We’ve had some exciting news from our colleagues at the Birds of Poole Harbour Osprey Project about a very special visitor to one of their artificial nests.

Yesterday it was reported that a Loch of the Lowes fledgling from 2018, ringed PT0 arrived at 17:21 and stayed for around 40 minutes. Arriving to the same nest as CJ7 has been sitting on since April. She was seen again this morning before CJ7 encouraged her to leave.

As a 2 year old, PT0 is not looking to breed but is making a recce migration which will inform her for future migrations. She may even choose to breed at Poole Harbour in the coming years. It is the first sighting of this osprey since she left on migration in 2018 so we’re delighted that she’s survived migration and the trials of life abroad.

A little bit about the project

Birds of Poole Harbour are partnered with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and Wildlife Windows for the Poole Harbour Osprey Translocation Project. The project is in it’s 4th year of releasing Scottish birds from the site.

The birds are taken from specially chosen nests under licence by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and translocated to the release site in Poole harbour. They are collected at 5-6 weeks old when ringing would normally occur. They are then kept in large aviaries in a group of 3 and fed fish daily (without human interaction). The team carefully watch the birds behaviour as they begin to helicopter and wing flap to build up their flight muscles. When they feel the birds are ready they open the aviaries and allow the birds to fledge. Leaving them open to allow them to return to roost just like on a real nesting site.

They have also built several artificial platforms for the fledglings to perch and nest on in the future. The idea is that by releasing chicks here they will imprint the local landmarks and return to the area at breeding age. They will have no knowledge of their Scottish origins.

They currently have a resident adult female named CJ7, who is a 2015 fledgling from Rutland. Sadly no males have stopped to breed with her despite Poole harbour being en route for many of our Scottish birds. Hopefully as the project progresses more birds will view this resource rich area as a good place to stop and breed. Thus establishing an osprey population on the South coast of England for the first time in 180 years! You can watch CJ7 via the webcam.

We don’t know where PT0 will chose to go next, if we’re lucky we might get another report of her heading north. So keep your eyes skyward for our osprey on her adventures around the UK.

Lowes update: Our webcam is still running and we are occasionally getting visits to the nest or flybys from our resident pair, so they are still in the area. It is worth noting that as more 2 and 3 year old ospreys return to Scotland in the coming weeks we may get more activity on the webcam as they land to investigate the nest. So watch this space!

Emma Castle-Smith,
Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre Assistant Manager