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Osprey's in Scottish Borders (1 Viewer)

I like to photograph birds as well as watch them, maybe more so, and I've got a hard-drive full of birds, many of which are raptors, including ospreys. I head off to southern Spain to see the raptor migration every autumn, so I'm not averse to spending money, and you can never have too many good photos.

I'd be up for spending a bit of money to photograph some ospreys near to home, especially if the money was going to help a local business that would otherwise be making zilch on the presence of these birds.

But when I see prices like those quoted, I'd be wanting to take the bloody osprey home with me at the end of the shift, never mind a card-full of shots in less than natural surroundings.
 
As an idea, why not check out what they do at Gigrin farm?

But they are Kites, lovely birds but there are thousands of them all over England and Wales. In Oxfordshire there must be more Kites than Buzzards.

If you want to see an Osprey close up (50yds) , where can you go?
 
I like to photograph birds as well as watch them, maybe more so, and I've got a hard-drive full of birds, many of which are raptors, including ospreys. I head off to southern Spain to see the raptor migration every autumn, so I'm not averse to spending money, and you can never have too many good photos.

I'd be up for spending a bit of money to photograph some ospreys near to home, especially if the money was going to help a local business that would otherwise be making zilch on the presence of these birds.

But when I see prices like those quoted, I'd be wanting to take the bloody osprey home with me at the end of the shift, never mind a card-full of shots in less than natural surroundings.

This is the feedback I need, I don't want to invest a pile of money in Insurance, toilet facilities, signage ,carpark etc to find people aren't prepared to pay what we would need. Thanks
 
This is the feedback I need, I don't want to invest a pile of money in Insurance, toilet facilities, signage ,carpark etc to find people aren't prepared to pay what we would need. Thanks

Good luck with your potential venture. We need projects like this to put more of a financial value on our wildlife because some people look at nothing else, as could be seen during the recent driven grouse shooting debate. One thing to remember when you're doing a feasibility study, you'll not have the birds year round so will have to budget on a 6 month window for income unless you can diversify out of that season.
 
Good luck with your potential venture. We need projects like this to put more of a financial value on our wildlife because some people look at nothing else, as could be seen during the recent driven grouse shooting debate. One thing to remember when you're doing a feasibility study, you'll not have the birds year round so will have to budget on a 6 month window for income unless you can diversify out of that season.

Well the fish farm is the main income source, this is to try and help make the most of what we have. Thanks for the input.
 
Well the fish farm is the main income source, this is to try and help make the most of what we have. Thanks for the input.

... I don't want to invest a pile of money in Insurance, toilet facilities, signage ,carpark etc to find people aren't prepared to pay what we would need. Thanks

Is the sale of fish commercial (wholesale to supermarket suppliers, or similar), or to visiting paying anglers ('catch your own')? If you already have the latter, I'd guess you shouldn't need any additional insurance, toilets, etc., for Osprey photographers over what you already have for visiting anglers.
 
Is the sale of fish commercial (wholesale to supermarket suppliers, or similar), or to visiting paying anglers ('catch your own')? If you already have the latter, I'd guess you shouldn't need any additional insurance, toilets, etc., for Osprey photographers over what you already have for visiting anglers.

No public at all, it's a restocking farm, fish are grown extensively in large ponds and we sell to trout fisheries(where people pay to fish). We have public liability insurance but it's a basic cover, i'm currently looking into what can be done there.
I've got some drone footage which gives you a great view of the farm, just need to get on and create a website with online booking.
I'll give it a go and see how things pan out.
 
No public at all, it's a restocking farm, fish are grown extensively in large ponds and we sell to trout fisheries(where people pay to fish). We have public liability insurance but it's a basic cover, i'm currently looking into what can be done there.
I've got some drone footage which gives you a great view of the farm, just need to get on and create a website with online booking.
I'll give it a go and see how things pan out.

It might be worth keeping your prices down to start with to get a few people in and talking about you.
 
