Operation Osprey - 70 Years of Breeding Osprey in Scotland

Scotland Outdoors

BBC

Nature, Society & Culture, Science

4.7 • 709 Ratings

🗓️ 17 July 2024

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the early twentieth century, very few ospreys were breeding in Scotland. They had been persecuted for decades and their eggs stolen by collectors. In 1954, a pair successfully raised two chicks near Loch Garten which gave conservationists hope that they could return to Scotland as nesting birds. Operation Osprey was launched to protect them from those intent on raiding their nests, with volunteers watching the nest at Abernethy twenty four hours a day. It proved a difficult journey but seventy years on, there are now numerous nesting ospreys in the UK. Jess Tomes from RSPB Scotland talks about the effort involved in the operation and wildlife ecologist Roy Dennis recalls the role he played in the 1960s.

Transcript

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0:00.0	He tells her that she will be sent to France as a secret agent, and if she's caught, she's going to be shot.
0:09.3	I'm Helen Obalam Carter, and this is history's secret heroes, where I shine a light on extraordinary stories from World War II.
0:17.6	What they wanted was someone to get themselves arrested and sent to Auschwitz.
0:22.0	Tales of deception, an incredible acts of resistance and courage.
0:26.3	She was a born soldier.
0:27.4	She's a freedom fighter in its widest sense.
0:29.9	The brand new series of History's secret heroes.
0:32.8	Listen first on BBC Sounds.
0:35.6	This Scotland Outdoors podcast from BBC Radio Scotland.
0:43.8	Seeing an osprey is a real...
0:52.8	Oh God, there's an osprey, there's an osprey, especially if they're about to fish.
0:56.0	It's so spectacular watching them die for a fish.
0:59.0	Talons outstretched, wings back.
1:02.0	Quite often they're not successful, but it's just an incredible spectacle to see them.
1:08.0	And yeah, it's always really heartening because they do have this migration that they have to undertake every year.
1:13.6	Migrating is a very hazardous business. So to see them back safely year after year is really heartening.
1:21.6	Osprey enthusiast Jess Tomes. Now Jess is from RSPB Loch Garten, well known of course as the home of the Osprey,
1:32.5	but that wasn't always the case.
1:35.3	In the early 20th century, very few of these birds were breeding in Scotland
1:40.2	following years of persecution.
1:43.5	In 1950 Vortho, a pair successfully raised two chicks here.
1:48.8	And from that point on, things slowly started to change, thanks to the efforts of some very
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