CJ7 and LS7

What we hoped would be the first breeding attempt this year was unfortunately not meant to be, as LS7 did not arrive back. In 2019, he returned for the first time to the UK on June 12th and we expected him to return back earlier this year, hopefully in time for breeding with CJ7 on the livestreamed nest. Although it’s disappointing not to have LS7 return, especially as he was such a promising bird, 2020 has still been an exciting season with new milestones. We’ve seen CJ7 display her readiness to breed, experienced the process of nest building, unfertilised egg-laying and nest defence, as well as witness the occasional intruder to the area.

CJ7 is now a rare appearance on the webcam, which is to be expected at this time of year, considering she has no partner or chicks. She is regularly reported hunting over the Wareham Channel and occasionally landing on other nesting platforms, such as in the Middlebere Channel, which can be viewed from RSPB Arne. With CJ7’s dedication to the area, and more Ospreys to return from the project, we can look forward to future seasons having had a glimpse of what’s to come. It’s worth noting that many well-established and experienced Ospreys did not return this year, and it is likely that several birds were affected by bad weather systems in the spring. However, this season has not been without success…

 

Our newest returnee, 014

Earlier in the season we heard of the return of one of the 2018 translocated Ospreys, 014, return to the UK… but to Wales. She was first identified by the team at the Dyfi Osprey Project on the 20th May, when she paid a visit to their nesting site and could be seen on their livestream camera. Well, she seems to have been keeping busy since then and is still in Wales, visiting different sites including in Anglesey, the Clywedog Reservoir and a return visit to Dyfi. We’re pleased to see that she has been interacting with the local Ospreys and it will definitely be interesting to see where she ends up if she returns next season.

 

And finally……..

Many of our keen followers have been interested in whether the Osprey Translocation Project will be able to go ahead this season, in what will be the fourth year of the project. We’ve been busy working behind the scenes to see how we can make it work, planning new strategies to ensure the safety of both staff and the birds. We’re pleased to announce that the project will be going ahead a bit later in the season, with a small team working intensively on the project from now until the autumn. Sticking to the course of the 5-year project increases the likelihood of a successful reintroduction and it has taken great consideration as to whether it was feasible to carry out in light of Covid-19. We are looking forward to the start of the season and are pleased to be delivering some positive action, despite the hardships this year.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the project this year, we look forward to updating you later in the season.

Tuesday 2nd June

Two Ospreys were seen over Lytchett Bay early in the morning, with a strong likelihood that one of them was CJ7. She arrived on the nest at 08:45, but no other Ospreys landed on any of the monitored nests today.

Due to reduced activity on the nest, we will now focus on delivering detailed blogs when significant events occur rather than daily updates. You can also keep up to date with any sightings through our twitter pages: @harbourospreys and @harbourbirds.

We also want to express our gratitude to everyone who has donated to Birds of Poole Harbour and has supported the Osprey Project. Our income has of course been affected by the temporary closure of our HQ and the cancellation of our events, and we have been amazed by the support people have shown for us. We are pleased to announce that we have a new donations platform on our website, which makes it simple to make regular donations to Birds of Poole Harbour and to support our work across all our projects and the running of the charity. If you wish for your donation to be used for the Osprey Project only, you can still donate through out Just Giving page. Thank you.

Thursday 28th May

We are seeing less and less of CJ7 on the nest, but rest assured she is still in the area. She arrived at 06:45 in the morning and left shortly before 08:00. It’s not unexpected for CJ7 to be spending less time on the nest now, as the window for breeding in 2020 has closed and she doesn’t need to pay as much attention to maintaining the nest. She will still be around, however, and it’s clear that she’s still tied to the nest through her visits most days, and her defence of the nest from PT0 last week.

Wednesday 27th May

CJ7 arrived at 06:45 this morning but left shortly after. She spent half an hour on another platform this morning between half 8 and 9am. An Osprey was seen hunting over Brand’s Bay later in the day, which is not a usual fishing spot for CJ7 so it’s likely that another bird was in the area.

Friday 22nd May

Windy weather meant that CJ7 was distant from the nest today, arriving at 08:04 this morning and only spending a few brief periods in sight.

This morning during the Q & A, we discussed 014’s arrival in Wales, and whether it was likely she stopped off anywhere else first, or whether she would come down to Poole later in the season. In their first year back in the UK, Ospreys will typically have a season of “exploration”, finding good areas to nest in the future. Naturally, they are attracted to areas where Ospreys are already present, as they are a semi-colonial species, as well as having preference for using established nests themselves. It could be that 014 finds an ideal location for breeding to return to in the future, such as in Rutland, where there are several “available” males without partners. Females are less bonded to their fledging sites, so she won’t necessarily return to Poole, despite being translocated there – as is the instance for some males too. Just as CJ7 was first seen in the UK in Poole late in the season in 2017, she has continued to return here every season since. The presence of the artificial nests and juveniles in the summer has shown her that it should be a productive area to breed, which makes it very attractive to her – one of the indirect benefits of translocation.

Thursday 21st May

CJ7 arrived this morning at 06:20. She paid a brief visit to another nesting platform in the harbour at around 10am, but otherwise activity was low. Elsewhere, 014 hasn’t been seen at the Dyfi nest again today, but we’re looking out for more reports of her. You can read our blog about the return of 014 here.

