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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Graeme Green

Ospreys make triumphant return as breeding pairs spread across UK

Someone holding a young osprey
A young osprey after being ringed. The birds migrate 3,000 miles to Africa on their own only shortly after fledging. Photograph: Abi Mustard/Wildlife Trust

“I’m over the moon. We’ve waited a long time for this.” Beth Dunstan, environmental project manager at Belvoir Castle is celebrating the birth of the first osprey chicks in Leicestershire for two centuries this summer, one of a series of recent successes in bringing the osprey back across the UK.

The birds of prey were at one time extinct across the country, which makes the recent hatching of the two osprey chicks cause for celebration. “It’s such a rare thing,” said Dunstan. “There are only around 30 breeding pairs of ospreys in England, so to have a pair on our land breeding and raising chicks is so exciting.”

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