The following is confidential and should not be shared.

The 2023 season has officially begun, with the first osprey returning on Tuesday 14th March.

Returning Ospreys

1. Tuesday 14th March – female 25(10)
2. Thursday 16th March – male 33(11)
3. Sunday 19th March – female Maya
4. Thursday 23rd March – male 30(10)
5. Wednesday 22nd March – male T7(16)
6. Saturday 25th March – male 11(10)
7. Monday 27th March – metal ringed site O female
8. Tuesday 21st March – male 6K(14)
9. Saturday 25th March – female HJ8
10. Saturday 25th March – male 055(19)
11. Tuesday 21st March – female 30(05)
12. Thursday 23rd March – male T3(16)
13. Monday 27th March – female 00(09)
14. Monday 27th March – male 06(09)
15. Friday 7th April – unringed site T female
16. Sunday 9th April – male 1K
17. Sunday 9th April – female 2AF
18. Monday 3rd April – male T4(16)
19. Saturday 15th April – unringed site W female
20. Thursday 20th April – unringed site O male
21. Friday 21st April – unringed site R female
22. Thursday 27th April – male 059(19)
23. Thursday 27th April – male 3AY(19)
24. Saturday 3rd June – male 079(21) – seen around Manton Bay

Incubating Nests

1. Manton Bay
2. B
3. C
4. K
5. N
6. S
7. R
8. O
9. J

Manton Bay

• 33(11) returned on 16th March
• Maya returned on 19th March
• First egg laid on 4th April
• Second egg laid on 7th April
• Third egg laid on 10th April
• Fourth egg laid on 13th April
• First egg hatched on 12th May
• Second egg hatched on 14th May
• Third egg hatched on 17th May
• Fourth egg hatched on 19th May – chick died in nest possibly the same day
• Female 3H3 fledged on 3rd July
• Female 3H5 fledged on 6th July
• Male 3H4 fledged on 9th July

The three youngsters were ringed on 24th June – Female 3H3, Male 3H4 and Female 3H5

Details of their biometrics below.

2023 Migration

All three youngsters at Manton Bay have left – all dates are approximate –

Female 3H5 left 11th August and Female 3H3 and Male 3H4 left 16th August

33(11) left late afternoon 31st August (approx. leaving time/date)

Maya left afternoon 3rd September (approx. leaving time/date)

2022 proved to be a very successful year for ospreys in the Rutland Water area, with a total of 11 breeding pairs rearing 22 chicks. This is the largest number of active nests recorded in a single year, surpassing ten breeding pairs in 2019 and 2020

This opening and closing procedure is relevant prior to Lyndon Nature Reserve opening to members of the public as well as after the nature reserve opens to the public.

Opening

1. Collect the keys from the key safe next to the hide. Code for the gate and key safe is 0897.
2. Unlock Waderscrape Hide and sanitise any touch points with the disinfectant provided.
3. Switch on the webcam – these instructions will be updated when the webcam is ready to use in the hide, as final touches still need to be made here.
4. Make sure the Volunteer Mobile is switched on and is charged. If there is not enough battery, please put it on charge.

Closing

1. If needed put the Volunteer Mobile on charge.
2. Switch off the webcam – more instructions on this to follow when final preparations have been made.
3. Make sure all the windows are closed and lock up Waderscrape Hide.
4. Return the keys to Waderscrape to the key safe next to the hide. Code for the gate and key safe is 0897.

Hello Everyone,

As we have a limit on the size of the work party of 15 volunteers each week, I have created a rota for the Osprey Winter Work Parties, which I have tried to make as fair as possible. If the box next to your name is filled in green, then you are marked as attending the work party on that date – green is for go!

Please do let me know if there are any issues and please don’t turn up to a work party if you are not on the rota as you will be politely sent home!

As we will be working away from the Visitor Centre the majority of the weeks, please bring with you your own refreshments for break time and please remember to bring £1 each week if you would like soup for lunch.

You can either view the rota by scrolling through below or it can be viewed by clicking here, which allows you to search for your name by:

1. Follow the link above, which will open a Google Docs.
2. Input Ctrl & F.
3. Type your name into the search box that comes up.
4. Use the arrow to click through all the dates you are signed up for.

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The following is strictly confidential and should not be shared.

And the season has officially begun, with the first osprey returning on 16th March!

Summary of Breeding Information

Returning Ospreys

16.03.21 – female 25(10).

19.03.21 at 12:29pm – male 33(11)

19.03.21 at 12:52pm – Maya

21.03.21 – female 5N(04)

23.03.21 – metal ringed female from Site O (McKnutt)

24.03.21 – male 8F(12)

24.03.21 – male 30(10)

24.03.21 – male 1K(13)

24.03.21 – female 00(09)

25.03.21 – female 30(05)

27.03.21 – female HJ8

27.03.21 – male 11(10)

27.03.21 – male 51(11)

27.03.21 – male 6K(14)

30.03.21 – male 06(09)

01.04.21 – male T4(16)

01.04.21 – male 2AA

09.04.21 – male 32(11)

09.04.21 – female 2AF

12.04.21 – male T7(16)

14.04.21 – male 4K(13)

17.04.21 – male 3AH

22.04.21 – male T3(16)

22.04.21 – male 2AM (Blithfield Reservoir)

10.05.21 – male 055 (2019 Manton Bay juvenile)

17.05.21 – male 3AB

02.06.21 – male 059 (2019 Site R) intruded at the Dyfi Osprey nest

15.06.21 – 150th chick, male 056 (2019 MB) returned to Rutland.

