Out of Africa – ospreys are spotted in the island
OSPREYS have journeyed out of Africa and onto our shores.
While the species have been regular visitors for at least a decade they are not known to breed here.
Hunted to extinction in the UK in the 1800s, there are now roughly 300 known nesting pairs in Britain.
Conservationist Vic Froome spotted the first two ospreys on Thursday– one flew over Delancey.
Another was seen to fly north an hour later ‘at great speed over La Societe Guernesiaise’s nature reserve at Le Grand Pre. An adult male bird going back to its nest to wait for his mate to come soon.’
At the start of March an osprey nesting platform was installed at St Saviour’s Reservoir to encourage breeding pairs.
La Societe Guernesiaise, Guernsey Water and Treevolution were behind the project.
‘It is the time for migration,’ said Mr Froome. ‘Many thousands of birds are coming north to breed and many species use Guernsey as a stop-off on their journey.’
Avian arrivals signify the start of spring.
‘Spring is here – local robins, blackbirds and thrushes are singing their little hearts out. A swallow was seen coming in at Icart on Thursday too.’
Guernsey Water permitted the nest to be built to encourage ospreys to set up home in the Channel Islands.
Rutland Nature Reserve osprey expert Paul Stammers assisted in the placement of the reservoir nest. Our arrivals have come a little later – the first osprey returned to the Rutland reserve on 19 March.
‘The successful introduction of a few birds in Scotland many years ago has allowed numbers of ospreys in the UK to increase. They are now breeding near Poole at the Arne RSPB Nature Reserve.’
Having established successful breeding pairs in England, ‘we now get more passing through, and sometimes stopping to feed up on some of our local delicacies, both in spring and autumn,’ Mr Froome said.
Last year, the species was recorded eating fish at Perelle, which helped to decide the spot for the nesting platform.
‘Autumn is thought to be when ospreys might be looking around for their own place to set-up home.’
While visiting on migration, it is hoped the ospreys will recognise a steady food source and return in autumn to begin nesting.
‘Ospreys travel many miles. If they can travel up and down to Africa each spring and autumn, a few miles fishing is no trouble.’
