A Local Charity with a Big Impact!
Protecting our local birds
Birds of Poole Harbour (BoPH) is a local charity dedicated to monitoring and protecting our local birds, while striving to engage and enthuse communities with our beautiful landscape and the wildlife that makes its home here. The charity established back in 2013, celebrating its 10-year milestone last year, and in this time it has grown substantially in its reach, whilst continuing to dedicate itself to this special area with a small but effective team of staff and volunteers.
We work with the many brilliant conservation organisations and landowners operating around the harbour area, from RSPB, National Trust and Dorset Wildlife Trust to name a few, as well as the local councils, to achieve as much as we can. In recent years, South Dorset has become a national hotspot for conservation and ecotourism, and we’re delighted to be playing a part in making this area thrive for both wildlife and people.
Returning Ospreys to Dorset’s Skies
As a charity we’ve become best known for our involvement in delivering the Poole Harbour Osprey Translocation Project in partnership with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. This project began back in 2017, with the aim of restoring the majestic Osprey as a breeding bird to the South Coast. Nearly 200 years had passed since the species last nested in the area due to human persecution, but now they have started to return as a result of the project, with the first successful breeding in 2022.
This year has been a remarkable success for the project, with the Osprey pair, identifiable by coded leg rings as CJ7 and 022, rearing an impressive 4 chicks, all of which fledged in July.
Thousands of people, both local and international, have been watching our webcams on the nest throughout the season, and it’s also been a privilege to show hundreds of people the nest in person again this year at Careys Secret Garden near Wareham through our Osprey Tours.
We hope that March 2025 holds the return of CJ7 and 022 for another successful season.
Inspiring New Generations
Although the Ospreys leave the UK in the autumn, that doesn’t mean that the winter is a quiet time for the charity, with events and projects running throughout the year. From September to March, we deliver one of our favourite outreach projects – our School Bird Boats. This project sees BoPH engage with over 1000 local primary school children every year, offering free harbour boat trips to registered schools in our area.
This project has been generously sponsored by Poole-based cosmetics company Lush for the last three years, meaning that we can offer this exciting opportunity to experience and learn about the wildlife that the pupil’s have right on their doorsteps.
Events for Everyone
The charity is now predominantly funded through our busy events schedule, taking members of the public out to enjoy and learn about our local birdlife, from our year-round cruises, to ID courses and guided walks. Everyone is welcome at our events, whether you’re an avid birder or just enjoy being outdoors, and we host a range of free events throughout the year if you’re keen to try it out for the first time. During September and October, we will see the return of our Autumn Safari Cruises, and we’re often adding new events and dates to our website, so please head to www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk for more information!
Article first published in Love It Local Magazine Autumn 2024. Read the magazine online now.
