The 2024 Osprey Project report has been published (in French only) in the March 2025 edition of the journal Nos Oiseaux.  At least three males from the Swiss reintroduction project (Arthur – photo above by Thomas Bachofner, Olympe and Racine) were confirmed back in the Three Lakes region in 2024, with a possible fourth (Flamme ?) in the French department of Doubs. Two of our females again bred successfully: Mouche produced two young in France (Moselle), while Chronos fledged three chicks in Germany (Baden-Württemberg), along the Rhine River.

An unringed female spent much of the summer in the Three Lakes region, and received visits from all of our three territorial males. However, from her plumage she appeared to be probably only two years old, thus still too young to be interested in males.

Two “Osprey Mornings” were held in June 2024, as well as – for the first time – a more targeted “mini-Osprey morning” in July. In addition, two new nest platforms were built in the Haut-Doubs, in neighbouring France.

The next two Osprey mornings this year are scheduled for Sunday, June 15 and 29. Observation points will be, as in 2024, in the Three Lakes region, as well as in the Drugeon, Doubs and Aare River basins. Anyone interested in participating in one or both of these mornings can sign up here.

The 2024 report can be downloaded here.

The Osprey season seems to start earlier each year. After the surprise sighting of Pistache F11 in France on March 11, we received the first good news from Switzerland on March 22, when Martin Zimmerli spotted Olympe F28 back in the Grande Cariçaie along the shores of Lake Neuchâtel. Then on March 24 Fabian and David Grossenbacher saw another bird, presumably Arthur F12, back at Hagneck. This was soon confirmed by Stéphane Aubry, when he not only photographed Arthur (above), but Racine F29 as well. The same day Martin Zimmerli saw an Osprey at Fanel, most likely Racine even if his rings could not be seen. Racine does get around, but we really do want him to meet a female, not just another male!

March 24 also brought us good news from Germany: Daniel Schmidt-Rothmund informed us that Chronos (ex-PS9) had just returned to her nest in Baden-Wurttemberg, 5 days after her male had come back (in 2024 she had returned 4 days after him). Her partner was baptized “Kepler” last year, when the pair fledged three chicks. Let’s hope that they will be successful again this season (see below one of this year’s first camera-trap photos of the pair).

Finally, Dominique Lorentz tells us that Mouche PR4 and her male AM06 have also safely returned in the French department of Moselle (one bird was seen on March 17, and then both together on March 19). The dead tree where they successfully bred during the past four years fell down in January, and they are now setting up housekeeping on a nearby platform that was “preventively” built for them two years ago (as it was clear that their nest tree would not last for long). While it is sad that their natural nest is gone, the pair immediately adopted that platform to establish their new nest, which shows how important it is to provide platforms for Osprey.

An Osprey flying over France with a blue ring on her right leg—that was what Stéphane Mikaelis photographed on March 11, 2025. The bird was seen flying north (with a nice meal in her claws, see photo above), not far from the lac du Der in the French department of the Meuse. Fortunately her colour ring was readable: F11. Also known as Pistache, F11 is a female born in Norway and translocated to Switzerland on 5 July 2018. After being raised in the aviaries at Bellechasse and then released on 14 August, she left on migration on 8 September, 2018. Almost seven years had passed with no news of her, until we received the amazing photo from Stéphane. The discovery of Pistache brings the number of known returnees in Europe to 12, which corresponds to a rate of 19.4%, very good for a project of this type.

It is well known that male Osprey are very philopatric, almost always coming back to breed in the region where they first fledged. Females, on the other hand, usually move to another population to find a partner. Was Pistache on her way to the important Osprey population in eastern Germany, where another of our females released the same year, Plume (F02), had already been observed breeding?

In any case, 2018 was a very special year, as that was also when our male Arthur (F12) was released – and he has been returning to Switzerland every year since 2020. While it shouldn’t be long until the first Osprey of the season are seen in Switzerland, we are holding our breath to see him back again this spring!

Where do “our” Osprey go in winter? Up to now, at least two birds released in Switzerland have been seen wintering in West Africa. John Wright first photographed an unidentified male from 2016 in the Langue de Barbarie National Park, Senegal, in December 2016. Fusée (PR9), also from 2016 (the same individual?), was then spotted about 20 km away in the Trois-Marigots wetland by Jean-Marie Dupart in September and October 2018, and photographed in the same place by Marc Steinmetz in February 2019. It was then the turn of Flamme (ex-KF6), from 2017, to be photographed by Chris Wood and Joanna Dailey in Gambia, at the Gunjur Quarry wetland, on March 2, 2020.

