The months of July and August 2020 have provided an unprecedented period of activity for Ospreys at Nosterfield Nature Reserve.
We are used to a handful of sightings every year during the spring and autumn migration. Lucky visitors this late summer, however, have been privileged to watch up to four birds fishing Flasks Lake during the course of a day and ones and twos have become almost commonplace.
Adults, as well as juveniles, have been positively identified and although it is impossible to accurately tell how many individuals have spent time with us, the best and most conservative estimate is eight to ten different birds.
They have also thrown up a fascinating story.... but more of that later.
The real interest began on 19th July when three Ospreys were seen together, followed by one or two being observed on an almost daily basis. On 4th August, an observant birder noticed one had a metal ring on its leg. The following day it got even more exciting.
Step forward Martin Henstock who, whilst videoing another Osprey, noticed a blue colour ring on the bird’s right leg. It was engraved with some numbers. But what were the numbers? And what might be its significance?
After much effort and head scratching, looking at the video many times, the numbers were finally revealed – Blue ...281.
What has emerged since has proved fascinating. Blue 281 is a female and was ringed as a chick at Roundsea Wood, near Ulveston in Cumbria in the summer of 2018. She has two siblings – both males. One of them Blue 280 was recently seen back in Cumbria at Derwent Water, but the whereabouts of Blue 282 are, as yet, unknown.
Now two years old, this is the first time that Blue 281 had been seen since she left the southern Lake District two years ago.... alive and well and living the good life at Nosterfield.
And we have learned more. Thanks to the unstinting hard work of Jane Dell – one of the volunteers at the Rutland Osprey Project – she has delved through the records to establish that the father of Blue 281 was also ringed (White YC). He hatched at Glaslyn in Wales in 2008, and his father (Blue 281's grandfather) began life at Loch Garten in Scotland in 1998, before being translocated to Rutland Water.
So what of the future? It would be beyond dreams to think that Blue 281 has been so attracted by Nosterfield that after heading off to winter in West Africa she returns here in 2021 to delight visitors again. She is young and may not reach maturity for another two to three years - much can happen in between.
But as the Osprey breeding population of the UK increases, it is not impossible to believe that Blue 281, or other ospreys, might one day breed at Nosterfield. With that in mind, our dedicated group of volunteers have been building an artificial osprey nest, complete with high platform to try to attract the species.
It is an enormous structure. The nest alone contains wood approaching a third of a ton and has been painstaking put together to a template provided by that doyen of Osprey conservation in Scotland, Roy Dennis.
It was part of a plan hatched by LUCT director Simon Warwick several years ago ...before Blue 281 arrived at Nosterfield. But her presence has added an extra dimension to an already exciting project
We hope it will be erected sometime in September. We will keep you posted.
The stunning photos accompanying this news post have been provided by Andy Hanby, with our grateful thanks.
Photo taken at Flasks Lake: Andrew Hanby