Wednesday 20th May

Writing “Who knows who we will see this season?” seemed to have kicked off a flurry of Osprey-themed drama, including the amazing news that 014 BACK IN THE UK! 014 is a translocated female from the Poole Harbour Osprey project in 2018 and today she has turned up at the Dyfi nest in Wales! Fortunately the Dyfi team were able to zoom in on the leg ring and discover it was her, which naturally has caused very high spirits amongst everyone involved in the project. Females are more prone to wander away from their release site, so it’s not completely surprising that she’s turned up in Wales. We’re so pleased to see another translocated bird return, and we’re looking forward to seeing what she gets up to this summer – hopefully we will get more reports.

Back in Poole, we saw CJ7 and 2-year-old female PT0 both on the nest this morning shortly before 07:00. We haven’t seen PT0 appear again since the morning, but you can read all about her in our new blog post.

Tuesday 19th May

Tomorrow marks 6 weeks since CJ7 arrived on the webcam, and it seems like a good time to reflect on what’s happened so far this season. We’ve watched as CJ7’s built up the nest, shaped it to her liking, laid 3 unfertilised eggs which have since been buried, and seen her interact with visitors to the harbour. At this point, we are no longer likely to have a nesting attempt if a male turns up this season. Rather, if a male does arrive, we will see a similar year to last year, when CJ7 spent the rest of the season bonding with LS7 and preparing for nesting. It’s important to remember that it’s still very early in the project. We will hopefully be going ahead with the fourth season of the translocation project this summer, and to already have a female dedicated to nesting in Poole Harbour gives us a fantastic potential for the next few years. From now, we can hope to see other translocated Ospreys from the project arrive – 2 and 3 year olds, with potential for LS0, LS1, LS2, LS3, LS4, and LS5 from the first year to arrive, as well as 002, 007, 008, 011, 013 and 014 from the second year. Who knows who we will see this season?

Today, CJ7 spent a lot of time on the nest. We saw her arrive at 07:44, and meanwhile there was another Osprey sighted in the harbour, which unfortunately didn’t seem to put in an appearance. We’ve put together a photo for every day for the past 6 weeks, where you can see the changes that have been made to the nest, and reminded of CJ7’s antics:

*UPDATE*

Since writing today’s update, we had another visitor to the nest – this time a ringed individual PT0! PT0 is a ringed Osprey that fledged from Loch of the Lowes in 2018, and this is the first time she is back in the UK. When ringed on the nest, PT0 was believed to be a male, due to the measurements taken. However, later in the season as PT0 grew, it seemed that she was much more likely to be female, due to her large size and behaviour. From her adult appearance, it seems that the Lowes team’s judgements were correct. PT0 first landed on the nest at 17:21, and stayed around for around 40 minutes before intermittently returning. It will be interesting to see how she continues to behave and where she heads to next. Happy news for Loch of the Lowes!

Monday 18th May

Today, CJ7 was only the nest platform for a short period at around 08:30am, but made fleeting visits to another nesting platform at 08:59 and 09:26. Over the weekend, she behaved similarly, but spent more time on the livestream nest on Sunday morning before visiting the same platform at 11:05am.

Last night, the nest was visited by a Tawny Owl, which flew by the nest a few times. It sounds as though CJ7 was perched on the camera pole at this point, which might explain why the Tawny was proceeding with caution!

Friday 15th May

Another quiet day for CJ7. From the sound of footage, it seems that she spent some of the night on the camera pole, and we could see her take a brief flight at 05:53, and then return to the nest. She didn’t stay on the nest long, however, and was on the camera pole for much of the day. Today was the last of our series of weekday Q & As, which are now switching to weekly on Fridays at 10-11am. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact us on email at bopphq@birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk.

Thursday 14th May

Compared to yesterday evening, it’s been a very calm day on the nest. We’ve only seen CJ7 in passing, once with a fish, and she’s spent much of the time on the camera pole, occasionally calling. This morning at 07:50, an Osprey was seen heading north over Holes Bay, which could have possibly been the other Osprey that was in the harbour yesterday. The time of arrival yesterday suggests that the intruder was possibly just stopping over before continuing on migration this morning.

Wednesday 13th May

CJ7 arrived on the nest at 06:07 this morning, but didn’t stay in view for most of the day. Excitement on the nest in the evening, however, made up for the lack of activity in the day. At 18:51, and intruder Osprey flew by the nest a number of times, with CJ7 on the nest, displaying a defensive behaviour known as “mantling”. Although she was defensive, she wasn’t alarm calling, which is very interesting – we would expect her to do so if she felt threatened. We didn’t get clear enough view of the individual to see whether it was a male or female, but we could see that it was unringed, so not one of the translocated individuals from the project.

The intruder was heard to land on the camera pole, and shortly after they both flew off. Between 19:47 and 19:54, CJ7 was photographed on another nesting platform alone through our motion-sensitive cameras. Neither bird landed on the nest later in the evening.

The new Osprey flew by the nest several times during the encounter, and you can watch CJ7 mantling and a close flyby here:

 

 

Tuesday 12th May

CJ7 was earlier on the nest again this morning, arriving at 06:36. She was seen fishing in the harbour this morning and returned to eat on the camera pole. From next week, we will be hosting our Q and As once a week, rather than daily, due to the reduced activity on the nest. The weekly sessions will take place on Friday mornings at 10-11am on our YouTube livestream. If we see any development in activity, it’s possible we will host more Q and A sessions again.

