April osprey spotting
Rutland Water is one of only two places in England where ospreys breed, which makes it pretty special. In the mid 90s some Scottish chicks were brought to Rutland in the hope that after wintering in Africa they would return there to breed. It worked. Tim McCrill takes Janet Sumner to see the nest site. They manage to get within 200-300 yards of the birds, since they are used to the sight of the reserve's volunteers and their landrover. Ospreys in remote parts of Scotland rarely see people and are therefore much more timid. When the cameraman was here earlier he filmed a red kite circling the nest, hoping to get at a pike the male osprey had dropped. A crow then mobbed the red kite, before the osprey got fed up of it all and chased them both away. This nest site is protected and guarded, but the public can see other ospreys at Rutland. April is the best time to see them as the males are displaying and lots of birds are fishing.
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