In December 2024 we (Denis Landenbergue and Wendy Strahm) spent three weeks prospecting along the coast of Mauritania (with Abou Gueye), Senegal (with Jean-Marie Dupart), and Gambia (with Fansu Bojang), hoping to find one of “our” birds. Out of nearly 400 Osprey counted in total, we could read the codes of 20 colour rings in Senegal and Gambia, originating from Germany (8, black on left leg), Scotland (4, blue on left leg), France (3, orange), England (3, blue on right leg), Wales (1, blue on right leg) and Norway (1, black on right leg).

We also saw 4 other colour rings that could not be read in Mauritania, 3 in Gambia, and 6 in Senegal. Over half of the birds observed were unringed, and the others were either too far away or their legs were not visible. Above are a few photos of some of the more cooperative birds.

We now eagerly await the end of March when the first Osprey will start returning. As always, in order to identify territories of summering Osprey in Switzerland, we will hold two “Osprey mornings” this year in the Three-Lakes region and the trans-boundary Doubs river basin, on Sunday 15 June and Sunday 29 June 2025. More details about this will follow, but, in the meantime please reserve already these dates in your diary!

While it is never easy to know exactly when “our” Ospreys head south, thanks to some very avid observers we are pretty sure when they started their migration this year. Arthur (F12) at his usual territory in Hagneck (photo above) and Olympe (F28) in the Grande Cariçaie were last seen on 6 September, while the last observation of Racine (F29) was on 1 September. Vicky, the immature female that spent the summer in the Three Lakes region where she was visited at least once by each of our males, left earlier (as females tend to do). She was last seen on August 17.

As for our two known breeding females outside of Switzerland, Daniel Schmidt-Rothmund told us that the last photo-trap image of Chronos (ex-PS9) at her nest in Baden-Württemberg was on August 13, and of one of her three young on the 14th. A great surprise was then to discover that one of them (identified by its black ring code) was seen on August 24 in the Ebro Delta in Spain, over 1,100 km away south-west from its place of birth.

From Moselle, Dominique Lorentz reported that Mouche (PR4) was last observed near her nest on 30 August. We were then delighted to learn that Patrick Roux photographed her on September 6, on her way south, in the French Department of Côte-d’Or (Burgundy), about 240 km away from her territory. Both of her young had last been seen together on September 9 near the nest, before the final sighting of one of them on the 10th. With migration still underway and the wintering season coming soon, we of course hope to have more surprises in the next few months.

In an area rarely visited by bird-watchers in the Three-Lakes region, an unringed immature female (baptised Vicky) was regularly observed from July 4 (although she was probably there earlier), and last seen on August 17. It seems that she left on migration around the middle of the month, but was so discreet that we don’t know exactly when.

A nice surprise was the visit, from July 29 to August 2, of another unringed female (this time an adult) in the same area. She had a distinctive plumage with a heavier collar and different underwing pattern (see photo above). While all three of our territorial males were observed visiting the area that these females were using, no display flight or other nuptial behaviour was noted – possibly due to Vicky still being immature.

Without being able to read a colour ring, or to compare each bird’s plumage from photos, it is very difficult to tell one Osprey from another. The challenge of recognizing local birds gets even greater when autumn migration is under way, with birds from elsewhere passing through Switzerland and sometimes stopping over for a few days.

To date our three males are still around: Arthur F12 (last seen in 2023 for sure on September 1, and possibly even until the 10th), Olympe F28 (last seen in 2023 on August 29), and Racine F29 (last seen in 2023 on September 5). All three are now getting ready to migrate soon!

While last month it was the males that made the news during the two Osprey mornings of 2 June and 23 June, July is now the time for females to be in the spotlight.

Both Mouche (PR4) in France, and Chronos (ex-PS9) in Germany, have again bred successfully. In the department of Moselle, Dominique Lorentz reports that Mouche and her partner AM06 fledged 2 young just before July 8, around the same time and on the same nest as last year. In the State of Baden-Württemberg, Daniel Schmidt-Rothmund tells us the 3 chicks of Chronos and her male (recently baptized Kepler) fledged a little before July 17, also around the same time and on the same platform as last year. With these 5 chicks produced in 2024 by two of our females (plus the 5 already fledged in 2023), we hope to see some interesting returns in the years to come!

In the Three-Lakes region in Switzerland, an unringed female (baptised Vicky after her prominent V-shaped collar which makes her easy to recognize) has been hanging about since at least July 4, when she was first photographed by Claudine Waespe and Urs Meier. She has been seen regularly ever since, and she may even have been around much earlier, as a reliable local inhabitant had already told us in May that he often sees one Osprey in the area, and at times two. To find out more what this female was up to, and see if she might be interacting with some of our males, a “mini-Osprey morning” was undertaken on July 14, thanks to the participation of 19 observers – a remarkable turn-out for a month when so many bird-watchers tend to be away on holiday. We know that Vicky has already met Racine (F29) at least once, and possibly also Arthur (F12). However, for the moment she seems to prefer keeping to herself. She is clearly single and likely still immature – the ideal kind of “profile” which could increase the chances of seeing her back in the region and looking for a mate next year.

