BBC News | SCI/TECH | Rare osprey photo call

This is the first osprey chick to be born in England for 150 years.

It was hatched under controlled circumstances in early June as part of a project run by Anglian Water and the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust at Rutland Water in central England.

Two more osprey chicks were born in the wild at another conservation site in the Lake District less than a week later.

These first pictures of the Rutland Water chick were taken as it was weighed and ringed.

Bird relocation

Ospreys disappeared from England and Scotland in the 19th Century, but were successfully reintroduced to Scotland in the 1950s.

Osprey chick, Martin H Smith/PA
It is not clear whether the chick is male or female [photo: Martin H Smith/PA]
Over 150 pairs are now breeding successfully there. The Rutland Water project has involved birds being relocated from Scotland.

It is not yet clear whether the chick is male or female, though its size suggests that it is a female.

It is likely to make its first flight in August and then spend up to a month in the area before making a long and dangerous first migration to western Africa.


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