly as fieldwork indicates it is a poor breeding year for White-tailed Eagles. We have informed NatureScot and Natural England of this decision, and hope to extend the licence to account for the missed year. The original licence permits us to release a total of 60 White-tailed Eagles over the course of five years with the aim of establishing an initial population of six to eight breeding pairs on the Isle of Wight and surrounding areas of the South Coast. 

In the meantime, we will continue to closely monitor the birds released in previous years, particularly in relation to their foraging behaviour, daily movements and how they are living in the landscape. We have also constructed two artificial nests to encourage early breeding behaviour.  

Thank you

Sincere thanks to everyone who has been in touch to report sightings or sent photos of eagles in their local area. This information is of real value and adds to our understanding of how the birds are living in the landscape. You can report any sightings using our online form. We have been thrilled at the excitement the birds have generated in different parts of the country, and greatly appreciate the support the project has received.  

Very many thanks to everyone who has made donations to the Foundation and the White-tailed Eagle project in the past few months. Your support is greatly appreciated. If you would like to donate to our work, then you can do so via the link below.

The Start of new Osprey Dynasties

April 25, 2022

British migratory Ospreys have many challenges on their journeys to and from West Africa, so it was very encouraging, earlier this month, when the young male (colour ring blue 22) returned to Poole Harbour and paired up with his mate, blue CJ7. He had first returned last May as a two-year-old, too late to breed, but with plenty of time to establish a pair bond with CJ7. Blue 22 had already met this female when he was released from the hacking cages in 2019, as part of the translocation project we are running with Birds of Poole Harbour, under licence from NatureScot. That was CJ7’s third summer in the area, having been seen at Poole Harbour for the first time in August 2017. The two birds looked very settled once they were reunited this spring, and on Saturday we were delighted that CJ7 laid the first egg. You can watch the nest live via the Birds of Poole Harbour webcam.

022(left) and CJ7 looking down into the nest at the newly-laid egg on Saturday

We collected blue 22 from nest B01, not far from Roy’s home in Moray, on 11th July 2019. He was one of a brood of two and in excellent condition – 1500g is a good weight for a male nestling. Tim and Ian Perks drove south with the eleven young ospreys on 12th July. You can find out more by listening to one of the podcasts we made in 2019.

The team at Poole Harbour had built new hacking cages at a secluded location and all 11 young birds thrived on a diet of fresh trout.  Blue 22 was released on 4th August and after four weeks of feeding up on fresh fish, set off on his migration on 1st September.  Two others also started their migrations on the same day. 

That first migration is crucial, and so is the first winter when young Ospreys are often bullied away from the best feeding areas by the wintering adults. They usually remain in West Africa (or Iberia if they have only migrated that far) for the whole of their second calendar year and this gives them the opportunity to get established at a specific site, before the older birds return in the autumn.  If they prove to be winners in the Ospreys’ world then they could return to the same place each winter for two decades or more.

Blue 22 may have started with an advantage for he came from eyrie B01. The oldest and most used nest in Moray – first established in 1966 when there were only two other pairs – both in Strathspey. Most northern Ospreys know this clump of old trees – it’s a favoured eyrie – for them and for us. The female Logie bred here, the first Osprey we tracked with state-of-the-art GPS transmitters in 2007. Morven took over from her in 2008 and wintered in Mauritania; 15 years later she is still breeding in Moray although unlike most Ospreys she has moved nest four times. Satellite tagged males Nimrod and Yellow HA also bred here – it’s a special place. 

Blue 22’s father is unringed but distinctively very white breasted – he kicked out the resident male in 2016 and reared three young. Next summer there were three young, then two young for two years, but in 2020 the pair lost the brood when very small. Last year, he failed to attract a mate so instead he built an extra nest in the big pine next-door – the location on the original 1966 nest when the tree was alive. This year he’s attracted mate and a check and a check this morning showed the female incubating their first egg and her mate perched close by preening. So this year he’s just behind his son – yet 500 miles apart.

Meanwhile what about blue CJ7’s pedigree? She was one of two chicks to fledge from a nest known as Site K near Rutland Water in 2015. Her mother, 00(09) fledged from the Site B nest in Rutland in 2009 and is the daughter of a male osprey 03(97) who was the first transloctated Osprey to breed at Rutland Water and raised a total of 32 chicks between 2001 and 2015. Colin Crooke and Roy collected this young Osprey on 11th July 1997 from a regularly used eyrie near Dornoch in Sutherland. 03 was part of the second cohort of young Ospreys translocated to Rutland Water. CJ7’s father, 06(09), fledged from the Site O nest in Rutland in 2009 and was an offspring of a translocated male 06(00) that Roy and Bob Moncrieff collected from a nest in Strathspey on 10thJuly 2000. That bird’s father, and thus CJ7’s great-gradfather was orange/black SB – one of three young ringed by Roy at the RSPB’s famous Loch Garten nest in 1993. 

CJ7 is the granddaughter of translocated Osprey 03(97), who raised 32 chicks at Rutland Water between 2001-15 (photo by John Wright)

CJ7 has never been seen back in the Rutland Water area, but that is not surprising, because females often disperse to join other Osprey populations. CJ7 was first identified at Poole Harbour by Tim on 8th August 2017. That day she was seen interacting with the first cohort of translocated Ospreys who had just been released. She has continued to return each summer since, clearly encouraged by the presence of young Ospreys in the area.  In 2019 she paired up with a two year-old translocated male, but sadly he failed to return the following spring. Now, finally, she is breeding for the first time, with 022.

