We took one last walk up to the Osprey arena before our afternoon flight back to the UK. Several Ospreys were sitting in the usual places and included a German female and a Scottish male, both new individuals. Just as we were about to leave we noticed a fisherwoman walking right past the unconcerned Ospreys and decided to join her. We walked out on to the mud and had incredible views of them as they sat digesting their breakfasts. As we slowly trudged closer, Paul noticed a foot embedded in the mud - an Ospreys!. It is impossible to say what the fate of this bird was but it shows that although we generally believe the migration journey is their biggest threat, Ospreys still face many dangers on their wintering grounds and there is no guarantee that even the most experienced adults will return north to their nests in the spring.
A fitting end to an amazing and thought provoking four weeks. We managed to read 22 colour ringed Ospreys including 13 German, seven Scottish, one French and one English although distant (later checked) photographs proved that we saw many more without realising.
