What an exciting Nightshift! The female incubated the remaining two eggs and sheltered the new born osprey chick well all night. In the morning we were treated to the fantastic sight of the new chick being fed it’s first meal.

Here are some photographic highlights!

At 05.06am this morning the male returned with half a fish, most likely the same brown trout he had last night at 9.30pm. After awhile the female osprey took this fish and started ripping off little bits to feed to the chick. The male osprey seemed to be watching very carefully as if he was learning how feeding was done. It was really quite amazing to see just how much the little chick ate!

 Finally, the male flew off (possibly to catch more fish) and the female continued to feed the new born chick.

 Well I should probably get some sleep now, keep checking for more updates from Ranger Emma and the rest of the team.

Thomas Plant             Species Protection Officer

Update: A short video clip of the climax of the hatching process can be seen at :  http://youtu.be/2YEX1OZws6I