To support our environmental commitments and spread positive energy through our community, we offer funding and support for local projects, initiatives or charities that benefit the environment and local community.
Here in Guernsey, together with La Societe Guernesiaise, we helped successfully install osprey nesting sites which are close to both St Saviour’s Reservoir and Perelle Bay. These nesting sites have been specially designed to attract young osprey of about two years old as they journey from Africa to Scotland.
What are ospreys?
Looking similar to an eagle or a buzzard, ospreys are a specialised fish-eating bird of prey that can reach a 1.7 metres wingspan. If you consider the average height of a person in the UK is also around 1.7 metres, it’s easy to imagine just how large these raptors can get.
Often mistaken for a large gull, their long wings are angled with a bend at the ‘wrist’ and can often be seen around large bodies of water. Here in Guernsey we may be lucky to see them in March as they make their 6,700 km journey from Africa and Scotland, stopping off in places in the UK to nest.
Find out more about osprey migration
Osprey extinction and recovery
According to the RSBP, ospreys were persecuted to extinction in the UK during the 1800s. Shot for taxidermy and their eggs, the last recorded breeding before conservation work began was in Scotland in 1916, with ospreys also disappearing across much of Europe.
The good news is thanks to a combination of good luck, legislation and dedicated conservationists, these precious birds have been making a comeback.
To help contribute to the osprey recovery, we were proud to support La Société Guernesiaise with a donation from our Power to the People Fund.
Ospreys were re-introduced to England at Rutland Water Nature Reserve in 1996 and Poole Harbour in 2001, where a breeding population has been successfully restored.
Here in Guernsey, together with La Societe Guernesiaise, we helped successfully install osprey nesting sites which are close to both St Saviour’s Reservoir and Perelle Bay. These nesting sites have been specially designed to attract young osprey of about two years old as they journey from Africa to Scotland.
Ospreys have been spotted annually in Guernsey and Herm since 2010, however there has so far been no confirmed breeding population.
It is the hope of Vic Froome and La Société Guernesiaise that these new nesting platforms will be suitable in this more visible location for the birds.
“Ospreys hunt predominantly over water. With this new site being close to the reservoir and Perelle Bay, there will be plenty of fish for them to eat and an ideal location for breeding”
We encourage islanders to keep a look out for osprey on their long journey from Africa.
The Power to the People Fund
To support our environmental commitments and spread positive energy through our community, we offer funding and support for local projects, initiatives or charities that benefit the environment and local community.
Twice a year, we invite applications for up to a maximum of £6,000 which are then reviewed by our Environmental Initiatives Group.
