The First Osprey of the Year Returns to Urdaibai

-URDAIBAI RESERVE- The osprey which arrived at the Biosphere Reserve last Saturday was released here in 2013 and returned for the first time in 2015. The individual is part of the recovery programme which is being carried out by the Urdaibai Bird Center and is financed by The Provincial Council of Bizkaia.

Success continues in the osprey recovery programme being carried out by the Urdaibai Bird Center, thanks to funding from The Provincial Council of Bizkaia. Last Saturday a male osprey which is part of the project returned to the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, the site from which it was released in 2013. The bird is known to have returned for the first time in 2015 and was sighted in the Reserve on numerous occasions last August.

Most of the ospreys that live in Europe spend the winter in sub-Saharan Africa. Their wintering grounds are mainly in countries bordering the Gulf of Guinea, from Senegal to Equatorial Guinea. At this time of year they begin to return to their breeding grounds so staff at the Urdaibai Bird Center is on constant watch for them in the Reserve.

48 ospreys have been released in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve since the recovery programme was launched in 2013. Their presence in Bizkaia is the result of an agreement between the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the Scottish Government. In 2015 the first individuals returned and four males came back in 2016. (Three of these had been released in 2013 and the other in 2014).

Those ospreys which were released in 2013 have now reached adulthood. This is significant because a breeding pair could be formed this spring, thus fulfilling the aims of the recovery programme.

In addition to recovering the osprey as a breeding species in this area, the project incorporates an environmental education programme, the aim of which is to share information and to raise awareness of this bird of prey. To date, some 5000 school children and 300 teachers have visited the Urdaibai Bird Center to get to know the osprey. Likewise, 25 lectures have been given to adult audiences.