Osprey nesting platform cut down with chainsaw in 'horrific act of vandalism'

On Friday morning, it was announced that the Ospreys had laid their first egg. Credit: North Wales Wildlife Trust

A tree that was home to an Osprey nest that had just laid its first egg has been 'intentionally felled'.

The Osprey nest platform at Brenig Lake on the border between Conwy and Denbighshire is maintained by Brenig Osprey Project partners.

North Wales Wildlife Trust, who maintain the site in partnership with Welsh Water, described the damage as a "horrific act of vandalism".

Ospreys are a rare and endangered bird, with as few as 200 breeding pairs in the UK.

The rural crime team at North Wales Police said it was on the scene and they have appealed for any information or witnesses to come forward.

The Llyn Brenig Osprey project began in 2013 with the first hatched ospreys verified in the area in over 100 years in 2018.The site is managed by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water and is only the fifth breeding site for the fish-eating birds in Wales.The nest is occupied by a female, Blue 24, a bird that fledged from Rutland Water and male osprey, HR7, who hails from Scotland.The pair raised a single female chick in 2018, ringed Blue Z9 and called Luned, and in 2019 they successfully reared another chick, this time a male, ringed KA9 and called Roli.

The Osprey is a fish-eating bird of prey and is an Amber List species because of its historical decline.

The RSPB says that's due to illegal killing and low breeding numbers.

Ospreys are listed as a Schedule 1 species on The Wildlife and Countryside Act.