Monday 11th May

Another long weekend has seen some more developments on the nest. On Saturday, close to midday, CJ7 broke one of the unfertilised eggs and ate some of the contents, which is not unusual for birds to do. Later in the afternoon, all of the eggs became buried in the nest and so are no longer visible on the livestream. Since then, she has been spending less time on the nest, arriving later in the day and spending time on another nesting platform in the harbour over the weekend. Although she is visiting other platforms, that doesn’t mean that she no longer favours this nest. This morning, she didn’t arrive on the nest until 12:49, when she seemingly appeared to arrive in order to protect the nest from corvids, so it is likely she is still in close proximity when not on the platform itself. She is still spending a lot more time on the livestream nest, with the other visits being fairly brief or to eat a fish. Over the weekend, another 2 Ospreys passed through the harbour and we have had reports of Ospreys still on migration abroad, so we’re hoping we may see other translocated birds return this year.

Thursday 7th May

This morning saw the early arrival of CJ7 at 04:54, before she laid a third unfertilised egg at around 07:26 this morning. It’s not unexpected that she laid another, as Osprey usually lay clutches of 3. She is continuing to not incubate the eggs, though is maintaining the depth of the nest through regularly egg cup scraping and adjusting the nest material.

Another feature on the nest this morning was a visitor at 04:09, when a Nightjar came to perch. As it was a male, it will be interesting to see if he returns back to this post in future to sing from.

Wednesday 6th May

Similar to usual, CJ7 arrived on the nest at 05:07 this morning. She was seen on the nest for the majority of the morning, only leaving for brief periods of time. In the late morning, while CJ7 was on the nest, another Osprey was seen in the harbour, but was not identified and continued on through. Younger birds are now arriving to the UK, so there is the possibility of seeing more translocated Ospreys arrive this year! Tomorrow evening, we will be hosting an additional Q & A on our YouTube livestream at 19:00-19:55, before the Clap for Carers, with the aim of making the event accessible to more people, including key workers. We hope you can join us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTIe41ZvtS4

Tuesday 5th May

CJ7 arrived on the nest this morning at 05:38, but has stayed away from the nest for most of the day. Hopefully, we will see her back on the nest tomorrow morning. You can watch our new Osprey Video Diary about CJ7’s laying and Osprey Identification here:

Monday 4th May

A new week and a new egg – CJ7 laid another unfertilised egg on Sunday evening at around 20:32. This wasn’t unexpected as Ospreys will typically lay an average of 3 eggs in a clutch, so we could see another in a few days time. She spent the rest of the weekend both on the nest and visiting different platforms in the harbour. On Monday morning she arrived on the nest at 05:45 and hasn’t been incubating the eggs, though is still taking time to scrape the egg cup occasionally. Last week saw the arrival of more 3-year-old Ospreys back in the UK, so there is still potential for LS7 coming through soon!

Friday 1st May

CJ7 arrived on the nest at 05:14 this morning, with the egg still present. She had a busy day as she visited two other nesting platforms in the harbour, eating a fish on one in the early afternoon. It’s good to see that CJ7 is prioritising her own health rather than attempting to incubate the egg. As of yet, she has not buried or pushed the egg from the nest, but it may be so that this happens over the weekend. The egg is definitely unfertilised, so there’s no need to worry if you see her doing this behaviour. We look forward to getting back to the Osprey Live Q & A again on Monday!

Thursday 30th April

A very unusual early start to the day saw CJ7 revealing an egg on the nest at 03:35 this morning. We believe the egg is unfertilised as she doesn’t currently have a mate, and is instead a result of CJ7’s readiness to breed, causing a surge in hormones. Please read our new blog post about CJ7 and the egg here.

Wednesday 29th April

We were pleased to see CJ7 back on the nest again this morning, arriving very early again at 04:32. Despite the rainy weather this morning, she spent much more time on this nest today. Following the high interest in LS7 and his hopeful return in the live Q & As, we’ve released a new video this week with an exclusive look at the history of LS7, including his translocation in 2017. You can watch it here:

Tuesday 28th April

It’s been an unusual day as we’ve had almost no Osprey activity on the livestream nest camera, or on any of the other platforms in the harbour. This is likely to be due to the poor weather conditions, and CJ7 is likely to be hunkered down somewhere in a tree, so it’s no cause for concern, especially as she could be heard on the camera pole at between 06:10-06:11 this morning. Let’s hope we see her on the nest again in the morning.

Monday 27th April

Another weekend has passed and we are still waiting on the return of LS7. CJ7 has continued her usual business over the weekend, and spent time on another nesting platforms in the harbour on Saturday afternoon, but different to the one she visited on Friday afternoon. On Saturday evening, we were alerted to trespassers that walked near the nest and could be seen on the webcam. We immediately responded to check that the nest was not at risk, and found that they had already moved on. It seems they had no intent on disturbing CJ7, and fortunately she returned again the next morning.

This morning, CJ7 behaved differently to her usual routine, and arrived very early in the morning at 03:53. She spent the majority of the day on the livestream nest, and didn’t make any visits to other platforms in the harbour.

Friday 24th April

CJ7 stayed on the livestream nest for most of the morning, only leaving for brief periods, having arrived at 05:26. She spent time on another Osprey platform in the harbour in the mid-afternoon, but only stayed for around 25 minutes. We’ve been asked a number of times this week as to when it will be too late for nesting this year, depending on LS7 returning. Should LS7 return within the next week or so, they may well be able to make a nesting attempt this year. Should he return later in May, then it is unlikely that they would breed this year, and would instead spend the summer pair bonding, as they did last year, ready for a nesting attempt in 2021. LS7 is still young, and it is normal for 3-year-old Ospreys to return later, so a nesting attempt this year would be very lucky.

Our live Q & As will resume on Monday at 10am on the YouTube chat, where you can ask any questions you have about the Osprey project or the nest.