Bear in mind that photographers just need to be hidden from the birds and have somewhere to sit. Definitely no fixed glass in the viewing slots - hinged glass flaps are OK. It doesn't need to be five star accommodation with electricity , heating etc. Keep it cheap. It's the birds that would pull them in, not whether or not they could boil a kettle for coffee. (Some might like a kettle, I wouldn't).
 
That's just what I was thinking, you probably bring your own chairs etc but i'll try to make it nice but keeping the prices down to a minimum.
I am making a small area available right next to the bottom pond where the Ospreys mostly fish, it means you will be very close if they come in for a fish..that's a big if and it will depend on everyone who's there (and I don't want more than say 6 at a time) keeping quiet and well covered from the air.
Once they have their talons in a fish they don't like giving it up..in fact I don't think they have much choice in that.
I think some of you bird lovers, particularly of raptors like me, will find it amazing just to watch them so closely flying around, and if you haven't heard the call they make..well it's like a budgie on steroids and it echoes around the hills sometimes. Then there is the mating displays..i think if you're into birds you will be very pleased to have made the trip.
If anyone wants to book a place you can get me (Steve) on 07917795047. I'll put a link to the website once it's done if that's allowed on this site, that should have a booking facility.
The birds usually appear late April and they are feeding a lot after the long journey.
 
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Thanks for pointing that out, I've added a note about times now.
The early session is 5.00am to 12pm. We can offer an area to pitch a tent but I am talking with the land owner around the farm to see if we can use some field for this. It's a very pretty spot just to camp.
It would be great if people could let me know what they need in terms of facilities. I am assuming a chair, tea/coffee/snacks, toilet, shelter..is there anything else (within reason)?
Do you normally take your own shelter to sit in? Or would you prefer to sit in a group so you can chat.? We are looking into getting a link with a local nest site so you can watch them feed the young with the fish you have just watched them catch..that's all down to Broadband I think.
There is no WiFi down the farm, Vodaphone does get a signal although it's not great and no 3G.
 
We will be in the highlands the first 2 weeks of April this year, I believe the ospreys were back at Garten by then last year ? do they start feeding at your location in April ?
 
Hi Troutman,
I hope you are successful in your new venture, I own aviemoreospreys.co.uk and have guided Ospreys for more years than I can remember, I was 22 years at Rothiemurchus estate before starting up my own venture, if I can be of help please just let me know,

If you are planning on fully guided photography, I use a two way radio and am never in the hide but outside spotting before the Ospreys hit the water, it makes all the difference and how I managed to get two wildlife photographers major wildlife photography awards in 2016, feature in lots of publications and 100's of thousands of hits on flickr ect.
If I can be of any help, just shout, its a short season but great fun.
Cheers Gordon.
 
Thanks Gordon. I'll do that but so far not much interest so we'll see what happens. I don't want to invest a load of money into something that doesn't get used. I don't know the best place to advertise, I have been on some photography sites but not much really.
Like you we've had Ospreys for well over 20 years but just kind of enjoyed them ourselves but times are hard and we need to find some more income, no subsidies in trout farming unlike our sheep farming neighbours with their huge cash windfalls every year..don't get me started.
 
Hi Troutman,
I know how tough it is, I worked on a Trout farm fishery for 22 years, i have just finished a hide that took most of the winter to build, well you can imagine the weather we get here, if you plan a photography hide remember a couple of things, light and its direction on the water during your sessions, important when you build a hide, another aspect to look at is movement in the hide, Ospreys when they dive don't like a lot of camera lens movement especially if the hide is directly the way they leave the water and come into the fish, if you do the photography unguided you must make sure that photographers stick by the rules, you can, and it has happened at my old place of work easily put the Ossies off by having the hide just too close and too much lens movement, better to set the hide at the correct angle and a little further back, most wildlife photographers can get brilliant images with new modern lenses further back than you think.
Cheers Gordon.
 
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