Osprey Hide 2023

After the osprey translocation project started at Rutland Water the ospreys soon discovered the local trout farms. These provided an easy opportunity for the osprey to catch trout. River Gwash Trout Farm netted over their ponds since they soon were losing thousands of fish to the ospreys.

Below is a post by Lawrence Ball earlier in the year about the impact the hide has had on their business.

The hide offers an amazing opportunity to capture photographs and video of ospreys hunting. I visited the hide 4 times this year and below I present some of my photos.
https://www.rivergwashtroutfarm.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR2FRd0ZHFlUaCYOnnwzh2NYzoa570ALLGO_eEb7A7O0ahYSB0HGft7-oTQ

“With Jamie and Ian away on holidays enjoying well earned breaks and the rest of our spotting team unable to cover I had to step in and spot for the session on Saturday morning.

Actually it’s a few seasons since I have done this, like lots of business owners you get bogged down in the day to day running but I have always been a believer in the adage never ask a member of staff to do anything you would’nt do yourself and it gave me the opportunity to appreciate just how much hard work, dedication and enthusiasm our team of spotters put into each and every session, they really do make it the experience it is for visiting photographers.

Of course the star of the show is and always will be the Ospreys and sat watching these incredible birds circle and swoop over the hide, perch in various trees and eventually dive all the while relaying this information to the hide via walkie talkie I couldn’t help think what a journey the last 10 years have been.

Since the reintroduction of the Ospreys to Rutland over 20 years ago birds have fished at our Fish Farm regularly throughout their time here and I was encouraged and advised by Tim Mackrill to set up a hide at our Hatchery site for photographers to experience this. I have to say that initially I was sceptical that anyone would want to come but oh how wrong I was! This is our 10th season and most of the AM and PM sessions we run have been fully booked this season and the images captured by visiting photographers are just incredible and the emails I receive regularly from customers expressing their delight and enjoyment after a visit to the hide really does make all the hard work by everyone worthwhile.

To say that the Ospreys and our photographic hide have saved our business is no understatement, like lots of businesses over the last 2 years unprecedented rises in the cost of electricity, fuel and in our case feed have made running a small fish farming business almost unviable but the additional revenue generated by the hide has not only kept us going but allowed reinvestment and a restructuring of our business model around the Photographic Hide. Using less electricity and feed than before means our business is now greener and more sustainable and the whole site is run with a view to the Ospreys return in late March and improving in any way possible the experience for visiting photographers.

To all our customers and everyone who has helped and encouraged us over the years, thank you.”