Osprey CJ7 Lays Fourth Egg
An osprey involved in a love triangle last year has laid a fourth egg this season. Female CJ7 was observed with her clutch of four eggs for the third consecutive year on her nest near Wareham, Dorset shortly before 07:00 GMT.
The osprey returned to the nest located in a walled garden on 25 March, with male 022 arriving the following day. The pair quickly settled in together. This contrasts with the previous year when CJ7 arrived to find that 022 had shared the nest with another female.
Breeding History and Significance
The pair have nested at Careys Secret Garden since 2022. They successfully hatched four chicks in 2024 and another four in 2025. These ospreys are the first to breed on England's south coast in 180 years.
Birds of Poole Harbour, a charity leading the osprey breeding project in the area, commented on the rarity and importance of this event.
"Four eggs for a third year in a row was quite a rare occurrence in ospreys, but great news for the recovering population here on the south coast."
To date, the pair have bred successfully at the nest site for three consecutive years, raising three young in 2023, four in 2024, and a further four in 2025. The eggs laid this year are expected to begin hatching towards the end of May.
Reintroduction Programme and Migration
The reintroduction programme was initiated in 2017 by Birds of Poole Harbour in partnership with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. The goal is to establish a sustainable breeding population of ospreys on the south coast.
Each year, up to 14 osprey chicks are relocated from Scotland and released in the Poole Harbour area. These juveniles typically depart between August and September, migrating to West Africa where they spend several years before returning to Dorset to breed.
