(pandion haliaetus)

The Osprey is a success story for wild life conservation in Scotland. The species was virtually extirpated by the end of the 19th century with the last bird supposedly being shot at Loch an Eilein. The popular belief is that Ospreys returned to Scotland and began breeding at Loch Garten near Aviemore in the Cairngorms in 1954 and that the current population has expanded from there. However historical records suggest that a very small number of birds continued to breed in scattered locations throughout the first half of the 20th century and that migrating birds were quite regular.

The Loch Garten population certainly formed a nucleus from which the species has expanded so that in 2004 there were over 180 breeding pairs. The RSPB Loch Garten Osprey Centre also provides the general public with a chance to see these magnificent birds and to appreciate the efforts which have been made to conserve the species in Scotland.

On a worldwide basis the Osprey is a common bird being found widely in a number of sub species. I have seen Ospreys in Turkey, West Africa, Uganda, on Lake Tana in Ethiopia and even in the Thimpu Valley of Bhutan in the Himalayas. The Scottish birds mostly winter in West Africa usually around Senegal.

Most of the photographs in this gallery were taken at a well known nest site in Speyside and around Loch Lomond where a breeding population has become established just in the last five years.

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