Farm builds three osprey nests in breeding bid

Three nests have been installed on land at Warleigh Barton

A farm has installed three osprey nests, on telegraph poles 56ft (17m) high, in a bid to attract the rare birds to breed.

The platforms have been built on land at Warleigh Barton, Plymouth.

Elsa Kent, who set up the Tamar and Tavy Osprey Project, said they had been sighted at Warleigh for about 40 years, but had never bred.

Her mother, Katherine Kent, said the "huge nests" were an equivalent of a "bed and breakfast" for ospreys.

Elsa Kent said "if we have baby ospreys in these nests, my life's mission will be complete"

Elsa said: "I've fallen completely in love with ospreys. They are such inspiring birds.

"If they can inspire more people to get enthusiastic about nature and about connecting to our local ecosystem then that is what I get really passionate about."

She said the birds visited during their migration to West Africa.

"They use this as a sort of refuge place to fish and build up their energy before making their next big leg of their journey," she said.

Katherine Kent said the nests were in a great location for migrating ospreys

The project said the south-west of England had no breeding ospreys.

Elsa said the nests had been equipped with cameras and an Egyptian goose had laid a clutch of eggs in one of the nests.

She said: "If we have baby ospreys in these nests, my life's mission will be complete.

"It doesn't feel like there is anything more meaningful in my life than giving back to nature and encouraging opportunities for the natural world to re-establish itself."

Ospreys are breeding at a number of sites in the UK