The Scottish Ospreys from extinction to survival by Philip Brown

My thoughts on The Scottish Ospreys, by Philip Brown

Having visited Loch Garten at the end of March, I was hooked by the ospreys, and wanted to learn more about these magnificent birds, especially how and why they became extinct as breeding birds in Scotland, and how they came to reestablish themselves 50 years later. So I was excited to get hold of a copy of Philip Brown's book, on the recommendation of Tiger and many others on this forum.

I wasn't disappointed. I thought the Scottish Ospreys is a fantastic historical record of both key moments in the history of ospreys in these islands. Chapter Two's delve into the archive of the so-called 'ornithologists' who raided nests in the dead of night, braving freezing waters, carrying eggs in their caps in the interests of hoarding specimens in private collections and museums was a sobering reminder of just how much the role of bird-lovers has evolved in the past 50 years, from collection to conservation. Thank God.  In particular the character of Charles St John sticks with me, who knowingly perpetrated the downfall of the osprey with his own sponsored exploits and unadulterated curiosity to collect even single eggs in nests, whilst simultaneously uttering such words as "I regret constantly to see how rare these birds, and eagles, and many others, are daily becoming, under the influence of traps , poison and guns." (p30) Meanwhile the mercenary Lewis Dunbar's jaw-droppingly athletic raids on the eyrie on Loch an Eilean read almost like an adventure story at times - albeit with a tragic ending. At one point he leaves two eggs in the nest, but only to ambush the returning female, who is then shot for his collector, and both eggs duly collected.

Contrasting these characters, the dogged early efforts of George Waterston, Phil Brown, Bob Dawkins, Guy Brownlow to track, watch and protect the first nestbuilders at Loch Garten are incredibly inspiring. Having visited the delightful RSPB visitor centre at Loch Garten, where today's wardens and volunteers observe the birds from both a range of live webcams beaming a range of views, as well as from a forward hide, it was really interesting to learn about the the setting up early camps, with caravans being towed down muddy tracks, night watch systems consisting of strings tied to legs and arms, and makeshift hides with only a box crate for a seat (until the excellent Iain Grant, a local landowner, turned up with a battered old armchair!). It was fascinating to realise how much these guys were working in the dark (both figuratively and literally), learning about 'frustration eyries' only when they found themselves watching the wrong site, and guessing at incubation, hatching and fledging timelines as there were no records to go from. It made me realise just how lucky we are today to have GPS tracking of migrations, darvic rings so that even amateurs can recognise returning birds, incredibly powerful camera zooms and webcams to record every aspect of behaviour, internet forums, and put all of this right into the public domain. All of this is built on the backbone of the early pioneering efforts of Waterston and co - including his foresight to establish public viewing facilities at Loch Garten from almost the outset.

Brown's writing style is straightforward - tending to the descriptive and personal, rather than the poetic, and the later chapters in particular read increasingly like a diary. But whilst not the most sophisticated in literary terms, he certainly paints a vivid and gripping picture of the highs, lows and occasional heroics of the early Operation Osprey team.  I really enjoyed reading The Scottish Ospreys, and recommend it to anyone keen to learn the battle for survival of these magnificent birds, and put today's conservation success story into its historical context.