Web twitchers thrilled by first Osprey chick

The chick is one of three eggs produced by breeding pair EJ and Odin. The other two are expected to hatch at Loch Garten in the next few days.

The egg hatched shortly before midnight last night, watched by hundreds of people on the site's live nest-cam.

Since the beginning of April the site has been viewed over 300,000 times by people eager to follow the birds' antics.

Once widespread, ospreys became extinct in Scotland in 1916 after huntsmen and egg collectors rapidly diminished their numbers. In 1954 a pair nested at Loch Garten and ospreys have arrived every year at the site since 1959.

The RSPB bought the Loch Garten site specifically for the conservation of the ospreys and has since acquired the surrounding pinewood, of vital importance for capercaillies and many other UK threatened species.

David Anderson, RSPB Scotland's Osprey Information Officer at Loch Garten, said the new parents had now become "something of a celebrity couple". He said: "Both staff and visitors are thrilled to see these amazing birds rear their young just a short distance from the Osprey Centre's doorstep. The hope now is that this time next week EJ and Odin will have three healthy chicks. As the male, Odin will be responsible for providing for his young family. He'll need to bring back around five fish a day to ensure their survival. But if last year is anything to go by we're sure Odin will rise to the challenge.

EJ, the female osprey, is now enjoying her eighth year at the Cairngorms having returned to the nesting site at the end of March. The pair produced a clutch of eggs, the first arriving on the 15 April.