Ospreys hatch on an RSPB nature reserve

Amidst all the tragic scenes we’ve seen on the news about the terrible wildfires sweeping many parts of the world, it is good to hear some great news.

The RSPB are celebrating:  ospreys have bred at one of their nature reserves for the first time!  The parents hatched three chicks at Campfield Marsh.  It’s a wetland on the shores of the Solway Firth, Cumbria, and it has an osprey platform specially to attract the birds. The RSPB think that the parents of the three chicks are first-timers.  The exciting thing is that this is the first time ospreys have bred successfully on an RSPB reserve since the Victorian era.

Local children have named the chicks Ash, Bownes Bobbi and Beau.  They will probably stay local while they discover how to fish and fend for themselves, and then they will head back to Africa from September.   This should take them about 4 to 6 weeks.

Ospreys tuck into large fish, and normally you would see them over bodies of water such as lakes or estuaries.   Persecuted in the early 20th century, they returned to Scotland in the 1950s and now, they are also in other parts of the UK.  The RSPB says there are about 316 breeding pairs across the UK. 

You can read all about it here and discover more about ospreys (and hear their call) here.

Great news, ospreys and the RSPB.  Keep it up, ospreys! 

Thanks to Matthew Schwartz on Unsplash for the amazing photo at the top of this blog .