RSPB trying to attract ospreys to Poole Harbour

A man made osprey nest being built in a tree in Poole. Credit RSPB

April 2010. Arne RSPB reserve in Dorset is trying to attract ospreys to breed there by placing fake life-sized polystyrene ospreys in man -made osprey nests.

Ospreys regularly visit Arne in the spring and autumn on their way back to their wintering grounds south of the Sahara. Poole Harbour is the most important site in Dorset for ospreys. Thousands of visitors enjoy incredible views of them perching on posts and in trees in Dorset, but if they stop to breed people would witness the adults hunting, feeding and raising their families.

With the success of these magnificent birds in Scotland, North England and Wales, and many birds spending time in the South, the RSPB, working with other partners, is keen to encourage birds to breed on the South East and establish the birds as a flagship species at Arne and throughout Poole Harbour.

Hope to attract breeding ospreys
The low cost experiment is aimed at encouraging young male ospreys that are less than three years old and older females that may have lost their partners to stay at the site. Experts believe that by placing plastic versions in the trees, the real ospreys, which are extremely faithful to their previous nest site, might be tempted to go one step further and raise a family there.

It is hoped that the model birds will fool the visiting birds into thinking that ospreys have bred on the site before.

Man made osprey nest in Poole Harbour. Credit RSPB

Osprey nests
An osprey's nest or ‘eyrie' is usually built in trees and constructed mainly from quite large sticks, with moss, bark or grass acting as a soft lining. A new nest is usually about six feet across and the artificial nests created for the model birds look very similar.

Five nests have already been built in trees at Arne and two more have recently been added to another site in Poole Harbour. Two ‘polyospreys' were added to the nests this week, so RSPB staff and Arne visitors are now waiting eagerly to see if the experiment is successful.

Mark Singleton, Arne RSPB Visitor Manager, says: "This is a really exciting experiment and one that has worked at other locations in Europe so we're hopeful that before long we might just have some breeding ospreys of our own.

Roy Dennis
"We have the world's leading osprey expert, author and broadcaster Roy Dennis, on board, and ideal flora and fauna and hunting grounds nearby. So with all the right elements in place all we can do now is keep our fingers crossed. If we did get ospreys breeding at Arne it would be an amazing conservation success story and as well as improving the population and range of this magnificent bird a little more it would be fantastic for all our visitors."

Having birds in the South will be a major boost to the species, giving them a foothold in the other extreme end of the country which they don't currently have. There is a better food source for ospreys in the South than Scotland, where their current stronghold is.

Ospreys were once made extinct in Britain for over 40 years but came back to breed in the 1950s. They have a wingspan of almost two metres and a characteristic black eye stripe on a white head making them easily distinguishable from other birds of prey. Their legs, feet and beak are adapted to catching fish making the Dorset coastline a perfect range for searching for food.

The Arne/Poole Harbour experiment is part of a larger project spanning the South Coast. The Poole Harbour project is being funded by Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is being carried out in partnership with The National Trust and Natural England.