Rutland Water osprey Maya lays her first egg

Wildlife fans have been glued to video footage of an osprey after she laid her first egg of the season.

Rutland Water osprey Maya and her mate 33(11) returned to their regular nest at Manton Bay last month.

Since then people have been watching live footage of them preparing a nest and last night (Wednesday) they were delighted to see that Maya laid an egg shortly before 6pm.

Announcing the news on social media, a spokesperson for the Rutland Osprey Project said: “We are absolutely thrilled to see an egg on the Manton Bay nest and all of us here are so pleased for our osprey.

“We are now seeing both Maya and 33(11) taking turns incubating the egg. We also now wait to see if Maya lays more eggs.”

Ospreys usually lay their eggs at three-day intervals and they take between 35 and 42 days to hatch.

Maya, thought to be at least 18-years-old, has been in Rutland since 2009 and breeding on the Manton Bay nest since 2010.

During that time she has raised 38 chicks, making her one of the most successful breeding female Ospreys on record, 27 of which have been with her mate 33(11).