Osprey (RBBP)

Historically, Lorand and Atkin (1989) noted that between 1839-1903 at least 28 birds were recorded, 20 of these being shot. Singletons were seen in 1920, 1926 and 1936, and since 1958 it has been recorded annually, with the exeption of 1962, with more than 140 additional records.

The Atlas reported there was an average of eight birds a year in the 1980s, but this had doubled to 16 a year by the 1990s. With the successful breeding Osprey reintroduction programme at Rutland Water, the 2019 RBBP report indicated there were 10 confirmed pairs breeding in Leicestershire /Rutland and a further 3 in Northamptonshire fledging a total of 27 young.  There is no real evidence of prospective breeding in Lincolnshire as yet but increasing numbers of immature birds are summering. In the five years from 2016-2020 the number of birds reported in summer (June-July) were two, five, seven, zero and six in successive years. Even more recently a pair bred at the Belton Park estate in 2022, but in that part which is in Leicestershire, fledging two young. The male was fledged at a nest at Rutland Water in 2013. Now may be the time for a sustained programme of nesting platform erection at suitable sites, particularly in the south-west of the county. Though some already exist, they have not proved sufficiently tempting as yet. In this same period earliest spring migrants arrived between March 5th-April 20th at a rate of around 16 per year. The last autumn migrants departed between October 2nd-15th and averaged around 16 per year with autumn 2016 being the peak year with 35. All told the number of birds per year ranged from 30 in 2014 to 52 in 2016 at an average of 36 per year.