Ospreys are massive and immediately recognizable birds of prey. Their distinctive form and markings assist them stand out from their fellow raptors, as does their unimaginable tendency to carry out aerial dives to grab reside fish out of the water to eat. Fittingly, nicknames for Ospreys embody the “sea hawk,” “river hawk,” and “fish hawk.” What’s extra, they’re impressively expert at fishing and will attain success charges as excessive as 70%. That is staggering contemplating how troublesome these dive assaults on slippery fish could be.
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In the USA, Osprey are sometimes seen setting up nests on high of artificial buildings. Utility poles are a favourite website, a reality which regularly brings Ospreys into battle with energy firms as their nests can disrupt service and even begin fires. Nonetheless, Osprey nests are sometimes a treasured website and are watched intently by native birders and conservation teams.
In Eire, although, one Osprey nest location is being stored a intently guarded secret. It’s because it could be the one one in the whole nation. Earlier this month, a few of the first Osprey chicks had been launched in Eire from a Norwegian Osprey inhabitants. These chicks are a part of a 5 yr program supposed to assist reintroduce the species to Eire. Over the following 5 years, as many as 70 chicks are deliberate to be launched. This effort comes after greater than 200 years with no breeding inhabitants of Ospreys in Eire. In that point, migratory Ospreys have visited the nation, however no nest websites have ever been discovered.
That’s, till 2021. That was the yr that an Osprey pair was first sighted at a secret nest website someplace in County Fermanagh. The pair aren’t believed to have efficiently bred in 2021, however hopes had been ignited when the identical birds returned to the identical spot in 2022. Ospreys are monogamous birds who kind robust attachments each to one another and their most popular nest websites. If they’re ready, they are going to return to the identical nest for many years. And, it appears, this pair intends to do exactly that. Whereas they weren’t sighted with chicks in 2022, they returned to the key nest website once more this yr, and this time they made historical past. For the primary time in additional than 200 years, wild Ospreys produced chicks in Eire.
The pair has produced at the very least two chicks, and it’s thought that there could also be a 3rd. County Fermanagh is wealthy with lakes and waterways, making it the perfect website for the reintroduction of Ospreys to Eire. Because the newly launched Norwegian chicks disperse, there’s hope for a future for Ospreys in Eire. Maybe subsequent yr this historic nest is not going to be the one one.
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