New footage of ospreys captured

4 May 2010

Hidden cameras have captured stunning new footage of a record-breaking pair of ospreys.

The male and female birds were reunited last month and are nesting in an eyrie on a specially built platform high in the trees of Kielder forest.

They became famous after raising three chicks which successfully fledged last summer.

They were the first osprey chicks born in the North East of England for at least 200 years.

The female is spending most of her time on the nest, with the male supplying fish plucked from Northumbrian Water's Kielder Reservoir and the two have been seen sat side-by-side watching as the world goes by.

Philip Spottiswood, Forestry Commission Chief Wildlife Ranger, said: "The cameras have been a godsend, allowing us to check the birds' progress without going anywhere near the nest.

"Last year we adopted a very careful approach so as not to disturb them and generally stayed well clear."

The three chicks raised last summer will spend the next few years in sub-Saharan Africa, where the birds migrate for the winter.

Assuming they survived their first migration south, they will return north to breed when they are about four years old.

Historically ospreys lived in Northumberland, hunting on the once extensive network of marshes.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100504/tuk-new-footage-of-ospreys-captured-6323e80.html