A Northumberland attraction has welcomed new residents to the area.

Kielder Forest and Water Park announced on Saturday, May 22 that the first osprey of the season had hatched – and at the time of writing four out of the six nests now have baby ospreys.

Joanna Dailey, who writes the Kielder Ospreys Blog, said: “It’s fantastic news. There was some confusion as at the beginning of the season, one of the females left the male which is very unusual behaviour.

“We were worried about that dynamic but they both now have eggs which aren’t expected to hatch until later. The other four nests are our usual pairs.”

This year’s weather has had a big effect on the ospreys too, Joanna continued: “We had a really bad spell for incubation, and the poor weather has possibly contributed to the eggs not hatching. However, the ospreys protected them from the elements and with the good weather now the chicks will hopefully thrive.

“We were worrying after the bad start to the season, but now it looks like it could be a record year for our ospreys.”

Katy Barke, Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Living Landscape Project Manager, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome back the ospreys and watch the population at Kielder go from strength to strength.”

Currently, there are seven nests which are being monitored by cameras to see how the ospreys are getting along.

Breeding pairs of ospreys have nested in Kielder since 2009, which nest activity tending to be throughout May to August as chicks hatch, are fed, and learn to fly and practice hunting.