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Osprey Conservation and Translocation Projects

Sue C
20/01/2010 16:21
While the forum’s been up & down, I prepared some material I promised a while ago, about conservation activities aimed at protecting ospreys, and persuading them to recolonise areas where they once used to breed. I’ve found some interesting material on projects from around Europe, and I hope others will join in and contribute items.
First, some background information:
This page from Roy Dennis’ website, also in his book “A Life of Ospreys”, is about nest building, but also has a lot of information about osprey breeding habits, and the factors which encourage, or hinder, recolonisation.
One of the biggest obstacles to the colonisation of new areas, is the tendency of young male ospreys to return to breed at the location where they fledged (known as philopatry). Translocation is the technique designed to overcome this, by transferring young ospreys to a new site suitable for breeding, shortly before they fledge. In Europe, it was pioneered at Rutland Water from 1996, and there are ongoing projects in several countries. This page from the Rutland Water site gives an overview of the project there:
 Ok that’s enough of the theory. First, we’re off to Spain........