It was April 1998 and I had been volunteering with the Rutland Osprey Project for 2 years. Retirement was looming after 34 years of a career in engineering and the question was ‘ How would I occupy my time?’ As it turned out that was a silly question, as 22 years later I am still involved with Ospreys.
The turning point for me came in 2007 when I was appointed as one of the first Osprey Information Officers at Rutland Water Nature Reserve for the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. 03(97) Mr Rutland was now in his 7th season at Site B, and at long last it seemed we would have a breeding pair of ospreys in Manton Bay. The pairing was to be 08(97) male and 5N(04) female and they raised 2 chicks in 2007. Over the next 12 seasons my role was to raise the profile of Ospreys at Rutland Water.
Then in 2018, 147 chicks, 9 Information Officers and 7 trips to Africa later I decided to leave my role with project and assist Tim with the Osprey Leadership Foundation. To me this was the next natural step in our work with the Ospreys. Our aim, as you know is to help young people in West Africa and the UK develop their skills to become conservation leaders. To me this is the way forward as young people are our future.