Nature notes: ospreys

Ospreys heading south are being reported in many places, and this weekend it is worth looking out for one of them over any estuary, large lake or reservoir. They are big fish-hawks, immediately recognisable since they are a gleaming white beneath. They have dark brown backs and a black line through the eye. They often sit in a dead tree on the lakeside. They fish by plunging into the water with their great talons outspread. They are in no hurry on their journey, and may stay around a stretch of water which has desirable fish for several days. Other noticeable migrants are common terns.They are like slim, dainty gulls, with a red beak and a forked tail, and small parties of them can be seen passing along broad rivers or the coast. The smaller birds mostly pass unnoticed except by dedicated watchers on hills and cliffs, who often see them streaming by. Yet one can sometimes just glance up in the early morning in a town and see a flock of skylarks or swallows going overhead. In fields near estuaries or the sea, one may find a flock of yellow wagtails running about picking up insects round the feet of grazing sheep or cows.