Norfolk osprey could make wildlife history
Regular sightings of a male osprey have been confirmed
Last updated 17th Apr 2023
Norfolk Wildlife Trust have confirmed regular sightings of a male osprey at their Ranworth Broad nature reserve.
This leads to hopes that it may become the first osprey to breed in East Anglia in over 250 years.
Ospreys are migratory birds, present in the UK in summer and currently nest in parts of Scotland, Cumbria, the East Midlands and Wales.
It is not unusual, on migration, to see a travelling osprey over any large body of water, with the Norfolk Broads often playing host to several on route to Scotland.
After a pair were present for most of the summer last year, staff and volunteers at Ranworth constructed a roosting platform in the trees alongside the broad during the winter months.
This spring the male has returned and along with displaying and calling, he has begun showing interest in the strategically placed artificial nest site.
Adam Houlgate from Norfolk Wildlife Trust said:
"Thinking that we might be able to attract them back we built this artificial nest platform which is quite an established procedure to for encouraging Osprey to bread in the hope that we might be able to encourage them to Norfolk."
"What's unusual is there was a pair of birds showing interest in breeding activity last year and the male has returned already. We've made the best preparations that we can by building this platform and were optimistic that the female might return, but there is no guarantee. "