Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus
15 June 2014
Ospreys have made a remarkable recovery since the dark days of organochlorine pesticides, when thin-shelled eggs threatened the very survival of the species.In the area where I live there is a healthy population with several active nests not far from our house. Even though we see them every year, there is nevertheless always a sense of excitement when the first birds appear in the spring, and reclaim their former nest sites. I never tire of seeing them plunge dive to catch a fish; it is one of the great natural spectacles anyone can witness with relative ease.
This nest is at the Fountain Street bridge in Cambridge and has produced young for several years. We saw the male deliver a fish to the nest and we observed two young birds excitedly receiving it, even though only one can be seen in the picture below.
Another species that has been making a recovery along the various waterways in our area is the Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus and the nest shown below was occupied for several weeks, but it has subsequently been abandoned. It is located no more than a couple of hundred metres from the Osprey nest and various aerial disputes were observed. Perhaps the eagles simply decided to move to a more secluded spot.
On the rare property in Cambridge, very close as an Osprey flies, another nest has been successful and even though one sees only the two adults in this picture, young birds are present.
As can be noted from the pictures, Ospreys take readily to man made platforms which serve as a fine base for a nest, and most of the nests around here are located on such structures. It's nice that we can help in the recovery of a species which our disregard for the environmental consequences of pesticides almost destroyed.