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100th osprey chick takes first flight in Kielder Forest

Chick with wings stretched out.Image source, Forestry England
Image caption,

Fourlaws spreading her wings ready to fly

An osprey named Fourlaws has become the 100th chick to have flown the nest in Kielder Forest, in Northumberland.

It is part of an ongoing project to boost the number of the birds in the area.

The nest has a camera so the birds' progress can be monitored and the young bird was seen testing her wings before getting the courage up to fly off over the forest for the first time.

Conservationists are celebrating the successful reintroduction of the birds into the area, which started in 2009.

Tom Dearnley, ecologist with Forestry England, said: "To have 100 chicks successfully fledge in just 13 years and by a bird that had been absent for so long is amazing."

He added: "The significance of this size of population is that locally born birds are now being seen at other locations across the UK, as well as returning to Northumberland to raise their own families. It just shows what can be done with well-managed habitats, foresight and collaborative working."

Ospreys are large birds of prey which use their sharp talons to catch fish.

Ospreys became extinct as a breeding bird in England in 1847 and in Scotland in 1916.

They migrate to hotter countries in sub-Saharan Africa or western Mediterranean for the winter.

The chicks will now have to learn to hunt by themselves so they can eat enough to put on weight before their migration to warmer countries for the winter.