This summer there have also been more observations than usual of “foreign” Osprey, particularly around the Three-Lakes region, and a few also in the vicinity of the Doubs River. The presence of reintroduced males might well have a positive influence in this respect, and obviously the more territorial males there are, the greater the chances that they will attract the attention of female “floaters”.

The first migrants are already starting to fly south across Switzerland, which makes it more difficult to tell the difference between Osprey summering in the region, and those which are just passing through. However, this is always a good time for surprises, so please continue to share or post on www.ornitho.ch all observations, mentioning the time when you see one and, if possible, whether the bird is ringed or not. Summer is here at last!

Motivation was so high for this year’s second Osprey morning on 23 June that several of the 51 participants arrived before dawn. And the Osprey were soon to follow, with the first one (most probably Olympe) already fishing at the Grande Cariçaie at 05:23, then lost from sight before being spotted again with a fish at 06:00. At Hagneck Arthur had his breakfast even earlier, showing up calling in flight at 05:30 with a fish in his talons, which he promptly devoured, finishing at 06:06. A third Osprey (most probably Racine) was spotted at Fanel from 5:47, quietly perched most of the time on a dead tree until 8:27. He then flew north-east towards the Thielle canal where another team saw him, circling with a Black Kite from 8:34 to 8:40, before disappearing, apparently towards the Lake of Bienne. So already before 6:00, three different Osprey had been spotted, likely our three known males – although too far away to see or read their rings.

At Hagneck, Arthur was observed several times carrying branches (photo above) until 8:21, after which he disappeared, possibly behind the wooded island where we know he is trying to build a nest – for the third year in a row – on a fragile dead tree. Then just before the “official” end of the watch at 10:00, the surprise of the day was when two Osprey were seen from Lüscherz, circling together over Hagneck with at least one calling. One was clearly Arthur, and the other which then flew off towards Twann also had a blue ring, thus was most likely Racine.

One of the valuable results from this Osprey Morning is the confirmation that Olympe (who had been regularly seen bringing branches to two nest platforms built almost 2.5 km distance apart), is also building a new, natural nest nearly 2 kms further away. This means that his territory spans more than 5 km along the Grande Cariçaie. With a choice now of three possible nests with which to woo a passing female, it shows just how motivated Olympe is!

Other teams were posted at various spots along the Doubs River (difficult to survey due to relief and its many meanders) and in the Drugeon basin, both places where Flamme (which had lost his blue ring) was seen in past years. However, no Osprey were spotted there on 23 June, despite one (possibly ringed) being seen from June 11-12. So the question of whether Flamme has returned this year remains open.

Many thanks once again to the wonderful team who got up very early to take part in the 23 June survey. Whether they saw an Osprey or not, all of their observations were very useful, and we still have the rest of the summer to perhaps clarify some other mysteries.

For the first time ever, we had some truly terrible weather for this year’s first Osprey morning on June 2, with most of the 53 volunteer observers making superhuman efforts and getting very wet in the process. But despite the adverse conditions, we still collected valuable data on at least three of our known males in the Three-Lakes region. However there were no observations in the Doubs and Drugeon basins in nearby France nor in the Swiss Jura, the weather there being even worse than in the plain.

As almost always, Arthur (F12) at Hagneck did not disappoint. An Osprey (most probably him) was spotted there three times between 6:15 and 6:50, although too far away to see rings. But just when the observers moved to a better viewpoint, he of course disappeared! Finally at 8:15 Arthur (this time his ring was read) appeared with a big fish, which he ate before preening until well after the “official” end of the Osprey morning at 10 am.

In the Grande Cariçaie where Olympe (F28) has his territory, an Osprey was first seen at 5:38, flying with a small fish in his talons over a large area and showing off to several teams of observers before disappearing inland at 06:08. Then around 07:30 one (presumably the same bird) was spotted again, first perching and then catching a huge fish. Which he then took a long time to eat and digest, before preening until well after 11:30, when the last tenacious observer packed his bags to go home. Although the blue ring on his right leg could not be read, it was almost certainly Olympe.

Racine (F29) was spotted at Bellechasse from 06:00-06:43, preening but with no fish, possibly having already eaten his breakfast somewhere else. He was then not seen again until 10:02 – maybe he had remained hidden in a tree under the pouring rain? In any case he didn’t show up at the Fanel Nature Reserve (one of his favorite fishing sites), nor at the Lake of Morat or on the Aare River by Niederried where he is also known to fish at times.

Great thanks go to an amazingly dedicated team (see some of them that shared sodden souvenirs of the morning above). We may have other surprises (and almost certainly better weather) for the next Osprey Morning scheduled for Sunday June 23. If you are ready to get up before dawn, and help (until 10am) clarify known Osprey territories and maybe even discover new ones, please do not hesitate to contact us here!