It has been another remarkable breeding season for Poole Harbour’s ospreys, with a record number of chicks fledging from nests linked to the reintroduction project.
The celebrated pair CJ7 and 022 have successfully raised four chicks for the third consecutive year at their Carey nest. Four-chick broods are exceptionally unusual, occurring in fewer than one per cent of osprey nests. The pair have now produced 17 chicks in five breeding seasons. A second, undisclosed nest in southern England also successfully raised three chicks this year. The success is spreading well beyond Dorset. Birds originating from the Poole Harbour project are now breeding at three nests in Wales and one in the East Midlands, with 57 wild-fledged chicks produced from project-linked birds over the past six years.
Four young males from the Carey nest have also returned this year, raising hopes that more breeding pairs will establish themselves along the south coast.
The reintroduction project was launched by Birds of Poole Harbour and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation in 2017, ultimately restoring breeding ospreys to the south coast of England after an absence of more than 180 years.
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