Granddad’s Camera
Osprey, as it appears in the game

No.073 · Birds · Uncommon

Osprey

Pandion haliaetus

A fish-eating raptor with a white crown and dark eye stripe, which hovers over lochs and plunges feet-first for trout and pike.

When to look

April to August, mostly at dawn and day.

Time of day

Best time
Day, April–August. Fishing is best in the morning and in fair weather; the famous Loch Garten nest is watched from the RSPB centre.
Where in the game
the Cairngorms (loch, pine forest and river)
Size
Length about 52–60 cm
Wingspan
About 1.6 m
Weight
About 1.5 kg
Lifespan
Typically 9 years once breeding; the oldest ringed bird reached nearly 21 (BTO)
Population
About 240 breeding pairs in the UK (BTO, 2013–17), probably an underestimate
Status
Amber (Birds of Conservation Concern 5, 2021)

Diet

Fish only in the UK, especially trout, pike, perch and roach, caught by diving feet-first

Habitat

Lochs, rivers and coasts near tall trees or nesting platforms.

Breeding

Returns to nest sites in late March–April; 2–3 eggs, incubated for about 37 days; chicks fledge after about 53 days (July); birds leave for West Africa in August–September

Field signs

  • A large stick nest at the top of a Scots pine or on a platform
  • A whistling, high 'pew-pew-pew' call
  • A pale crown with a dark stripe through the eye
  • Long, angled wings in a crooked 'M' shape and hovering

Did you know?

  • Ospreys had more or less died out in Britain by the early 1900s; successful breeding began again at Loch Garten in the 1950s and numbers have grown since (BTO).
  • The osprey has a reversible outer toe and spiky foot pads to grip slippery fish, and its nostrils close when it dives.
  • Ospreys can travel up to 5,000 km on migration between Scotland and Africa (Scottish Wildlife Trust).

Moments worth waiting for

  • Osprey plunge dive April to August, day and dawn
    The osprey hovers, folds, then crashes into the loch feet first; a heavy, silver-flanked trout rises in its talons.

Photo tip

Use the Loch Garten and Loch Morlich viewpoints and a long lens (500 mm+). Panning as it hovers and dives needs 1/2000 s or faster.

Be a good naturalist

Nests are Schedule 1 protected: keep well back, never approach a nest tree, and use the RSPB Loch Garten Osprey Centre or other official viewpoints. Do not fly drones near raptors.

The law

Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981: it is an offence to disturb it at or near the nest.

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