Big success of the recovery project of the Osprey

Few weeks ago we informed about the first return to Urdaibai of an Osprey released in the frame of the recovery project. It was Jaun Zuria (P2), a male released in 2013 who hadn´t been seen since then. Even if the ospreys can return to their nesting areas during their second year of life, in real projects carried out in Europe such a prompt return has never happened. This is why we considered very difficult to get a better result of the project.

 N3 on one of the perches in the marsh

N4 in the feedlot

But we were wrong because at the end of July another two males (N3 and N4) appeared in Urdaibai. Moreover, N4 was accompanied by a Scottish female ringed in 2012 in the south of Inverness. The presence of the female caused an immediate reaction on the two males who made exhibition flights. Jaun Zuria transported material to build his nest in a platform of the marsh and N4 was fishing with more frequency than usual. Even if the female abandoned Urdaibai few days after her arrival, her return to Urdaibai next year to form a couple with one of the males is highly probable . In this way the main objective of the recovery project would be achieved: the reproduction of the Osprey in Urdaibai.

 Osprey chicks in the acclimatization area

Views of the marsh from the acclimatization area

Moreover, this week the last thirteen individuals donated by the Scottish Government have been released. They are all in perfect conditions and can be seen near to the acclimatization area. Every day the young individuals feed in the feedlots filled with mullet every dawn by the technicians.

The professor José Luis Telleria assisted to this last releasing of individuals, he is a chairman of Zoology in the Complutense University of Madrid. Dr. Telleria , who was born in Arrasate-Mondragon, is well known for his intense research activity, as well as for having published many books and scientific articles in several national and international magazines. In the frame of scientific divulgation could be highlighted “Manual para el censo de los Vertebrados” and “Introducción a la Conservación de las Especies”. Apart from attending and collaborating in the liberation of the individuals, Jose Luis Telleria visited the Urdaibai Bird Center accompanied by Aitor Galarza, the director of the recovery project of the Osprey in Urdaibai.

In the photo, Jose Luis Tellería (right) and Aitor Galarza (second from left), with Javier Elorriaga and Mar Del Arco, technicians of the recovery project of the Osprey.