RSPB: Ospreys in Cornwall

Ospreys…..regular visitors to Cornwall

Just picture in your mind the typical scenes from a TV documentary on the Scottish Highlands. There will be dreamy shots of great salmon rivers, a Red Deer, Red Squirrels and almost certainly some dramatic footage of an Osprey grabbing a big fish from a lake. Well, the latter doesn’t just happen up there!

Ospreys are a type of fish-eagle, and along with a small falcon called the Hobby, they are one of only two of our birds of prey that migrate to Africa for the winter. To go north in spring and south in autumn means that they cross all the UK that lays south of their breeding territory.

The best time to see these magnificent birds in Cornwall is in either April or September (or a week or two either side). In recent years, hot spots are big reservoirs like Drift near Penzance, as well as river estuaries with the Fal being regularly visited. The Restronguet and Devoran areas host an Osprey for a week or two almost annually, and the tranquil creeks of Ruan Lanihorn are another favourite.

Calm waters and big grey mullet that swim almost on the surface are just what they need to fuel up for the journey to West Africa. I was lucky enough to go birdwatching in The Gambia in November 2002 and Ospreys were everywhere, so many that we stopped taking any notice after the first day.

Not all Ospreys migrate. If you travel to the Mediterranean area or the Red Sea, you will find resident birds there. They are a truly global bird and are found in the Americas, across Europe, down through India and the Far-East to Australia. They are of different races but all the same species.

Ospreys were exterminated as a breeding bird in the UK due entirely to persecution. Like most of our other big birds of prey with a hooked beak, they were killed at any opportunity by ignorant, bigoted people who saw them as vermin and competition. Luckily, the passing of a couple of centuries has altered attitudes towards them, and now, in the Highlands, they are a valuable asset to the tourist industry. There is nothing more effective than tourist pounds when it comes to protecting wildlife.

This is a perfect year for Osprey sightings in the county. As I write, the birdwatching websites feature four individual birds spread from Devoran Creek to Drift Reservoir and Hayle Estuary.

There are many breeding pairs of Ospreys in the UK now, and there have been successful reintroductions that have supplemented the natural increase in genuinely wild birds. It was, however, wild Ospreys that started the new population off. The nest was at Loch Garten, in the Cairngorms of Scotland, and they were protected and watched over by a dedicated team of volunteers who kept the egg-thieves at bay for those first crucial years.

The evidence of the species success, thanks to many hundreds of people who love these birds, is there for us to see in spring and autumn as these long-winged masters of fishing pass through our county. Long may they do so.

Roger Hooper, RSPB Cornwall Local Group