First egg laid by osprey just in time for Easter

FEMALE osprey KX7 has produced the goods at Northumberland’s nesting colony - just in time for Easter.

- TONY HENDERSON

The occupant of the “nest with a view” over Kielder Water has laid the first egg of the breeding season.

She is maintaining a cracking pace as she set a new record for early arrival at Kielder on her migration flight from overwintering in Africa.

She was soon joined by her mate KM18 with whom she has bred at the Kielder nest since 2020, raising 14 youngsters,

“She is a good breeder and a good mother,’ said Kielder osprey monitor Joanna Dailey.

So far between seven and eight nests at Kielder are now occupied, with a mixture of pairs of ospreys and single birds.

‘The pair on Nest 10 are female 330 who hatched in the Tweed Valley and male PYO from Jedburgh in the Borders. They raised five chicks in their first two years together.

Another pair are KF13 and W6 who are back on Nest 1A and are hoping for a better season than last year, when they lost their three chicks to bad weather conditions.