Poole Harbour Ospreys lay first egg of season

The Poole Harbour Ospreys have laid their first eggs of the year, ahead of what is hoped will be another successful breeding season.

This year (2024) will mark the third successive season that the raptors, which are part of a reintroduction programme, have bred in Dorset.

Female 'CJ7' was spotted laying the egg on a nest webcam at 3.40 pm on Monday 15 April. By 25 April, no fewer than four eggs had been laid.

Female 'CJ7' and the newly laid egg (Birds of Poole Harbour).

Ospreys return to southern England

The birds became the first nesting pair on the south coast of England in 180 years in 2022, after being reintroduced in 2017.

Both 'CJ7' and her partner, male '022', arrived back in Poole Harbour in late March, following their migration from West Africa.

Conservation charity Birds of Poole Harbour, who led the reintroduction project, said it typically takes between 10 and 14 days after the pair have returned for the female to lay the first eggs.

Important pair

Liv Elwood, charity manager at Birds of Poole Harbour, said: "This event is hugely significant as they are the only breeding pair on the south coast, so this is the only egg that exists in the whole of the south."

"The chicks that are hatched from these eggs will be some of a few that hopefully start a future population on the south coast."