It has been confirmed that male and female osprey have arrived at NWT Ranworth Broad nature reserve, leading to renewed hope that the pair may become the first to breed in East Anglia in over 250 years.
Adam Houlgate, Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) Broads South Reserve Manager, explains the significance of the arrival: ‘This is the third consecutive year that we’ve welcomed a pair of osprey at NWT Ranworth Broad. It's wonderful because it gives visitors the chance to catch a glimpse of these impressive birds of prey, but the real excitement will be if the pair successfully breeds, something we’ve not seen for over 250 years in this region.’
‘Unusually this year, the female arrived hot on the heels of the male who turned up in early April. In past years, she’s kept him waiting for around six weeks before finally making an appearance – perhaps it bodes well that they’ll have longer to develop their courtship?
‘Over the coming weeks we’ll get a better idea of the breeding likelihood as we watch the birds’ behaviour develop, but for now the signs are positive. If it is the same pair, the fact they have shown interest in the nest site for three years in a row is very encouraging. Either way, the undisturbed, peaceful location we have created is obviously doing the job in encouraging osprey to Ranworth. It is certainly great to have them with us.’
Teala Leeder, Senior Visitor Centre Manager at NWT Ranworth Broad said: ‘We’ve got a telescope and wildlife camera set up at the visitor centre which give great views over to the trees where the ospreys are currently creating their nest. As soon as the male arrived at the start of April, we saw him in flight carrying sticks for nest building. When the female arrived a few days later, we observed that one always remained on the nest site while the other returned with gratefully received fish. There have also been a few sightings of mating behaviour, which is very exciting! We don’t want to get our hopes up too much, but for now all the signs are looking good!’
As well as getting good views of the ospreys from Ranworth Broad visitor centre, we offer boat trips into the Broad that can give you even closer views of where the osprey are currently nesting. You can also watch the osprey via our new nature camera and also on a TV screen in the visitor centre.