Thursday 23rd April

CJ7 arrived at 05:27 this morning on the nest camera, though made a brief visit later in the morning to another nesting platform in the harbour, just after 10am. CJ7 was on the nest sporadically this afternoon. There were also speculations today over the identity of an Osprey that was photographed flying over a garden in the early afternoon, while CJ7 was briefly off the nest. Though it’s difficult to confirm a definite ID from the photos, we believe the photographed Osprey was a female, and likely to be CJ7 due to the markings and timing. Exciting either way!

Wednesday 22nd April

CJ7 arrived at 05:32 on the nest camera this morning, but visited another platform in the harbour after catching a fish at around 11 o’clock. Watch our next video diary about the past week in the harbour, our Osprey Translocation Project, and what we could expect to see from the season, depending on LS7’s arrival:

Tuesday 21st April

CJ7 arrived on the nest camera at 06:24 this morning and spent the majority of the morning on the nest, busy rearranging material. She spent the afternoon away from the nest. There were no reports of any other Ospreys in the harbour today, though yesterday saw the return of 3-year-old Osprey Aeron from the Dyfi Osprey Project, good evidence that younger Ospreys are still making their way back into the UK.

Monday 20th April

Another exciting weekend for Osprey behaviour in the harbour. CJ7 still spent lots of time on time on the nest, but on Sunday, she was visited by another Osprey passing through the harbour.  The team watched on tenterhooks, hoping for the arrival of both birds of the camera. At 12:26, the shadows of two Ospreys flying above the nest could be seen on the camera, but the visitor did not land, and carried on through. As this new individual did not land on any platforms, we don’t have a guide as to whether it was ringed or whether it was male or female.

On Monday, CJ7 arrived on the nest at 05:32. She spent most of the day on the camera pole or away from the nest. We did see a brief appearance from her at 13:43, when she very quickly landed on the nest with a fish and then flew back up behind the camera again.

Friday 17th April

CJ7 arrived on the nest this morning at 06:30, and spent much of the morning on the nest. As the rain was fairly heavy this morning, she had a long period of inactivity, which is usual for Ospreys in rainy weather. This afternoon, she spent some more time arranging the nest.

The unringed Osprey that was seen with CJ7 on another platform yesterday has not been seen today. We expect that it was probably just a quick stopover on his migration through, which definitely gave us a bit of excitement.

We’ll be back to update the diary and with our live Q & A  at 10-11am on Monday, unless there are any significant updates over the weekend!

Thursday 16th April

Another exciting day in the harbour. CJ7 first arrived on the nest this morning at 05:44. Unusually, we later received photos of her eating a fish on another nest platform in the harbour from 09:38. Even more unusually, she was visited twice by an unringed Osprey, which appears to be male, though it didn’t stay around for long. It’s likely that this bird is just passing through the harbour, but it’s interesting to see CJ7 interact with another bird, and we’ve been keeping our eyes on the nest cams to see if he reappears. There was no sign of him in the afternoon, where CJ7 spent a lot of time, as well as on the camera pole.

Wednesday 15th April

It’s been a whole week since CJ7 first arrived on the nest. She arrived this morning at 05:42, and continued her typical daily routine. She again spent lots of time on the nest in the afternoon today, which is a positive sign. You can watch our new video blog about the first week of CJ7 on the nest here:

Tuesday 14th April

CJ7 has really picked up the pace with the nest-building, which we can see through the transformation of the nest since she first arrived last Wednesday. This morning, she was visible on the nest at 06:18, though it appeared that she was perched on the camera pole before that. Arriving on the nest, she continued to eat the remains of a fish. Throughout the morning and afternoon, CJ7 was intermittently on the nest, bringing in large pieces of nesting material.

Monday 13th April

CJ7 has been busy over the weekend, building the nest up considerably, and displaying more egg-cupping behaviour. The nest is now much deeper and well-prepped for nesting, should LS7 arrive soon. Today, CJ7 arrived at 05:46 onto the nest in the morning. She displayed a change of activity, spending longer time on the nest in the afternoon, and appeared in the evening. At 19:27, she flew off the camera pole with a fish, though could be heard returning to the camera pole at 19:29.

Elsewhere in the harbour, we haven’t received any photo transmissions of Beaky since Saturday the 11th, so we believe that she has moved to another area, as she did last year.

Friday 10th April

CJ7 repeated her behaviour again today, spending much of the morning on the livestream nest and most of the afternoon away. She was first seen at 07:18 this morning, and made considerable progress with building up the nest, even demonstrating some egg cup scraping behaviour. It’s clear she is highly favourable of this nest, so, should LS7 return, there will be some good viewing. At 11:31, the CJ7 displayed defensively (“mantling”) as a Red Kite passed over the nest. This evening she returned to the perch on the camera pole with a fish at 17:59.

Beaky was present again on her regular nest from early this morning. She brought a fish to the nest in the late morning and stayed there until the early afternoon.

Thursday 9th April

CJ7 was first briefly seen on an alternative nest platform in the harbour this morning at 08:34, before making a quick return to the livestream nest camera at 08:41. She spent most of the morning on the nest, including on top of the camera post, and continued to bring in nesting material. Much the same as the day before, she spent most of the afternoon away from the nesting platforms, and was last seen in the afternoon at at 12:26pm, after which she sat on the camera post for a while.

Beaky was recorded again on our motion-sensitive cameras again briefly this morning, but spent most of the morning and afternoon away from the nest. She did, however, return with a fish in the late afternoon, and stayed present most of the evening.

