<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/10/such-a-rare-thing-ospreys-spread-their-wings-again-over-england-aoe>
"“I’m over the moon. We’ve waited a long time for this.” Beth Dunstan,
environmental project manager at Belvoir Castle is celebrating the birth of the
first osprey chicks in Leicestershire for two centuries this summer, one of a
series of recent successes in bringing the osprey back across the UK.
The birds of prey were at one time extinct across the country, which makes the
recent hatching of the two osprey chicks cause for celebration. “It’s such a
rare thing,” said Dunstan. “There are only around 30 breeding pairs of ospreys
in England, so to have a pair on our land breeding and raising chicks is so
exciting.”
Powerful raptors with a wingspan of about 150cm (5ft), the osprey (
Pandion
haliaetus) became extinct as a breeding bird in England in 1840 and in
Scotland in 1916, due to persecution. The birds were shot by gamekeepers, who
considered them a threat to trout and salmon stocks; they were hunted for sport
and taxidermy; and their eggs were sought by collectors. Habitat loss, the
destruction of nest sites and industrial pollution of water sources also
contributed to their decline.
With safer conditions and more legislation in place, including bans on shooting
and egg collecting, osprey populations slowly started to recover. In 1954, two
Scandinavian birds flew to Loch Garten in Cairngorms national park and nested.
The birds bred successfully in 1959, thanks to Operation Osprey, a 24-hour RSPB
protection watch.
After a slow start, several pairs bred successfully in other parts of Scotland,
with the population there rising to about 250 pairs by 2018. Scotland is now
home to most of the UK’s ospreys, with the total population in the UK believed
to be about 1,500 birds."
Via
Future Crunch Sep 23, 2022:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-aids-ocean-indonesia-clean-air-spain/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
