Osprey Conservation and Translocation Projects

Return of the Osprey – Part 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Okv9FYAqR4&feature=related

0.00     The park rangers say that the young ospreys show individual characteristics soon after release. One starts fishing for itself almost immediately. Another which tends to roost on the ground, despite their efforts to flush it out, is unfortunately killed, probably by a fox.

1.30 In high summer, tourists flock to the beaches in the Park. The team don’t see this as too much of a problem; here, as in Corsica, the osprey breeding season is over before the holiday season which takes place mainly in August.

4.20 Some of the released birds move to nature reserves outside the Park, where they also envisage building nest platforms.

5.45 Flavio is a naturalist on the project team. He talks about the dangers facing the ospreys outside the Park, for example overhead wires. He also rescues a young osprey which gets into trouble while fishing.

8.00 In October, the young birds generally disperse – however, some have settled close to the Park.

Since 2006, 6-8 young ospreys have been translocated each year. There has been no nesting to date, but the team are hopeful it will happen before long.

Next – an osprey conservation project in Mallorca – with satellite tagging.

Thanks very much SueC for your sterling work in researching all these projects. It is very interesting to see what is happening in other countries and I personally have learnt a lot from your posts.

SueC  Echoing what Alan said I appreciate your reports to. You have greatly increased our knowledge of other osprey projects.

Thanks Alan and Tiger

It’s been very interesting finding out about these projects and places – and it’s answered a big question for me.

When I came across this part of the RSPB website late last summer, and got drawn in by the prospect of following the migrations, I knew very little about ospreys – in fact, I had to ask myself if I had ever seen one. I haven’t visited Loch Garten (so far – though I plan to do so), and as I found out more, I worked out that I couldn’t have seen ospreys at any of the other breeding locations in the UK – I just hadn’t been there in the right year/season. But I seemed to have a memory of being in a boat, looking up at reddish cliffs and seeing a raptor in a nest on the skyline, with someone talking about “fishing eagles” ......or was it “aigles pecheurs”?  

It wasn’t till I was researching the post about Corsica that the penny dropped – on a holiday there in the mid-90’s, I took a boat trip to the Scandola reserve. So that was where I first saw an osprey!

Mallorca – and a new satellite tracking project

This is the website of an osprey conservation project on Mallorca, run by the Ornithological Group of the Balearic Islands (GOB for short). It’s in Catalan, a new language on me, but Google Toolbar translates it very clearly into English.

http://www.gobmallorca.com/peixatera/

Interestingly, the Actions section includes details of a satellite tracking project that GOB has been running since February 2009. Three of the four ospreys they tagged, turned out to be non-migratory Mediterranean types. However the fourth, a young female, took off in a northerly direction a couple of weeks later and travelled to Lake Vanern in Sweden, where she was found  raising chicks later in the summer, before returning to Mallorca for the winter. The story is told in more detail on the group’s forum http://www.gobmallorca.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1124

and in this press release about “Karin the Swedish tourist”. http://www.gobmallorca.com/comuni/com2009/090814.html

There’s also a video about the project, which shows the “backpack” being fitted on Karin, from 8 mins approx. http://www.blip.tv/file/2157909

So maybe, we have another sat tagged osprey to follow here?  

Here is an interesting article about tracking ospreys in the mid west of the USA. Up to now most of the tracked ospreys in the USA have been on the east coast.

See  http://www.ci.muskego.wi.us/Portals/11/docs/ethelpaper.pdf

Thanks Tiger that paper was interesting. A tricky route across the Gulf of Mexico in the hurricane season, for birds from that area of the US.

More from the Loire.......

This is a link to the website of Groupe Pandion, which is a supporters' group for the Loire ospreys. It's clear that some of them are involved in nest rebuilding and observation. http://balbuzard.over-blog.net/ 

The site has been relaunched and a lot of material is being posted about ospreys in France and Africa, for those who don't mind dabbling in French.

I see the latest post even mentions Rothes and Mallachie; an article copied from migraction.net, who got it off the BBC website, I think . I might email the blogger and give him our links.   

Great link Sue. Some great pictures.