Wednesday 8th April

* First Osprey arrival on livestream nest cam – CJ7 *

CJ7 is a 5-year-old female that has been summering in Poole Harbour since 2017, and bonded with translocated male, LS7, in the harbour last year. She arrived on the nest at 05:55 in the morning, and spent most of the morning on the nest, intermittently leaving to collect sticks to build the nest up. She made significant progress with nest building, and then spent the majority of the afternoon away from the nest.

Elsewhere, the large unringed female (presumed Beaky) was on a nesting platform in the harbour again from the morning into the afternoon, spending much of the afternoon feeding on a large fish (grey mullet). Beaky spent just over a week in the harbour in April 2019, and returned back in August again. It is possible she may spend a longer amount of time here this year.

We are very pleased to say that another of the Poole Harbour translocated Ospreys has returned to the UK, this time female 014, released in 2018! But 014 hasn’t returned back to Poole (yet)…we were alerted to her presence by the team at the Dyfi Osprey Project in Wales, when she arrived on the nest there at 15:37 on Wednesday 20th May. Obviously, 014 was an unwelcome intruder and so was quickly ousted from the nest, and she landed on the perch beyond, which meant the Dyfi team had some brilliant footage of her. You can watch their video here:

014 is now 2-years-old, coming from the 2018 cohort. She was one of the largest and strongest individuals that migrated that year, with the project facing difficulties during the translocation season with record-breaking summer temperatures. To have the first Osprey to return from the 2018 season is fantastic news for all the staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly that year, so much so that we can forgive her for returning to a different country!

Female Ospreys are more likely to wander to other areas on return to the UK, with their bond to their fledging grounds not usually as strong as in males. It will be interesting to see where she is next sighted – will she stay in Wales or continue exploring, maybe eventually returning to Poole? In their first year back in the UK, Ospreys will usually spend the summer “prospecting” and finding a good area to settle, which is when we saw CJ7 form a bond with Poole Harbour in 2017.

Here’s hoping for more sightings of 014 over the summer, and to seeing more young birds arrive back in the UK over the coming weeks! Huge thanks to the team at Dyfi for alerting us to her arrival, and for the fantastic information and footage they’ve put together… We’re on tenterhooks to see what happens next!

PT0 appeared first on the livestream nest camera at 17:21 . We were very pleased to see that it was a ringed individual – the visitor that flew by the nest last week was unringed and so we were unable to find any information about that bird.

 

Who is PT0?

PT0 is a 2-year-old Osprey that fledged from Loch of the Lowes in Perthshire in 2018. Many people will have watched the nest that summer and seen PT0 grow alongside the other chick on the nest that year LN1.

At the time of ringing, PT0 was believed to be a male due to the size measurements taken – smaller birds are generally male. However, towards the end of the season, the behaviour of PT0, who was a feisty and very loud chick, and its large size, led staff at Lowes to believe that it was actually a female. You can watch some entertaining footage from the Scottish Wildlife Trust of PT0 on the nest in 2018 here.

PT0 in Poole Harbour

On Tuesday evening, PT0 initially spent around 40 minutes on the nest and returned again intermittently later that evening. There were a couple of times when both PT0 and CJ7 could be seen/heard, either on the camera pole, nest or flying overhead. The team are convinced that PT0 is a female, as did the Lowes team believed at the end of the season in 2018, due to her size and colouration (we released a video about identifying Ospreys a couple of weeks ago, so if you are interested in the sex differences you can watch it here). Despite both being female, CJ7 isn’t extremely defensive towards PT0, but she still makes an effort to get her off the nest. PT0 returned again to the nest on Wednesday morning shortly before 07:00. There were a blissful few minutes when both birds were on the nest together – before CJ7 made the point of taking it back, of course:

As a 2-year-old, this is the first year that PT0 she has returned to the UK, which great news for the team at Lowes, as well as really exciting for us to have another Osprey visit the nest. We’ve caught up with the Lowes team and they are very pleased to see PT0 back in the UK. Emma Castle-Smith, the Visitor Centre Assistant Manager at Loch of the Lowes, said:

“It’s fantastic to hear that PT0 has completed her maiden migration and arrived safely in Britain. Everyone at Loch of the Lowes has really fond memories of watching her develop from a tiny chick.

With the support of People’s Postcode Lottery players our staff and volunteers work around the clock over several weeks to protect the nest at Lowes. Our hope for every osprey that fledges from here is that they return to a nesting site, and that they aid the wider recovery of ospreys, both in Scotland and elsewhere. We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for PT0, it will be interesting to hear where her first trip ‘home’ takes her.“

So, will we see more of PT0 on the nest? It’s likely that PT0 will move on from the harbour now and continue to explore potential sites for breeding in the future, as young Ospreys do, but there is the chance that she might stick around. We’re really pleased to see that she took such an interest in CJ7 and this nest, showing how having a resident population can attract others to the area. There is lots of excitement ahead: will we see PT0 back in the future, and which other returners will we see this summer? Only time will tell, but we feel incredibly lucky be able watch these events unfold through the webcam.

Over the past few weeks, CJ7 has shown how ready she is to breed, including the building up of the nest by bringing in new material, and even scraping out the egg cup. The egg that she laid this morning is an extension of this behaviour, and is the product of a boost in hormones for CJ7, showing her bond to this nest and her willingness to breed. Though it seems sad to see the egg alone in the nest, with CJ7 seemingly not knowing what to do, the Osprey Team are positive about this step…

CJ7 laying on this nest is a really good sign that she is happy with both this nest and the area, as well as being in excellent condition herself. This is great news as we know that she’s comfortable and is just waiting for a male, which makes us more confident that when she eventually does breed in the harbour, this is likely to be her chosen site. A good choice of nest to put the livestream camera on!

