OSPREY.or lack of it

At 1100 hours (Friday 23 October) I received a call from Lee and Joan informing me that they had just seen the Chess Valley OSPREY carrying what appeared to be a large Rainbow Trout flying overhead and east as it flapped low over the M25 in Chorleywood, whilst the two of them were waiting for their transport to South Shields and the Eastern Crowned Warbler. As a result on hearing this I set off for yet another attempt to see it.

Within 15 or 20 minutes I was at Latimer Bridge surveying the countryside but there was no sign. I headed down the road to Mill Farm at Chenies where I hoped to have better luck. At Mill Farm 2 LITTLE EGRETS were perched up in the trees looking east and a pair of COMMON STONECHATS was again showing in the scrubby grass around the river edges but no sign of the Osprey. I decided to have a scout around and drove along the country lanes towards Sarratt Bottom meeting Paul Keene who had seen it earlier from Mill Farm. Paul kindly gave me a few good locations to try but unfortunately there was no sign anywhere so I headed back to Mill Farm to wait and see if it flew down the valley. I was soon joined by a very nice gentleman from Chorleywood and we watched the valley till 4pm ish, during that time one of the Stonechats showed again in the scrub near the river, a Little Owl could be heard calling but nothing much more of note. At 3.50pm a lone COMMON RAVEN could be heard calling and then appeared overhead before it headed off Northwards which was a bonus after again dipping the Osprey. I had hoped it would be 3rd time lucky but perhaps it will be 4th time lucky, that's birding for you (Ashley Stow)