Tweed Valley Osprey Project

The Tweed Valley Osprey Project was set up in 1998 to help to establish a breeding population of ospreys in the Scottish Borders. When the project started there were no known nests in the area. Now, 25 years later, we have around 18 active nests and over 350 chicks have been raised across the Tweed Valley.  

Watch our live nest camera

The Tweed Valley Osprey Project hopes to improve knowledge, understanding and appreciation of ospreys. During the nesting season, which runs from April to September, you can visit our Wildlife Hub at Glentress Forest.

Here you’ll find the best places to catch a sighting, and be able to see these magnificent birds up close via the live camera feed. You may also meet our avid project volunteers who are always glad to share interesting facts and fascinating stories about these impressive raptors.

Although breeding ospreys returned to Scotland in 1954, it wasn’t for another 40 years that the first birds were seen summering in the Scottish Borders. Even then, it took a helping hand from our rangers, along with the local Police Wildlife Liaison Officer and the RSPB to encourage our first pair to settle and breed here.

In the late 90s, several artificial nest platforms were erected in safe locations within the Tweed Valley Forest Park in the hope the ospreys returning would find the area an attractive place to breed. Osprey conservation has always been a secretive business, yet the Tweed Valley Osprey Project wanted to allow people to share in their success story without compromising the safety of the birds from human disturbance.

The solution was to place a camera at the nest and provide live footage of the birds as they raised their family. Cameras were set up on an artificial nesting platform and the first images of the nest were streamed in April 2004.

In 2010, Friends of Kailzie Wildlife was formed to support the project. Live cameras showed images to the two osprey watch centres at Kailzie Gardens and Glentress Forest.

Kailzie Wildlife has since closed, and we now concentrate our efforts for the project through our Wildlife Hub with Tweed Valley Osprey Project Volunteers at Glentress. We are delighted to be able to continue this work, which would not have been possible without the partnerships and dedicated work from ourselves, Kailzie Gardens, RSPB, and the Tweed Forum.