Following inspections of more than 200 osprey nesting sites across Latvia by environmental experts from A/s "Latvijas valsts meži" (LVM), the 15th osprey monitoring season has concluded. The data obtained indicates that breeding success for the Latvian osprey population has been good this year. "Apollo.lv" contacted nature expert Aigars Kalvāns to find out more.

This year, a record number of occupied osprey nests was identified – 161, the highest in the history of the monitoring programme. Until now, the highest number of occupied nests was recorded in 2019, when the total was 158.

In 2021, the number of successful nests was also high at 94, while a total of 220 osprey chicks fledged, which is similar to last year, when 221 chicks left the nests. Most frequently, there were three chicks in a single nest.

Nature expert Aigars Kalvāns explained that this year, for the first time in Latvia, an osprey nest was discovered on a high-voltage power line pylon. "Unfortunately, nesting in this particular nest was unsuccessful – there were eggs, but no chicks were raised. The current number of breeding pairs in Latvia is estimated at approximately 220. This estimate is twice as high as that observed in the 1980s. Over about 40 years, the osprey population has grown more than fourfold," said A. Kalvāns.