This is also one of the first times this has been properly documented. While it’s definitely a new area of understanding, this could be a common occurrence in Ospreys, as most nests that are monitored will have a breeding pair, reducing the likelihood of seeing this behaviour. Similar unfertilised egg laying has been believed to potentially have happened at both Glaslyn and Rutland, among other sites, but as we have no other resident males in the area, we can be more sure that this is the case. To have this seen on a camera is really special as it’s helping us understand more about Osprey breeding and behaviour. Laying unfertilised eggs is also good practise for CJ7 for when she makes a nesting attempt with a male, she will have more experience.

Could the egg be fertilised? Two weeks ago we saw CJ7 interact with Ospreys in the harbour on two occasions (16th and 19th April). The first visitor landed on another nest platform in the harbour with CJ7 twice, but only briefly. They were not pictured copulating in any of the pictures we received, and in the first image she can be seen reacting defensively towards him. This doesn’t mean to say that they didn’t copulate while not on the nest or when pictures weren’t taken, but the encounter was very brief and now 2 weeks ago. We would expect for a male to stay around longer if they did copulate. Usually, Ospreys will attempt to copulate several times with only a small proportion being successful, and fertilisation takes place during later attempts. It’s unlikely that the egg that CJ7 laid was fertilised by this male. As we didn’t see the other visitor land with CJ7, we cannot even be sure whether it was a male.

Will CJ7 incubate the egg? CJ7 has not been incubating the egg, and has been leaving it unattended for long periods of time. She isn’t treating the egg as if it were fertilised, and wouldn’t be able to either as it takes both parents to be able to raise a brood. During typically nesting, female Ospreys will do the majority of incubating (around 3/4s) and the males will do the fishing to provide for both the female and chicks. CJ7 is not able to both incubate and feed herself.

Will CJ7 lay any more eggs? It’s definitely possible for CJ7 to lay more unfertilised eggs over the next week. Osprey eggs are usually laid 2-3 days apart, so we’ll have to wait and see.

If LS7 arrives what will happen to the egg? CJ7 laying does not mean that LS7 will not arrive this year. As we’ve mentioned before, he’s a 3-year-old and so could arrive well into May or even later in the season. If the egg is still in the nest if LS7 arrives, either he or CJ7 will push it out of the nest. It’s likely that the egg will be predated, buried or pushed out before then, however.

We hope you’ll be able to join us for another Q & A on Friday morning on the YouTube livestream chat at 10-11am, where we will be happy to answer more of your questions. Please remember that it’s normal for Ospreys to have to wait to breed, as well as it being normal for 3-year-old Ospreys to return later in the season, so there’s no need to worry about either CJ7 or LS7! It’s very exciting to be able to watch the first steps of recolonisation in an area where Ospreys previously bred, as well as getting to learn more about this wonderful species. We’ll continue to bring you more information as we watch the events on the nest unfold…

As many of you will know from our social media posts, last week, on April 2nd at 11:11am, CJ7 touched down in the harbour having returned from Africa for her fourth year in a row. For those that don’t know, CJ7 is (now) a 5-year-old female originally from Rutland Water, who has shown real intent in settling here in the harbour over the last 4-years. Last summer, she paired up with one of our translocated males, LS7, who was back in the UK for the first time since being raised and released here back in 2017. As he returned later back to the UK, as most young Ospreys do, they were unable to breed last year, so the couple spent the summer pair bonding and solidifying their relationship on numerous nest platforms around the harbour.

So, her return last week was a welcome sign of things to come. Now she has appeared on the livestream webcam and has made herself busy with prepping the nest, we hope that she will continue to spend time on this nest, awaiting the return of a male. Here’s this clip of CJ7 appearing on the nest for the first time:

With regards to the webcam, we want to make sure we communicate with viewers well and that we are able to answer any burning questions you may have. While we are always keeping one eye on the nest, we do have other things going on too, so please help us out by following these guidelines:

• Please help us keep the nest protected by not disclosing or discussing the location of this nest (or other nests on private sites).
• On weekdays (excluding bank holidays) one of the staff team will be available to answer questions in the Youtube chat between 10-11am. If you have general enquires about the project or the Ospreys, please use this time to get in touch and ask us, so that everyone can see the response, rather than calling us. Emails regarding the webcam can be sent to bophhq@birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk. Please contact us by phone about the nest in urgent cases (for example, if the nest is at risk) on 01202 641003.
• We aim to post a short summary each weekday about Osprey activity on our website (under the “Osprey Project” tab). We will keep you updated with any major developments, including bird arrivals, laying or hatching, at weekends too. Make sure to look for these summaries for anything you want to keep up to date with the comings and goings. Know that, while we will record as much info as possible, sometimes less significant activities may slip through the net!

Harbour Activity Update

Several people following our updates realised that CJ7 went somewhat incognito for a few days after her brief spell on a nest platform last week. Concerned for her whereabouts and keen to know if she was active anywhere else, Birds of Poole Harbour staff were given permission by the Dorset Police Rural Crime Team to carry out monitoring of Osprey activity in the harbour under strict guidelines, in order that we can detect any breeding activity and put in place necessary protections. On the morning of April 6th, a small team of four of us carried out a co-ordinated survey to look for activity. Literally within 10 minutes we logged Osprey activity in an area we hadn’t previously considered, but sadly the bird gave us the slip before we could confirm who it was. So, yesterday morning one of our team ventured back out and sure enough the Osprey were there again, only to discover it was CJ7 looking safe, well and happy in her new location. Little did we know that only 24 hours later, she would be on the livestream webcam!

