Breeding programme celebrates 200th chick since returning ospreys to England
Osprey in the Dyfi Estuary (credit Andy Rouse 2020 Vision)
A project set up in 1996 to reintroduce ospreys to England has seen its 200th chick fledge.
The breeding programme at Rutland Water was started by the Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust more than a century-and-a-half after ospreys had become extinct in England and Wales, and has led to the spread of breeding pairs in both countries.
The Trust said the 200th chick, a female, fledged in July and was ringed with the number 360 to identify her.
The newest arrival and other ospreys hatched this year are likely to remain in Rutland until early September, before they begin a 3,000-mile migration journey south, to the west coast of Africa.