27.08.21 – male 059 seen at Horn Mill Trout Farm. First time he has been recorded back in Rutland.

10.10.21 – 2020 juvenile female 078 observed at the Saloum Delta, Senegal.

We also have an unringed female osprey, which first intruded at the Manton Bay nest a couple of weeks ago and she is currently near Site R with T4. There is also currently a second unringed female with 4K(13), but with both of these females, it is a bit too early to tell whether they’ll stay the whole season.

Sadly, it looks like neither female 2F or S6(15) will return this year, so here’s hoping that this unringed female will stay around.

We have 30 adults back in the Rutland area and 8 breeding pairs this year, which have raised 19 young.

Manton Bay

19.03.21 at 12:29pm – male 33(11) returned.

19.03.21 at 12:52pm – Maya returned.

30.03.21 at 11:45am – first egg laid.

02.04.21 at 06:00am – second egg laid.

05.04.21 at 07:05am – third egg laid.

08.05.21 at 15:18 – first chick hatched.

10.05.21 at 19:47 – second chick hatched.

14.05.21 – unfortunately the third egg was damaged this afternoon from a fish that was brought in, however after Maya moved the eggshell it was apparent that the egg sadly wasn’t viable.

19.06.21 – the two chicks were ringed with the ring numbers 095 and 096. 095 is a female and 096 is a male. The table below shows the biometric measurements that were taken along with the ring numbers.

01.07.21 – male 096 fledges at 12:12pm

02.07.21 – female 095 fledges at 11:11am

22.08.21 @ 09:10 – female 095 leaves for migration

22.08.21 @ 09:13 – male 096 leaves for migration

30.08.21 – Maya leaves for her migration.

31.08.21 – 33(11) leaves for his migration.

The Osprey Volunteer Handbook has been completed ready for this season. There have been some fresh information added, so please do take a look. All information in the handbook is for volunteer’s use only, so please don’t share this with members of the public.

When you click on the link you will need to download it before you can print it. To do this you need to click on the button with the downwards facing arrow to the left of where it says sign in at the top right hand corner of the screen. You should then be able to print off a copy.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE HANDBOOK

We have simplified the format, which hopefully will make it easier for you to view/print off. If you need a hard copy from us, this will be available upon request as a bid to reduce potential paper waste. Please contact Abi (amustard@lrwt.org.uk) to request a copy.

The Osprey Education Team are introducing their very own family friendly newsletter, ‘The Lyndon Letter’, featuring all the updates from the wonderful ospreys, educational activities they are running, events and any other exciting news. There will be three editions in a year – more if we can – releasing them in the spring, end of summer/beginning of autumn and in the winter. If you have any family members who may be interested in these, do feel free to share The Lyndon Letter with them!

The Lyndon Letter Issue 1, December 2020

The first winter edition of The Lyndon Letter has now been released and can be read by clicking here! In this issue you will meet the Team and hear all about the most recent news and more.

Five year old male, S1(15) fledged from Manton Bay in 2015 and was one of the first chicks Maya and 33(11) successfully raised as a breeding pair. S1(15) first returned to the UK two years later in 2017, where he was first spotted in Poole Harbour then later on in Rutland, where he has since returned every year. In 2018, he was fitted with one of two available satellite transmitters, which would enable us to gain an exciting and valuable insight into his movements throughout the year.

Thanks to the satellite transmitter we have learned that S1(15) spends the winter months on a group of islands in an area of rich mangrove swamps, just off the coast of Guinea-Bissau.

The islands off the coast of Guinea-Bissau that S1(15) spent the winter months

We have also been able to learn more about the route S1(15) takes on his migrations, which shows him follow, more-or-less, the same routes each time. This year he left Guinea-Bissau on 15^th March and, after travelling over 4000 miles (over 6000 km) over the course of 19 days, he eventually arrived in Rutland on 4^th April.

The full migratory route S1(15) took in spring 2020

S1(15) has held a territory in the local area, but has never successfully paired up with a female. The data we have received over the past few months from his satellite transmitter has astonished us! He has been making some vast and long journeys, crossing county borders. Over the Easter weekend he travelled into Suffolk, back towards Peterborough and went south via Northamptonshire into Bedfordshire. That weekend he covered almost 200 miles! It’s not the only ‘adventure’ that S1(15) has made this season. Another notable trip he made was to North Wales at the end of June – it’s pretty incredible how far these birds can travel!

S1(15)’s Easter weekend trip

On 5th July, S1(15) again left Rutland, this time flying west, passing over Norfolk. His journey continued and he left the UK, crossed the North Sea, finally reaching land in Germany, just to the west of Hamburg. We do not know what made him leave the UK – it was far too early for him to have started his migration, plus he went west not south. Was it to try and find a mate? Or was it purely exploratory?

On 7^th July S1(15), crossed the border into the Netherlands where he spent the next four days, before he left, heading in a north-westerly direction. Unfortunately, in the evening of 11^th July, we stopped receiving data from his transmitter. S1(15)’s last data point was in the middle of the North Sea – between the UK and Denmark – and by looking at this and the projected direction of travel, this strongly indicates that S1(15) has very sadly died. He must have got into difficulty whilst crossing the North Sea – whether he got caught by some strong winds, had struggled to fish or as a result of something else unknown we don’t know.

S1(15)’s final journey

There is still so much we don’t understand about the migration of ospreys, but S1(15) has taught us a lot over the past couple of years and has even surprised us with some of his movements and travels, especially this year. Hopefully, we will continue to learn more through the data we receive from male 4K(13)’s satellite transmitter, who now is the only individual with one fitted.