Returning ospreys avoid last season's love drama

A pair of ospreys appear to have avoided last year's love triangle drama after both returned to their nest.

Female CJ7 was captured on a webcam landing first in the walled garden near Wareham, Dorset, on Wednesday at about 18:30 GMT - male 022 arrived on Thursday at 06:40.

It was a different story 12 months ago when CJ7 returned to find 022 had spent a few days in the nest with a new female.

CJ7 and 022 - the first ospreys to breed on England's south coast in 180 years - have nested at Careys Secret Garden since 2022. They hatched four chicks in 2024 and another four in 2025.

The charity leading the breeding project said the pair's arrival was "brilliant news" and hopes a second pair who nested for the first time in 2025 will also return.

Last year, 022 was first to return to Poole Harbour, but before CJ7 arrived, female 1H1 - who normally calls Rutland home in the spring and summer months - also settled at the nest.

1H1 spent some time with 022 before CJ7 quickly saw off the intruding female when she arrived back from her migration to west Africa.

After the brief romantic entanglement, female 1H1 settled down with male 374 and they became the second pair of breeding ospreys in southern England since 1847.

They hatched two chicks last year in early June.

The charity has set up 10 nest platforms in Poole Harbour hoping a third breeding pair will arrive this year.

Many of the south of England ospreys are ringed but do not carry trackers. They return from their annual migration, usually to western Africa, through late March.

A reintroduction programme began in Poole Harbour in 2017 with the long-term aim of establishing a breeding population.

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