Osprey chick found dead with wound on its side

An osprey project at Rutland Water has confirmed the death of one of its chicks.

Rutland Osprey Project said in a social media post on Monday the bird was found dead on the shoreline with a wound on its left side, below the neck.

The conservationist group said it was trying to organise a post-mortem for the chick, known as 3R6, to establish exactly what happened.

Osprey Maya, 3R6's mother, has nested at Manton Bay since 2015 with a male osprey and the pair have raised 20 chicks in that time, according to Rutland Osprey Project.

A social media post from the group shared a timeline of events.

It stated 3R6 took off from the nest at about 21:31 BST on Sunday and there was a splash "shortly afterwards".

"At 21:41, with both 3R5 and 3R8 on the nest, we then see Maya take off from the perch and do a fly around the nest," the post added.

"At this point we see 3R6 in the water, making his way towards the shore.

"The decision was made to not intervene last night due to the challenging conditions and not wanting to disturb the other Osprey, particularly 3R8 who has yet to fledge."

The post added evidence will be reviewed to "see if any light can be shed on this sad situation".

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