Flight of the Osprey expedition arrives in Poole
It marks the final stop in England, before heading to Europe and Africa
Last updated 9th Aug 2022
The Flight of the Osprey expedition arrived in Poole Harbour today (Monday 9 August), where ospreys hatched for the first time in 200 years.
The expedition, led by Conservation Without Borders' founder Sacha Dench - also known as the Human Swan - has travelled throughout the UK. Poole Harbour is its last stop before heading to Europe and into Africa.
The large, fish eating bird of prey is a summer migrant that returns to the UK each spring having over-wintered in West Africa.
The 10,000km expedition follows the osprey on its 2022 autumn migration across Europe and Africa. The goal is to gather vital data on the threats faced by this iconic bird of prey and other migratory species.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, Sacha Dench told us it's "exciting to have got this far" and explained what makes the Osprey special:
"We've had a really exciting and challenging first week.
"It's really exciting to have got this far. We've had the first breeding in Yorkshire, the first successful breeding down here (in Poole). It's really big news and it's been, well, three years in the making.
"There is a few things about the Osprey that make it really special - the position in a food chain makes it a good indicator of health of wetlands, but also the the wetlands are ones that are used by many birds all along the flyway, so also a good indicator for the health of a flyway.
"It's also big, visible and quite well loved in a lot of places, and it's easy to identify for people. A key part of conservation along the flyway is that we get lots of people interested and engaged and wanting to help, and we need a single species that they can gather around and the osprey just makes a perfect bird for that."
Part of the aim with the expedition is to help engage communities along the flyway and find solutions to the catastrophic effects of climate change and other human impacts on wildlife - as Sacha explains:
"The main mission of the project is to go to all the key places that ospreys are using along the flyway and speak to people there, find out as much as we can, what they know about threats in the area, changes to the area and impacts of climate change. And part of speaking to people then is once we've identified threats, also talk with them about what solutions there might be.
"(We want to) show that there's tons of enthusiasm from across the UK now for ospreys and just see what the that's like in countries along the flyway. One thing I found on previous expeditions is that there are quite often people who are keen to do something to help, but they might not necessarily bother because it's not really worth it.
"If you can show that they are one of many other people doing one thing in different countries along the flyway and they can see how their bit adds up to something much bigger, than suddenly you motivate a load of people at the same time."
Ospreys hatch in Poole Harbour - the first time in the UK in 200 years
The Osprey was once common across Europe but was driven to extinction in many parts, including Britain, in the 1800s.
In June this year, a pair of wild ospreys hatched young at a secret site in Poole Harbour, as a result of an osprey reintroduction programme that's being carried out by Dorset-based charity Birds of Poole Harbour and the Roy Denies Wildlife Foundation.
The reintroduction began in 2017 and is aimed at restoring a population of osprey to Southern Britain after it was historically eradicated across much of Western Europe.
Paul Morton, from the Birds of Poole Harbour charity, said at the time:
“Words don’t even began to describe what this means to us, and of course Osprey conservation in Western Europe.
"We started our licence application in 2015, and the actual reintroduction in 2017, and the prospect of actually having wild hatched chicks in a nest always felt so far away.
"But here we are, with an official birthday of June 1st 2022, and we now have the first wild Osprey chick for Southern Britain in 200 years, right here in Poole Harbour."
Sadly, one of the osprey chicks has since passed away whilst in veterinary care after sustaining injuries during a predation attempt by a Goshawk, last Friday (5 August).
A spokesperson for the charity said that "despite given the best care possible" the chick died on Monday morning due to the injuries:
"In truth, it was always the more likely outcome, but her resilience and strength over her final few days made us believe that there was at least some hope.
"These are just the realities and challenges wild birds face, including large birds such as Osprey. Since the predation attempt there have been no further signs of the Goshawk, so we assume it’s moved on. But it’s important to remember that the Goshawk, a magnificent species in its own right, was only doing what it knows best, which is to be the most efficient hunter it can be.
"We hold no animosity towards this young Goshawk, and just see the incident as unfortunate. And while we can’t rule out any future predation attempts again, the fact that Osprey, Goshawk, White-tailed Eagles, Peregrine, Marsh Harrier and Red Kite are now all visible again over Poole Harbour sky’s shows that times are changing and attitudes towards all raptors are improving."