Meanwhile, an un-ringed Osprey suddenly appeared on one of our camera traps on the morning of April 5th that we thought we recognised. Since then, this particular bird has been visiting a nest platform in the harbour which has allowed us to analyse the plumage, and we’re pretty sure it’s ‘Beaky’ (a ridiculous nickname that was given to her (by us) in a thoughtless moment that has sadly now stuck)! She’s only been present for a couple of days now, but it’s great news she’s back and looking settled, bringing in huge fish to the nesting platform each day. Last year she only stayed for 10 days in the spring before leaving for the summer, only to return again in August. This year she’s back much earlier, indicating she too may want to give Poole Harbour a try for her first nesting attempt?

We’d like to say a huge thanks to the Dorset Police Rural Crime Team for their co-operation and support. With their help we’ll continue to monitor when and where we can and keep an eye on things as they progress, with the intent of protecting any nesting attempts. We’d like to remind everyone that disturbing any bird on a nest, not just Osprey, during the breeding season is a criminal offence so please help us help them by keeping our distance (we’ve had enough practice!) this spring if you’re lucky enough to see an Osprey whilst out on your health walk. 

Thanks again to everyone for following this story, your support in funding the webcam, help and kind words over the last few months. We hope everyone is staying safe and well and we look forward to keeping you updated. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this short video from this morning of CJ7 bringing in nest material.

She returned on the morning of the 2nd of April, captured through one of our motion-sensitive cameras on a nesting platform in the harbour. The fleeting visit to the nest occurred at 11:11am, but we expect to make another appearance soon. This is the fourth time CJ7 has come to summer in Poole Harbour, and hopes are high for potential breeding this year. The passage of Ospreys through the harbour so far this spring has been difficult to record due to isolation, but nevertheless we have had several reports of the last few weeks. We are keeping our fingers crossed for the return of male Osprey LS7 soon.

CJ7 & LS7

CJ7 is a female Osprey who hatched from a nest in Rutland in 2015. When she returned to the UK from her wintering grounds in 2017, she summered in Poole Harbour, seemingly attracted by the released juveniles from the translocation project. The following summer she returned again, though no male Ospreys were in the harbour. In 2019 she returned yet again on April 1st, and spent a lot of early spring on nest platforms, even nest building. With fortunately, one of the male Ospreys from the 2017 translocation returned in June.. ringed LS7. He immediately met CJ7 and they spent the rest of the summer pair bonding on nest platforms through the rest of the summer. This led to a fundraiser to install a livestream webcam on one of their favoured nests, which can be found here:

A new Osprey nest webcam which live streams from a secret site within Poole Harbour has gone live for public viewing. The camera which was installed by local charity Birds of Poole Harbour and funded through a public fundraiser that ran over the Christmas period live streams a man-made Osprey nest within the harbour. The charity hopes the nest gets utilised this spring, which if successful will be the first nesting attempt of Osprey in Southern England for the first time in nearly 200 years.

The Birds of Poole Harbour charity in partnership with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and local tech firm Wildlife Windows began a 5-year Osprey reintroduction scheme back in 2017 with the aim of re-establishing a south coast breeding population of Osprey after they were made extinct due to human persecution 180 years ago. The charity have been relocating wild Osprey chicks from Scotland and raising them here in Poole Harbour for the last three years and spring 2020 could be the first time the project team see’s a nesting attempt here in the harbour.

Charity co-founder Paul Morton explained;

‘This is such an exciting time for the project, as we could see the first nesting attempt this year as Osprey begin to migrate back from West Africa. Last year saw the first return of one of our chicks from 2017, a young male called LS7 and he immediately hit it off with a female called CJ7 that had been hanging around the harbour for a number of summers. We set up camera traps on nest platforms last spring and got some incredible photos of the pair together. Last year he was too young to breed, but this spring he should hopefully now be thinking about raising a family”

LS7 & CJ7 photographed on nest platform in summer 2019 on camera trap

Last year the pair spent the whole of the summer in Poole Harbour pair-bonding and were even seen occasionally nest building on several nest platforms around the harbour. It’s hoped that both LS7 and CJ7 return safely from West Africa over the next few weeks and settle on one of the nest platforms that have been erected locally.

Paul added;

“The truth is, we have no idea what’s going to happen this spring or summer but based on our knowledge of other Osprey nesting sites in the UK and the behaviour exhibited by LS7 and CJ7 last summer, we can make an educated guess on how things might pan out this year. We were keen to get a webcam set up on a Poole Harbour nest platform so that the local community can also enjoy this historic moment. There’s every chance they may decide not to nest on the platform we’ve put the camera on, and in fact choose to nest somewhere else. Well, if that’s the case we’ll just wait until the end of the summer and for the Ospreys to leave before moving the camera in time for next spring as Osprey are extremely faithful to nest sites. There will almost certainly be Osprey activity of sorts on our nest web cam during the spring, summer and autumn for people to enjoy though”

 The camera and it’s installation was funded by a public fundraiser campaign as well as generous donations by Osprey Europe and the Fine Family Foundation. The project partners hope that with the current local and global situation, this virtual connection to nature will provide a welcome distraction for anyone in self isolation, as well as potential learning opportunities for parents that are beginning to home school due to the recent school closures. The charity has several other live webcams including a busy feeding station at Livability Holton Lee and nesting islands on the Dorset Wildlife Trust Brownsea Lagoon all of which provide a fascinating insight into the busy lives of our feathered friends.

The project team have partnered with the National Wildlife Crime Unit and the Dorset Police Rural Crime Team to ensure the long-term protection of any nesting attempt around the harbour.

