Osprey and Chicks, Loch Doon, Scotland
This evening, I am reporting on Ospreys which are a specialised, fish-eating bird of prey, most similar to the buzzards or eagles in general appearance. The images herein are via a web cam at Loch Doon, Scotland and courtesy of photographer, Roy Robertson. Loch Doon, Scotland Background (From Royal Society for Protection of Birds ("RSPB") Website) Ospreys were persecuted into extinction in the UK during the 1800s. They were shot for taxidermy and collectors took their eggs. The last recorded breeding took place in Scotland in 1916 and ospreys also disappeared across much of Europe – reaching a low in the 1920s and ‘30s. It was a combination of good luck and legislation to protect these birds which enabled the osprey population to recover. The return of the osprey is shrouded in some mystery but in the 1950s birds migrating to Scandinavia began to turn up in Scotland, and the first confirmed breeding was in 1954. The RSPB was involved at the outset trying...