From “nowhere”

We were waiting by the lake in Holkham Park on the north Norfolk coast the other day; waiting expectantly for a returning Osprey. Ospreys don’t commonly hang around in the county so you do have to have a little luck to see one and this individual had been present a couple of days so was a good bet. When we arrived we were told it had just caught a fish and flown off south so the possibility of seeing a large fish eating bird of prey return with a rotund stomach to fish again was somewhat remote. But we stuck it out and gave it a try.

The Jackdaws in the distance seemed to be playing up a little which raised my hopes. Alex my competent young guest was the first to see a Red Kite and then a Marsh Harrier flying through. I naturally assumed they were the reason for all the corvid consternation. However when I looked behind us I was delighted to see the Osprey had returned. A young female she was quite inexperienced and we saw her attempt to strike fish three or four times without success before resting in a nearby tree. We were all appreciative of the excellent views and the length of time she allowed us to watch her.

 

A Warbler and a raptor

There are two things when watching wildlife that always run true.

Firstly, the longer you stay in one place the more you will see and secondly, when searching for one thing you almost invariably find something else of interest; and so it was the other week.

We walked up a nettle covered track aside the River Nar to listen to a rendition erupting from a patch of phragmites. Nightingale, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Blackcap, Whitethroat and Curlew were just some of the compendium voiced by the songster we went to see. Marsh Warblers are excellent mimics and this bird was no exception. Always tantalisingly just hidden from view we had to wait quite some time for it to show well; which it eventually did. However it was something else that stole the show.

Swinging in high above us was an avian delight. Here was a bird you don’t see all that often in Norfolk … for the time being anyway. The pale raptor hovering over the adjacent lake was an Osprey. Bearing a dark necklace it was a female. Again and again she returned to try her hand at fishing and on her third visit she managed to catch a fish. Her subsequent absence was our cue to move on.

 

Gone a fishin’

We were watching the loch unaware someone else was too.

On the recent trip to Scotland as we scanned the large area of water in front of us a large raptor came into view to our left. It was the unmistakable shape of an Osprey. As we all watched it glide effortlessly along the shoreline above us it hovered … then stooped. We didn’t see it hit the water, the nearside of the loch was hidden to us. We waited. It wasn’t long before she appeared shaking and re-orientating the large trout in her talons. There then ensued a mild panic as we all scrambled for our cameras.

Breeding Ospreys in Norfolk?

As Bob and I entered the empty hide and sat down I immediately saw a large raptor perched in a tall dead tree on the opposite bank.

“It’s here” I announced.

No sooner had I said the words the Osprey left the branch and dived feet first into the broad. It missed the fish. Pulling itself back into the air, it shook itself free of water and headed directly for us. The ducks, that to that point had been quietly dabbling away, scattered to all corners of the reserve. The magnificent raptor banked, attempted to land in a tree far too thin to hold its weight and then flew off over the river. We didn’t see it again.

To my knowledge Osprey has surprisingly never bred in the broads. With at least two to three birds in the county this summer, including the female we saw, Norfolk can’t be far off having its first breeding pair. Next year perhaps?