From: LROS Bird News <birdnews@lros.org.uk>
Date: 6 October 2016 at 09:44:27 BST
To: “P & A Walker” <walkerbelton@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Catch of the day in Belton! ‹ Belton In Rutland | Belton-in-Rutland | Village Website

If it definitely had claw marks on it, it can only have been an Osprey – no other British bird catches or carries fish with its feet.

It is getting late for Ospreys, but certainly not ‘too late’. From the 2014 Bird Report (the most recent available) the average last date in Leics & Rutland between 2009 & 2014 was 13th October, and the latest ever was 9th November (in 2013).

The only other bird that would catch a fish that size would be a Cormorant, but they catch them with their bills and swallow them whole, so it’s very unlikely a trout would escape from a flying Cormorant.

Regards,
Andy Mackay,
LROS