Angler hailed for rescuing young osprey

AN ANGLER has been praised for rescuing a bird of prey which was caught in his fishing line.

Alistair Scott, from Kennoway in Fife, was camping with his family last month on the banks of Loch Insh, near Kincraig in Strathspey, and had left his line in the water overnight.

He awoke to find an osprey, believed to be part of a breeding pair at Insh Marshes nature reserve, tangled up at the end of the line among the reeds.

Mr Scott said: "I got up at about 6am and noticed that my line had run out. It wasn't until I tried reeling it in that I saw there was a large bird caught in among the reeds. It must have been in the water for some time. Its wings were entangled and it was physically shaking with the cold.

After calling RSPB Scotland and the Scottish SPCA for help, we were told a Scottish SPCA inspector was en route but would take a couple of hours to arrive.

"As the bird was clearly very cold, we cut the line and untangled it, wrapped it up in a woolly jacket, placed it a safe distance in front of a small camping stove in the porch of our tent and left it there to warm up."

Karen Sutcliffe, site manager at RSPB Insh Marshes, said leaving the osprey to recover in a warm, dark place was "exactly the right thing to do".

Mr Scott added: "Later when I checked, the osprey was actually standing in the tent flexing its wings in front of the stove, almost as if it was drying itself. A short time later it emerged from the tent and flew off as if nothing had happened."

RSPB Scotland is now trying to trace the male bird. Staff believe it may be one half of the reserve's breeding osprey pair.

Ms Sutcliffe said: "If this is indeed the male from our breeding pair this rescue came at a critical time as young fledglings need plenty of food from both parents to ensure they are strong enough to make their migratory journey to West Africa.

"We've heard of past occasions where birds that live near or on the water have become caught in lines or nets, we'd therefore ask anglers to stay vigilant and if possible not leave their lines unattended unless fitted with a bait alarm or similar device."

Ospreys were absent from Scotland for almost 100 years because of persecution by egg collectors. They are said to have returned of their own accord in 1954 and it is believed there are now about 150 breeding pairs in Scotland.

Earlier this year, Lady, probably the oldest osprey in the world, returned to her eyrie in the Highlands.

When she left for West Africa at the end of last summer, no-one expected her to return. At 26 she's lived three times longer than most female ospreys. In her life she's hatched 48 chicks.