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The books are listed in order of publication date with the most recent at the top.

The Raptor Page

Osprey

Osprey
Pandion haliaetus

The Osprey is the only species in the Pandionidae family.

Inside an Osprey's Nest: A Photographic Journey Through Nesting Season

Teena Ruark Gorrow, Craig A Koppie

2016

"Take a photographic journey through nesting season with a newly mated osprey pair. In this true raptor adventure, the ospreys prepare a nest and mate, but their eggs do not hatch. Through an unlikely twist of events, the unviable eggs are swapped by biologists with hatchlings from an ill-fated nest. Witness the heartwarming account as the adults become foster parents and care for the young, including a nest interloper. Watch as the helpless chicks grow into fledglings and experience first flight. Resources include the osprey's current plight, tips for helping injured ospreys, and a glossary of terms. Like the award-winning Inside a Bald Eagle’s Nest, this second collaboration by the authors is a timeless treasure to be enjoyed by all ages. With comprehensive information and 380 photographs in the ospreys’ natural habitat, it is perfect for raptor enthusiasts, webcam viewers, nature and wildlife lovers, conservationists, teachers, children, and photographers."

Ospreys in Wales: The First Ten Years

Emyr Evans

Foreword: Iolo Williams

2014

"For hundreds of years during the last millennium, Wales had been devoid of breeding ospreys. Not since the last ice age some 11 000 years ago, had such a vast amount of time passed without this enigmatic bird of prey nesting and breeding in the Principality. Then, in 2004, the first osprey chick in centuries fledged a nest in Mid Wales and since then, thankfully, ospreys have successfully bred in Wales every year for the following decade. The story of the osprey's revival as a breeding species is one of the greatest conservation success stories of recent times."

The Rutland Water Ospreys

Tim Mackrill with Tim Appleton and Helen McIntyre

A & C Black

2013

"Anglian Water's project to reintroduce the osprey to England has been an outstanding success, but is also a very personal project for the volunteers who have been involved in the ospreys' journey from Scotland to Africa via Rutland. The Rutland Water Ospreys, published in close collaboration with Anglian Water and the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, is a celebration of their project and a chance for osprey fans everywhere to discover the many amazing stories behind the Rutland osprey team's efforts over the last two decades to re-establish these magnificent birds in England."

A Life Of Ospreys

Roy Dennis

2008

"Ospreys are one of our best known and best loved birds and the name Roy Dennis is not only synonymous with the successful return of the osprey to Scotland, but is also renowned for his international work with a variety of species. From the time he saw his first osprey, back in 1960, Roy has worked to help this magnificent raptor establish itself once more in a country where it had been hounded and persecuted to near-extinction over hundreds of years. This book tells the story not only of the osprey, but of the osprey watcher, following the bird's fortunes in Scotland, seeing its numbers rise from that single pair in the 1950s to close to 200 pairs today. From a look at its history in Scotland and the rest of the UK including the bad old days of egg thieves and the shooting of birds as specimens, it moves to the present day, with satellite radios allowing us to follow the every move of the osprey on its migration to Africa and back.Roy has pioneered the building of artificial nests for ospreys, which had been instrumental in increasing their numbers and range, as well as starting the first European trans-location taking chicks from their nests in the Highlands and releasing them at Rutland Water Nature Reserve in the Midlands. The book also covers the ecology of the osprey with many personal anecdotes and insights. Diary entries give a more immediate feel to the chapters, and the worldwide distribution of ospreys is enlivened by that sense of immediacy. Roy's writings, at a time when no one knew whether or not his lifetime's work would succeed, add a sense of history to this personal tale."

Lady of the Loch: The Incredible Story of Britain's Oldest Osprey

Helen Armitage

2008

"The osprey, once extinct in Britain, is back: its resurgence a moving tale of triumph over adversity. One special bird, Lady, Britain's oldest breeding osprey, has become an especially powerful symbol of hope. For twenty years she has migrated from Africa to the same Scottish loch and nest. In spring 2010, she produced eggs for a record-breaking twentieth time. The return of this rare fish-eating raptor over the past half century is one the great environmental success stories of our age; Lady's story is a dramatic portrayal of the spirit of a bird that has found a new place in our hearts."