 As the years have passed we have got to know individual Ospreys for many years, while others are never seen again after they depart on their first autumn migration. Longevity and breeding success involves luck and being in the right place at the right time. Surviving the early years in Africa and on migration, then finding a good nest site and a successful partner. A female needs to be bold and strong to defend her eyrie from all intruders, to protect her young and to get as much fish as possible into her brood; and her mate needs to be dominant at the fishing grounds and a very skilled fisher. That’s the essence of a being an Osprey pair that lives long and creates a dynasty. Let’s hope CJ7 and 022 have that luck and those skills, and help to re-establish the ‘mullet hawk’ back on the South Coast of England for the first time in more the two centuries. We are proud to work with the Birds of Poole Harbour team, aiming to restore a new dynasty of Ospreys on the coasts of the English Channel.

Roy Dennis and Tim Mackrill

Death of White-tailed Eagle G461

March 29, 2022

One of the most pleasing aspects of the first three years of the White-tailed Eagle project has been the great excitement of people who have seen one of the birds. The far-ranging exploratory flights of the young eagles has meant that they have been enjoyed by birders and wildlife enthusiasts across much of the UK. People often ask us to give the eagles’ daily locations on the website but we need to prevent disturbance to the eagles and local people. We have made many friends in the farming, forestry and landowner communities who have welcomed the great birds on their land.

Encouragingly, we are now seeing some of the older birds – those released in 2019 and 2020 – returning to the Isle of Wight and the wider South Coast region where we hope an initial breeding population will become established. On the Isle of Wight two eagles released in 2019, G274 and G324 have paired up, and, although still too young to breed, they are showing territorial behaviour. Meanwhile two of the 2020 cohort – male G471 who recently returned to the South Coast after an extended stay in southern Scotland, and female G405, who spent much of last year in South West England – are showing the first signs of forming a second pair, and have spent much of the past week in the South Downs in West Sussex, which is another potential breeding area.

Another bird that returned to the South Coast after spending a prolonged period away was G461. This male eagle, released on the Isle of Wight in 2020, explored widely along the South Coast during spring 2021 and then spent much of last summer in West Norfolk. After returning south in September, and being chased away from the Isle of Wight by G274, the young male began favouring Poole Harbour in Dorset. This huge natural harbour, with its abundant populations of a favoured prey species, the Grey Mullet, is a likely breeding site for White-tailed Eagles in the future.

G461 at Poole Harbour in October 2021 (photo by Mark Wright)

G461 spent much of the autumn and early winter at Poole Harbour where many excited birdwatchers and members of the public were able to enjoy watching it.  On one occasion a boat full of school children enjoyed a fly past during a trip organised by the local charity Birds of Poole Harbour.

When not at Poole Harbour, G461 also visited the nearby Purbeck coastline, and spent time in North Dorset, in an area that has been visited by several other White-tailed Eagles since the project began.

G461’s movements after release on the Isle of Wight in 2020

Sadly, in late January the data from G461’s satellite tag gave us cause for concern, and we subsequently recovered the bird’s body in North Dorset on 27th January, with Dorset Police and members of the RSPB Investigations team.

Post mortem and toxicology testing through the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme has subsequently identified brodifacoum poisoning as the cause of death. Brodifacoum is a highly toxic anticoagulant rodenticide that causes internal haemorrhaging. The bird’s liver contained approximately seven times the amount of brodifacoum required to kill a bird like a White-tailed Eagle. The satellite data indicates that the eagle, which was otherwise healthy, deteriorated and died over a period of several days.

Dorset police have today made a statement that no further police action will be taken.

Recent evidence indicates that brodifacoum poses a serious threat to birds of prey. It accumulates in the food chain and can cause secondary poisoning as a result. A number of cases where dead raptors have been found with very high levels of brodifacoum have suggested that it could also be illegally misused in some instances to target birds of prey. White-tailed Eagles are particularly at risk because carrion can form a significant part of the diet, especially of birds in their first year.  EU Environmental Risk Assessments have previously concluded that second generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) such as brodifacoum should not be permitted for external use because the environmental risk is too great. However, regulations around their use in outdoor settings in the UK have been relaxed in recent years, and we believe this could pose a significant risk to birds of prey and other wildlife.

It is very disappointing that G461 has become the latest bird of prey to die of brodifacoum poisoning, and we hope that the death of this bird serves as a reminder of the toxicity of anticoagulant rodenticide poisons and the impacts they can have on wider wildlife.

More encouragingly, two female White-tailed Eagles, G318 and G801 are the latest birds to take up residence at Poole Harbour, and there have been numerous sightings in recent weeks. With G463 back in England after spending five months in continental Europe last year, we are hopeful that the young male may eventually join the birds at Poole Harbour, particularly as G318, released in 2019, is now approaching breeding age. Since arriving back in England last November G463 has spent much of its time in East Anglia, but also returned to Chard area in Somerset – where it had spent its first winter – and visited Knepp in East Sussex last week.

Despite the loss of G461 we very much hope that White-tailed Eagles will become an increasingly familiar sight at Poole Harbour and in other parts of southern England, and that many more people will be able to enjoy seeing them in years to come.

G461 perched on the Brownsea Lagoon, with Poole in the background (photo by Alison Copland)
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