PIERA BERETTA

Majestic ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) used to fish in Swiss lakes and rivers. However, persecution as vermin in the Middle Ages and, later, Victorian collectors of taxidermy and eggs paying a lot of money for specimen led to them becoming extinct in most parts of Europe, including Switzerland where the last breeding pair was recorded in the 1910s.

For the past few years the Reintroduction of the Osprey Project has been working on bringing these beautiful birds back to Switzerland: http://www.balbuzards.ch/en/

I hope this project will succeed. It is such a beautiful experience to hear the unexpectedly sweet call of these raptors before they descend to catch a fish. I managed to capture this one a few years ago in Scotland. Maybe some of the chicks released in Switzerland are its descendants?