program to reintroduce endangered ospreys in remote corners of England has seen its 100th chick in the air after more than two centuries.
The milestone was reached when a chick named Fourlaws gathered the courage to leave its nest and flew over Kielder Forest into Northumberland.
Watched by her timid sister, Fourlaws was captured on a camera above their nest as she made her maiden flight Wednesday morning and returned 35 minutes later.
She had been flapping her wings and leaping in the air for days, indicating that she was preparing for her first foray out of the nest.
She became the 100th Kielder osprey chick to fly since they were introduced in 2009, when the rare birds of prey were born in Northumberland for the first time in over 200 years.
Once seen in the UK, ospreys were persecuted and the species became extinct as a breeding bird in England in 1847 and in Scotland in 1916.
Their recent success has entranced conservationists as Kielder has become a key site for wildlife restoration and acts as a beachhead for ospreys to recolonize England.
Tom Dearnley, ecologist at Forestry England, said: “It’s amazing to see 100 chicks successfully fledge in just 13 years by a bird that had been absent for so long.
“This is the restoration of a population, a reservoir of animals that can spread out and give a huge boost to biodiversity.
“It is full compensation for the effort invested in building nesting platforms in the years before their arrival and the work of the entire team involved with ospreys at Kielder.
He added: “The significance of this population size is that locally born birds are now seen in other locations in the UK, also returning to Northumberland to start their own families. It just shows what can be done.” with well-managed habitats, foresight and cooperation.”
Learning to hunt for themselves will be the next stage.
The young ospreys need to build up body fat because within weeks they will embark on a perilous 5,000-mile migration south to sub-Saharan Africa.
In two years’ time, the young people will have to make their first return trip to the UK.