Osprey

This autumn Simon travelled to Senegal in west Africa to visit the wintering grounds for the ospreys that migrate there from the UK.

More about the species

Ospreys are a widespread raptor with brown upperparts and white underparts, a white head and a dark stripe through each eye. They have very long angled wings, bent at the darker 'wrists' which contrast the white undersides of the wings.

Most active early in the day, ospreys are excellent hunters. They swoop down feet first to catch fish then align the prey to minimise wind resistance during flight.

Ospreys nest here in the UK at specific sites. In autumn, the majority migrate around 5,000km to west Africa. Simon followed them on their journey to warmer shores, the mangrove swamps of Senegal.

As Simon discovered, whereas you never see more than one or two ospreys together in the UK, they hunt together in large numbers in Senegal, 20 or 30 birds in the same vicinity.

Locals in Senegal do not see the birds as competition, but instead realise that their presence indicates good fish stocks, and even follow them to set their fishing nets. If an osprey is caught they release it.

This bird is an amber list species due to its historical population decline and low breeding numbers. Approximately 440 ospreys breed in the UK.