Soaring with Fidel: An Osprey Odyssey from Cape Cod to Cuba and Beyond

David Gessner

2008

"One September, after writing about ospreys on Cape Cod for years, David Gessner impulsively decided to follow the birds on their annual migration. Each fall these graceful raptors, with wingspans of up to six feet, cruise over the eastern United States, then soar over Cuba and winter in South America, returning north with the spring. In 2004, Gessner went along for the ride, traveling illegally into the mountains of Cuba and deep into Venezuela as he competed with the crew of a BBC documentary to be the first to follow the full migration, trailing the birds by car, boat, foot, and plane. He called his favorite osprey Fidel. Soaring with Fidel is about the exhilaration of migration, but it is also a deeper meditation on the nature of human happiness. In describing the thrill of travel, the antics of these swashbuckling birds, and the cast of characters he meets (and drinks with) along the way - including scientists, students, tour guides, and an online group of birders - Gessner gives us a profound lesson in the importance of following what you love."

Return of the Osprey: A Season of Flight and Wonder

David Gessner

2002

"For six luminous months - an entire nesting season-David Gessner immersed himself in the lives of the magnificent osprey's that had returned to his seagirt corner of Cape Cod. In this marvellous book-part memoir, part paean to a once-endangered species, part natural history of the Cape-Gessner recounts the many discoveries he made in the course of that magical season."

Return of the Osprey: A Season of Flight and Wonder

David Gessner

2001

"In Return of the Osprey, Gessner sets himself on a simple quest: to watch these great birds and learn about their astonishing comeback to the Atlantic coast after a twenty-year absence. In the process, he takes us on a journey into the wild and the tame, the beautiful and the fragile. Over the course of a full nesting season, Gessner immerses himself in the lives of these majestic birds. He observes their remarkable adaptability, their astonishing fish-catching skills, their housekeeping habits, and, when the chicks are born, both their savage and gentle ways of nurturing. For Gessner, spotting an osprey dive for fish at forty miles an hour becomes a lesson in patience and focus, watching the birds build their nests illustrates the vital task of making a home, and following the chicks' attempts to fly show him the value of letting go. He discovers the rewards of slowing down and the discipline of waiting and watching. And he witnesses an extraordinary event: the survival of ten young ospreys, the most his Cape Cod neighborhood has seen in more than half a century. Return of the Osprey is a story of a remarkable recovery, a celebration of place, and a thoughtful meditation on finding one's way in the world."

Dancing With Ospreys

Polly Pullar

Crachan Press

2001

The story of lives of a pair of Osprey.

Osprey: The Fish Hawk

Stephen D Carpenteri

1997

A detailed study of the Osprey. Subjects covered include migration, nesting, feeding and other aspects of the biology and behaviour of the bird. Recent conservation projects are also discussed.

Ospreys

Roy Dennis

1991

Ospreys: A Natural And Unnatural History

Alan Poole

Cambridge university Press

1989

A study of the natural history and biology of the Osprey. Includes sections on the successful conservation projects in Scotland and New England.

The Birds Of Badenoch & Strathspey

Roy Dennis

1984

Includes a detailed section on the Osprey.

Biology and Management of Bald Eagles and Ospreys

Editor: D.M. Bird

1983

Proceedings of 1st International Symposium on Bald Eagles and Ospreys, Montreal, 28-29 October, 1981.

The Scottish Ospreys: From Extinction to Survival

Philip Brown

Heinemann

1979

A 190 page book which follows the story of the Osprey in Scotland from persecution in the 19th century to the return to breeding in the 20th century. Includes many black and white and colour photographs.

Ospreys and Speyside Wildlife

George Waterston and Roy Dennis

1973

A booklet about the Ospreys and other wildlife of Speyside.

Ospreys in Speyside

George Waterston

1969

A 42 page booklet about the natural history and conservation of Ospreys on Speyside.

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The Return Of The Osprey

Philip Brown and George Waterston

1962

The story of the return of the Osprey to Scotland.

Osprey

J.A. Harvie-Brown

Educational Series No. 6

Society for the Protection of Birds

1890's

A 4 page guide that provides a brief description and information on distribution, numbers, food, characteristics, protection, plus two pages of general remarks.