In 2022 Ospreys nested in Southern Britain again for the first time in 180 years. The pair known as female CJ7 and male 022 set up their historic first territory at the Carey Secret Garden, and were a result of a 5-year reintroduction program which was carried out in partnership between our Birds of Poole Harbour charity and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. In the first year of nesting (2022) the pair raised two young, ringed 5H1 and 5H2. In the second year of nesting (2023) they raised three young, ringed 5H3, 5H4 and 5H5. Then, incredibly, the summer of 2024 saw an amazing FOUR young being raised, ringed 5R1, 5R2, 5R3 and 5H6. This was a historic moment and to date, seems to have been the only Osprey nest in the country that year that raised four youngsters. There were several exciting elements to this story. Firstly, that when the chicks were ringed it was logged that all four youngsters were male, which is a great situation for the local area, as it’s the males that tend to return to their ‘local’ areas in future years to set up territories of their own. Secondly, the whole season from arrival to departure was captured on our HD livestream camera, and was viewed live by thousands of viewers over the course of the season.

Now that we’re well into the start of winter it can be easy to forget just how special the 2024 season was, so, to celebrate, we’ve created a five episode series of ‘Osprey Season 2024’ which highlights every intimate moment from start to finish and will allow you all to re-live the best moments from the nest this summer.

Over the next 5-weeks we’ll release a new episode every Friday evening which will showcase each phase of the season, starting with tonights Episode 1: The Arrival

Special thanks must go to our volunteer Alison Copland who spent almost a month cutting and editing all the footage together.

We hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

Carey Osprey nest Season 2024: Part 1 – Arrival, egg laying and egg hatching