Bird Watch

NOW we have a better chance of seeing an osprey in the UK than at any time in the past 150 years.

They were considered extinct here by 1916, having suffered persecution for most of the previous century at the hands of egg-collectors, trophy hunters and gamekeepers.

The recolonisation of Scotland has been a long process since about 1955 when a pair nested at Loch Garten, but there are now estimated to be more than 200 breeding pairs in the UK. Although the vast majority of them breed in central Scotland, they are now breeding in several sites outside of Scotland.

Rutland Water in Leicestershire has had breeding ospreys since 2003 thanks to a reintroduction programme, and the Lake District (since 2001) and North Wales (since 2004) can now boast nesting ospreys from natural expansion of the Scottish population.

This is all testimony to a long-term, determined conservation effort stemming from a handful of nesting attempts in the Scottish Highlands more than 50 years ago.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette April 30