Breeding pairs of ospreys disappeared from mainland Spain in the 1980s, according to the Fundación Migres (Migres foundation).
This spectacular fish-eating bird of prey could still be seen on the Iberian Peninsula but only as a migratory visitor.
However, thanks to international help, the osprey has now been restored as an inhabitant.
The Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation has played a big part in the return of the osprey.
Scotland-based ornithologist Roy Dennis explains via his website that he became ‘very interested in Spanish ospreys once we started our satellite tracking projects, as it is on our Scottish ospreys’ direct migration route to Africa’.
“In 1999 I went to search for the breeding female from nest A11 near Carrbridge and found her wintering in Extremdura,” he says.
At this time there were no ospreys nesting in mainland Spain.
The reintroduction project came about when Mr Dennis ‘had discussions about osprey translocations with Miguel Ferrer and Eva Casado of the Doñana Biological Research Institute’ in Andalucía.
“They were keen to restore the osprey to mainland Spain and so developed a re-introduction project in partnership with Scotland, Finland and Germany,” he explained.
“In July 2003 the first four ospreys from Finland were released at the site and the following summer young ospreys from Scotland and Germany were released there.”
More chicks were introduced each summer in Andalucía, with the majority collected in northern Germany.
The Migres foundation explains that nearly 200 chicks were released until 2012; at the Río Barbate reservoir in Cádiz province and the Marismas del Odiel natural park in Huelva.
“Thanks to all the efforts of recent years there is now an established breeding population of ospreys, which is growing,” explains the Migres foundation.
In the last decade the project has been expanded to other areas of Spain.
Conservationists in Scotland have been at the forefront of these initiatives, the first of which saw osprey chicks being taken to the Basque Country.
Working with Forest Enterprise Scotland, the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation collected chicks under licence in north-east Scotland.
The birds were released at the Urdaibai estuary near Bilbao.
Ospreys visit the estuary during their migrations to West Africa from breeding sites in Scotland.
Alan Campbell, environment ranger with Forest Enterprise Scotland’s Aberdeenshire team, explained: “Roy Dennis has been weighing, measuring and ringing osprey chicks on the national forest estate for many years, but over the past five years, when there has been more than one chick in a nest, the larger chick has been selected for translocation.”
Valencia region
The project arrived in the Valencia region in 2022, chosen as a bridging site between mainland Spain and the established population in the Balearics.
Chicks are being released at the Marjal de Pego-Oliva wetland in the north of Alicante province.
The hacking method is used, in which they are placed in an artificial nest and fed for a set period of time so they can get used to their new environment.
In 2024, 12 more chicks were released, with the young birds arriving from Scotland, according to the regional director for the environment, Raúl Mérida.
He said the new supply will ‘join the dozen that were transported from Scotland’ nearly two years ago.
Their aim is to release around 100 of the birds of prey over five years with the help of donor countries such as Norway, Sweden and the UK.
Sr Mérida said the recovery of this magnificent bird on the Mediterranean coast is proving to be a success due to the help of private foundations who are working with the regional government.
“The aim is to ensure that the osprey becomes a breeding bird here once more and that a population is established which can serve as a connection between the Andalucía group and those in Balearics,” said Sr Mérida.
The osprey are released when they are around one month old as ‘they usually return to their place of origin to reproduce’.
It was announced last week that the Valencia government is also looking to reintroduce the osprey to the Albufera lagoon, which lies to the south of Valencia city.
From the Loch with love
The Woodland Trust Scotland has been operating a live nest camera at Loch Arkaig Pine Forest in Lochaber, Scotland since 2017.
Louis was the first osprey to touch down and has been the star of the show ever since, they revealed.
His first mate Aila was with him until 2020 when the pair and their chicks became a huge online hit during the Covid lockdown. Aila did not return from migration in 2021 and Louis found a new mate, Dorcha, and followed her to a new nest.
This year they hatched three chicks, two of which have survived and are now approaching six weeks old.
The two osprey chicks were fed on the nest before their removal.
In July 2024, trust spokesman George Anderson reported: “Male ospreys feed their whole family during the nesting season with the females occasionally fishing a little towards the end of the summer. Louis has always been a very dependable provider. At this time of year he would normally be bringing in four or five fish a day. His record is nine.”
However, he has been off his game lately, often bringing in only one and sometimes none.
“In these circumstances the chicks will die,” continued Mr Anderson.
“It is our default position not to intervene in the ospreys’ lives and we would generally let nature take its course, only stepping in to correct any problems caused directly by humans. However, in this case we became aware that there was an opportunity for the chicks to go into a translocation programme reintroducing ospreys to the Valencia region in Spain.
“We think it would be needlessly dogmatic to let the chicks die when this option is available. We waited to see if Louis’ performance would pick up but it hasn’t.
“The two chicks were removed from the nest by a licensed raptor worker.
“They have been handed to the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, a partner in the project reintroducing ospreys to the Valencia region and leading experts in raptor translocations. Roy and his team have impeccable credentials and we have every confidence that while the chicks’ survival is not guaranteed, they will have a vastly better chance.
“Scotland has reintroduced species such as beaver, red kite and sea eagle thanks to other nations gifting us their animals. I think it is great that Scotland is giving this gift to Spain and we are proud this Arkaig pair are going to be a part of that.”
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