AN “awesome foursome” of osprey chicks have been reared in a single nest, in what conservationists say is a rare event for the bird of prey.

The chances of four chicks hatching in the nest at Kielder Water and Forest Park, Northumberland, were put at 100 to one – but their arrival was part of a successful year for the Kielder Osprey Project, experts said.

The Forestry Commission’s wildlife team is ringing at least ten five- to six-week-old osprey chicks, which already have a wingspan of around a metre (3ft), before they fledge, as well as making health and other checks.

The four youngsters sharing a single nest – a new site which uses a platform set up by the Forestry Commission team for the birds of prey to breed on – were the first to be ringed and are in very good health for such a large brood.

One chick is being fitted with a tiny satellite tracker to help wildlife experts monitor the birds more effectively.

The fish-eating bird of prey migrates from Africa to breed in the UK each summer and has an “amber” conservation listing because of historical declines due to persecution and low breeding numbers.

The species only returned to Kielder in 2009 after an absence of more than 200 years, the Forestry Commission said.