Ospreys in Rutland

Osprey - Pandion haliaetus. The Gambia

During our trip to The Gambia in April, we had the opportunity to photograph Ospreys on a couple of occasions. Both of these were while we were on boat trips in what are best described as less than stable craft. There were quite a few birds to choose from as well and we got some half decent shots without capsizing the boat. No mean feat in itself. The image above being an example, not of the usual standard, but better than nothing.

It was therefore strange to think that around a month later we could well be photographing the very same birds, nearer to home. Leaving straight after work on Friday, we motored up to Peterborough for an overnight stay and to be ready for a 04:15 appointment with the birds.

A wet morning greeted us as we left the hotel, but by the time we arrived on site it had thankfully stopped. We were met by our ‘guide’ for the session and introduced to the other couple, who were joining us. Quickly dealing with the formalities, we were soon installed in the hide and preparing for the action.

The site is actually a trout farm and the pond that is used apparently holds around 10,000 fish. The guide sits in his car up on the hill overlooking the site and has two-way radio contact with the hide occupants to warn of approaching birds. All set up, we just needed the birds.

Not too long passed before the call came over the radio “bird overhead”. All four of us peered out, but saw nothing save for a Grey Heron. Our guide suggested the Heron had scared off the Osprey, but whatever, we never saw it.

It was around another 30 minutes before we got another call and this time we saw the Osprey perch in a tree front left of the hide. It soon swooped down to the pond grabbed a fish and was gone in a flurry of many frames per second. We were all annoyed that the bird had done this with its back to us the whole time, but it was good practice for the next swoop, whenever that might be.

The fact is, there were no more visits, even though our scheduled departure from the hide at 08:30 was postponed for 15 – 20 minutes. We had plenty of time to eat our snacks and drink our coffee without being disturbed. There was also time to indulge in an interesting conversation about Andy Rouse and his Fotobuzz group.

So all that was left was to head back to the hotel to have breakfast before returning to Dorset virtually empty handed. Even that was less than inspiring and maybe we should have visited the greasy spoon the guide directed us too rather than the hotel.

All in all a wasted effort, where we didn’t improve on our captures from The Gambia. But this is wildlife photography and days like these must be accepted. It actually makes the days where it all comes together that little bit more special too.