TRAVEL GETAWAY
“HAVE A LOOK at this,” the bird expert said, beckoning me with commendable understatement. “Not many people ever see it live, so you're extremely lucky.”
So I was – borrowing his high-powered binoculars, I could see a splendid adult male osprey sitting on a tree branch, with a huge trout thrashing about in his talons.
“He's waiting for it to die,” continued the expert, while I watched nature take its course. It was such a mesmerising sight that I found it hard to step back and let someone else view a scene that could have been vintage David Attenborough footage.
But that wasn't the only thing I learned about ospreys during our visit to Rutland Water Nature Reserve, just a 10-minute stroll from our campsite, The Paddock.
The magnificent species was introduced there from 1996 onwards, with chicks from Scotland, and since 2001, more than 200 young ospreys have fledged. Adults tend to pair for life, and
