Osprey platform gets off the ground

Osprey platform gets off the ground

Attracting ospreys to nest in Lancashire might seem a tall order but Brockholes is giving it a go.

An osprey platform has been erected at the Lancashire Wildlife Trust reserve, at Preston, by Trust volunteers, Friends of the Osprey and Electricity North West.

A team from Electricity North West brought vehicles with lifting platforms so that the future osprey nest could be lifted onto a base on top of a telegraph pole.

The nest using large branches and twigs was created with advice from Darren Moore of Friends of the Osprey. Darren said: "We have built 18 of these nests in North Wales and eight have been taken up or visited by ospreys. On one nest we have already seen chicks born over the past few years.

"Brockholes seems to be the ideal site for a nest and hopefully we will get ospreys checking it out and using it. There have been a number of sightings since the reserve opened a couple of years ago.

"I came here to offer advice about five weeks ago and I wouldn't have come back if this site didn't have potential. Ospreys eat only fish and there is plenty of fish in the rivers and lakes around here."

Brockholes wildlife intern Graham Nuttall, who was co-ordinating the volunteers, said: "It is great to see Electricity North West and Friends of the Osprey supporting us as we try to increase the wildlife diversity on the site."

The osprey platform is visible from the restaurant in the floating Visitor Village.