Claire Dinsdale from the Dorset Wildlife Crime Team explained

“Ospreys are a schedule one species in the UK meaning they have the highest level of protection under the wildlife and countryside act, therefore making it an offence to disturb them on or around their nesting sites. It’s hoped that the new nest cam will provide the public with the opportunity to see the nesting process of this incredible bird with viewing access of the nest later negotiated with any landowners if it’s safe and responsible to do so. We’re seeking the public’s cooperation in not mentioning on social media where the webcam nest is, as not to increase the risk of disturbance in the early part of the breeding season.

Birds of prey are unfortunately target and victims of crime, often with immense suffering. We will robustly investigate any suspicious death and bring the offenders to justice. We will also take action against those who disturb these magnificent birds, especially when nesting. This includes use of drones or photography”

If any willdife crime is in progress, call 999. Anyone with information can contact Dorset Police atwww.dorset.police.uk, via email 101@dorset.pnn.police.uk or call 101. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

For more information on wildlife crime visit the National Wildlife Crime Unit’s website atwww.nwcu.police.uk.

The Osprey season is officially upon us – this week the first first Osprey, a nesting female, has returned to Rutland Water. Amongst this excitement is our anticipation for our new livestream webcam to go live. Over the past few weeks, the Wildlife Windows team, partners in the Poole Harbour Osprey Project, have been busy installing the camera, as well as doing maintenance and making improvements to several artificial nest platforms.

The fantastic support of our winter fundraiser allowed us to purchase and install the webcam, along with other important aspects of the project, including motion-sensitive cameras on other nest platforms. The new webcam should be streaming on our website in the next week or so, and, once our HQ on Poole Qay reopens, we hope to have it streaming live on screens in there too. Thank you to all who have donated and sponsored us throughout the fundraiser, the response has been immense. You can still support the Osprey project fundraiser through our Just Giving page or through coming along on our Osprey Fundraiser Cruise in May, which has been kindly sponsored by Osprey Europe.

Our latest video blog discusses the new camera installation, which you can watch here:

A new Osprey feeding platform has been installed on Pergins Island, Holes Bay to try and encourage migrating Osprey to use the busier areas of Poole Harbour, therefore bucking the trend of this typically shy bird of prey. The concept is being trialed due to the increase in Osprey activity in the northern area of Holes Bay last autumn, when three different Osprey began using the island as a feeding site in the early part of October 2019. For around two weeks the three juvenile Ospreys could be seen hunting for fish next to the dual carriageway on the outskirts of Poole, before grabbing a Grey Mullet out of the shallows and taking their meal back to Pergins Island to feed.

New Osprey Platform – Pergins Island

Local charity Birds of Poole Harbour are currently running an Osprey reintroduction scheme in the harbour which seeks to re-establish Osprey as a breeding bird in southern Britain for the first time in almost 200 years, but as the charities co-founder Paul Morton explained, these three particular Osprey were nothing to do with their project, and were in fact migrants that had likely originated from Scotland and were on their way south to West Africa.

Paul stated;

“It was incredible to see Osprey hunting on the edge of town last October, with the RNLI building and Twin Sails Bridge in the background, it was almost an iconic moment. Our reintroduction scheme is hoping to see nesting Osprey in the Poole Harbour area sometime in the near future, but it’s also key to remember that each year we see good numbers of Osprey pass through the harbour on their migrations back and forth between their breeding sites up north and their over-wintering sites in West Africa. It’s for that very reason Poole Harbour was chosen to host the project”

Peak Osprey activity in Poole Harbour tends to take place during April and August, with quiet sites such as RSPB Arne and Middlebere seeing most activity. However, last year’s three juveniles obviously took a liking to the Holes Bay area and seemed un-phased by the busy road as they often flew close to the cycle path that borders the bay.

Paul continued..

“The views were so good our charity decided to put on some ‘pop up’ viewing stations along the Holes Bay cycle path with telescopes and binoculars for people to use. Over a few days many people turned up to see the birds, and people were getting some incredible photos. This new platform which was kindly sponsored by a local from Lytchett Matravers will hopefully encourage Osprey to use Pergins Island on a regular basis and provide similar opportunities in the future”

Osprey – Holes Bay – Fiona Liddiard

Ospreys are timid birds by their very nature due to the history of persecution they suffered across Western Europe, often favouring to stay away from humans. The Birds of Poole Harbour team, in partnership with BCP Council, are keen to see that behaviour change and agreed to place a feeding platform on the western edge of Pergins Island which will hopefully give any migrating Osprey’s a reason to stick around. The platform essentially looks like a nest, though is smaller in scale than a true Osprey nest, but it’s hoped that over time they’ll begin utilising this platform and start getting used to busier areas.

Pergins Island is owned by BCP council but has no public access so should Osprey begin using it on a regular basis in the future then they should feel safe from the hub-bub of the busy shoreline. Plus, with the nest being visible from the Upton CP shoreline it’s hoped that if any Osprey do utilise the platform during migration then visitors will be able to encounter these special birds.

Councillor Dr Felicity Rice, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Climate Change  stated ‘This is a very inspiring project and demonstrates that we can potentially bring wildlife back into our urban areas.’

Jez Martin from BCP council added

“This is a wonderful opportunity to encourage this fantastic bird to be more regularly seen in Holes Bay so close to Upon County Park”

Although it’s thought that Osprey will initially attempt to nest in a quiet corner of the harbour somewhere, it’s hoped that over several years their behaviour and confidence will change and possibly see them attempt to nest at sites like Pergins Island.