Press release from charity Birds of Poole Harbour (23rd February 2021)
World Osprey Week celebrates Ospreys as they make their spring migrations to their nesting grounds.
Founded by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, who are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their Osprey reintroduction project this year, the week-long event aims to enthuse and educate people, in particular children, about this brilliant bird of prey. From tracking treacherous migrations, to understanding their repopulation of Scotland, the week provides an opportunity to weave the excitement of Ospreys into learning about geography, history and science.
[Osprey photo by Peter Humprey]
Each weekday, from the 22nd to the 26th March, we’ll be sharing a video and content pack about a different topic, featuring activities and competitions. For some extra fun, the competition winners will be announced by Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin in The Reintroduction and Rewilding Summit on Saturday 10th of April. More information on this topic will be announced soon…
Who’s involved?
We’ve connected with 5 other Osprey groups this year to form an Osprey Network – Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Glaslyn Wildlife, Osprey Leadership Foundation and Scottish Wildlife Trust… and hopefully some familiar Ospreys!
How can you participate?
All of the involved sites will be putting out WOW content through their websites and social media each day of the week from 22nd of March. All sites in the network will be putting out the same content, with a few personal touches, so we recommend keeping an eye on the page of the site closest to you!
Each group is also reaching out to local schools, who we hope will be able to use the content as part of their school day. If you know of a school that would be interested in participating in World Osprey Week, please get in touch with us at bophhq@birdsofpooleharbour and amustard@lrwt.org.uk Please note that most of the WOW content will be aimed at children of a primary school age, though anyone is welcome to get involved.
Don’t worry about missing out on the fun if a particular school isn’t participating – all the activities will be able to done from home. We hope you can get involved!
ENDS
Raptor Persecution UK 
This year is also the 20th anniversary of wild ospreys returning to Bassenthwaite in the Lake District – and remembering the striking parrallel to today, with the countryside shut down due to Foot & Mouth.
What a fantastic initiative! There was nothing like this when I was at primary school, so in this case that’s real progress. If only there was no persecution to worry about and all attention and resources could be switched from fighting it to doing work like this so children could get more out of the wonderful world they live in.