Northumberland rangers hope for ospreys return

One of six osprey chicks born in Kielder

Tree-climbing rangers at Kielder are to build a new platform to help their resident ospreys find love.

Kielder's osprey couple were the first to nest in Northumberland for 200 years and produced six chicks over two years.

The pair used their own platform to nest and now the first of three new artificial osprey platforms is to be erected by the Forestry Commission.

It is hoping the new nests will entice the osprey pair back to Kielder and encourage more birds to the area.

Last year the osprey couple had an unwelcome visit when a lone male turned up and tried to seduce the female on her nest.

The Kielder Partnership now wants to help the new male meet a female and offer her a ready made nest.

If successful, it would make the 62,000 hectare (155,000 acre) wilderness the only location in England to have two osprey nests with birds which have recolonised naturally.

Ospreys return

Ospreys erect their nests or eyries, high in tree tops and one of the new man-made versions will be based on top of a Sitka spruce.

Three new nests will be made in Kielder

Each wooden nest is securely fastened to branches by wildlife rangers and spread with vegetation such as bracken and moss.

Currently there are two nest sites in the forest, one of which is occupied.

Elisabeth Rowark, Kielder Partnership Director, said: "We won't have long to wait to see if it does the trick as ospreys begin to arrive back from southern climes from the end of March.

"Nature fans across Northumberland are being urged to keep their eyes peeled for the Kielder birds and report sightings of a true super star of the animal kingdom."

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

However, records going back more than 200 years fail to mention any ospreys breeding in the county.

2001 saw the first successful osprey nests in 160 years by recolonising birds in the Lake District and reintroducing ones at Rutland Water in the East Midlands.