After the early arrivals of Arthur (F12) and Olympe (F28) in March, Racine (F29) was first confirmed back on April 5. All three males are holding territories in Switzerland, busily transporting nest material and searching the sky for a passing female. Racine (photo above) is regularly observed fishing in the Fanel Nature Reserve, where Olympe can also be seen at times. Following a well-established tradition, Arthur can easily be admired at Hagneck- always a pleasure for bird watchers and photographers alike.

It is not easy to identify one Osprey from another, especially during the migration period like the one we are in now. So to help with our monitoring, many thanks in advance if you could note the time when each observation is made, and whenever possible if the  bird is ringed or not.

While our males are still single, our females Mouche (PR4) in France, and Chronos (ex-PS9) in Germany, are both on eggs. In Moselle, Dominique Lorentz tells us that Mouche started incubating from at least April 7. From Baden-Württemberg, Daniel Schmidt-Rothmund sent us the first camera-trap photo of Chronos incubating on April 10. With Osprey incubation periods lasting around 36-42 days, if all goes well we can look forward to some good news from mid-May onwards.