The first of four juvenile ospreys, hatched as part of a reintroduction program in Dorset, has taken flight. The osprey, identified as female 6T6, fledged on Tuesday at 4:00 PM BST.
This bird is one of four chicks hatched from eggs laid by adult ospreys CJ7 and 022 at a nest site near Wareham. These birds represent the first to establish residence in the area as a result of the project led by the charity Birds of Poole Harbour. The chicks were ringed on July 1, and all four were presumed to be female. Conservationists had to scale a 30-meter (100-foot) tree to reach the nest to weigh and measure the chicks.
According to Paul Morton, founder of Birds of Poole Harbour, ospreys generally return to the nest for feeding three to four times a day for about a month after their first flight. The juveniles typically depart between August and September, migrating to West Africa where they will stay for several years before returning to Dorset to breed. IMAGE2 and IMAGE3 show the osprey parents feeding the chicks, and IMAGE4 depicts a juvenile osprey preparing for flight.