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An Osprey Odyssey
A bad day to be a fish. A good day to be me.
For as long as I can remember, ospreys have been one of my favourite birds of prey.
With their bandit-like eye stripe and spiky haircut, they’re the rockstars of the raptor world.
The scientific name, Pandion haliaetus, is still lodged in the back of my mind after memorising it as a child. I also recall being impressed by its wingspan of up to 1.8 metres, as I got out my tape measure and meticulously laid it on the living room floor, dwarfing my miniature self.*
*I had the last laugh as I have now outgrown even the largest osprey wingspan.
But enough about my strange childhood. Let’s get back to my (adult) pursuit of photographing this majestic bird.
Back from the brink
Ospreys, like many birds of prey, were in dire straits not too long ago in the UK. In fact, they were pushed to the brink of extinction during the 19th and early 20th centuries, thanks to hunting and egg theft.
By 1916, the osprey was considered extinct in Britain. Yet, in 1954, birds from Scandinavia returned to Scotland naturally and started breeding again.
Some sites, like the famous Loch Garten, became reliable breeding spots, yet continued egg collection and the use of pesticides kept numbers down over the next couple of decades.
With increased protection and conservation efforts, osprey numbers began to rebound. Today, the RSPB estimates there are around 300 breeding pairs in Britain, most of them in Scotland.
Osprey Watch
My first summer living in Scotland gave me a rare chance to see and photograph these beautiful birds.*
*The five rain-free minutes were lovely.
While there are a few reliable nesting sites, ospreys can pop up just about anywhere during the summer months. My first few sightings were all distant glimpses as the birds soared above the River Tay and, on one occasion, over a peak in the Perthshire highlands.
The latter was being chased off by a short-eared owl — another of my main subjects last summer. Luckily, I’d have better views of both in the following…
