Meeting with constant challenges, even hostility, good news stories concerning wildlife conservation can be thin on the ground at times.
So the significance, after an absence of over 250 years, of a successful breeding osprey pair in the Norfolk Broads cannot be understated.
Visitors waiting to see the Loch Garten ospreys in 1962 (Image: RSPB) For the fledging of two osprey chicks at Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Ranworth Broad reserve has brought joy, and importantly, hope, to so many of us.
The re-establishment of this iconic and majestic fish-eating bird to the UK, has been one of the great environmental success stories of our age.
The osprey’s story is fascinating; it has involved pioneers of conservation, helped forge modern attitudes to wildlife, and in many ways, has typified the highs and lows of re-building our natural world.
The osprey is unlike any other British bird of prey, having chocolate brown wings and a creamy white belly and legs.
The head is also white with a noticeable dark brown ‘mask’ extending through the eyes.
As with many birds of prey (known as raptors) the female is larger than the male.
Juvenile ospreys have buff-coloured tips to their feathers, giving them a rather scaly appearance.
The osprey is probably one of the most widespread raptors in the world, being found from North America, across the globe to Australia.
Not surprisingly, it nests close to large bodies of water, although on migration it can turn up almost anywhere.
European ospreys, despite our increasingly mild winters, migrate to sub-Saharan Africa in the autumn.
Ospreys had been driven to extinction in England by 1840, and although increasingly rare, they continued to breed in Scotland until 1916.
Osprey at Ranworth (Image: ELIZABETH DACK) Along with the usual tales of persecution, it was the search for specimens for the taxidermist’s glass case and egg collecting that finally sealed its sad fate.
From then on osprey were only, very occasionally, spotted at their old haunts.
However, in 1956 excitement grew among local bird-watchers when a pair established a territory at Loch Garten in Speyside.
These two, now famous, birds successfully raised two chicks in 1959.
The theft of the eggs in a proceeding year prompted the then RSPB Scotland director, George Waterson, to instigate ‘Operation Osprey’.
This involved watchtowers, round-the-clock volunteer guards and barbed wire encircling the nest tree.
This seems sadly ironic, as George Waterson spent the best part of the war as a PoW.
He met Peter Conder, the eventual head of the RSPB, in a German prisoner of war camp, and their passion for wild birds saw them through very dark times.
George Waterson’s real genius was to go against the established view that the nest site should be kept secret.
He invited and encouraged visitors, a large hide was constructed, with telescopes and eventually cameras trained on the nest.
The birds’ progress made national news each year, and membership of the RSPB quadrupled.
Despite these efforts, and the public’s enthusiasm, it wasn’t until 1967 that a second pair of ospreys successfully bred.
The attention Loch Garten’s ospreys drew was not always welcome, for reminiscent of the recent Sycamore Gap incident, vandals in 1975, deliberately, and for reasons only known to themselves, felled the ‘osprey tree’.
Despite the slow start for breeding ospreys, and the occasional set-back, their return did more than excite the growing numbers of bird-watchers.
After the restrictions and suppression of the war, the ospreys’ story, along with the return of avocets, re-awakened the country to the joys of the natural world, and for many, the threats it now faced.
Loch Garten had 14,000 people pass through the small wooden hide in the first year it was opened.
Over 2.5 million have been there since, although it sports a large visitors’ centre and gift shop now.
When I visited Loch Garten, in 1985, there were still only ten breeding ospreys in Scotland, and it would have been a pipe-dream to imagine, in my lifetime, ospreys being at home in the Norfolk Broads.
Amazingly, there are now over 300 pairs across the whole of the UK, with the population continuing to grow.
Although often seen stopping over on the Broads during migration, about a decade or so ago individual birds started remaining for most of the summer, but there was little indication a pair would be in the same place at the same time.
Young birds returning in the spring often end up close to where they fledged, having a preference for tried-and-tested locations.
The use of ‘fake’ nests was successful in encouraging ospreys to try new places, but, like the red kite in mid-Wales, it was felt that an introduction scheme was required to ‘break them out’ into a wider geographical area.
Thanks to local wildlife photographers, we’ve recently discovered that Ranworth’s female wears a blue leg ring numbered 2H7.
This indicates the bird fledged in 2022 at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire.
It is a likely relative of the original translocated birds to Rutland Water, where 64 young ospreys were released between 1996 and 2001.
The male does not have a ring, but its likely to be the same bird that has spent the last few summers at Ranworth Broad.
The pair were together last year, spending the summer getting to know one another.
This year they arrived within days of each other, and quite early in April.
They obviously meant business this time, and they didn’t disappoint.
A closeup of an Osprey bird on midflight near a river (Image: Wirestock)
NWT’s Ranworth Broad Visitor Centre Manager, Teala Leeder, kept a log of the ospreys’ activities.
Her log contains lots of useful details, but these two statements nicely sum-up a wonderful summer: 26.04.2025: One appears to be staying in the nest a lot now.
Could be on eggs!? 24.07.2025: One chick has definitely fledged.
Seen doing lots of little loops around the nest sight.
Second chick flapping and helicoptering.
Both officially fledged by 17:06hrs.
During August, the adults, and their offspring, have been spotted around many of the Broads.
Let’s hope they safely make their increasingly perilous journey to Africa and back, and we see them all next year.
Come aboard a wildlife boat trip.
During the summer, the ospreys could be seen at the nest or hunting by going on a boat trip at NWT Ranworth Broad.
There’s plenty of other wildlife to see from the water as well, including otters, kingfishers and marsh harriers.
Running from April to October, our guided wildlife boat trips are the perfect way to explore the natural treasures of the Norfolk Broads and learn about this fascinating wild place.
Find out more: www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/BoatTrips