Osprey chicks and mother, Loch Garten, Strathspey, Scotland

July 21, 1972, Loch Garten, Strathspey, Scotland, UK: The Pair of Osprey chicks hatched at the end of May in the eyrie at Loch Garten, Inverness-shire, have made their debut as they exercised their wings standing in the nest in preparation for the long flight to Africa. The eyrie is in a 40-foot-high pine tree, ringed with barbed wire, in the 700-acre sanctuary of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The rare, fish eating hawks came back to Scotland in 1959 after an absence of half a century. Twenty-five young have been reared successfully at the Loch Garten Eyrie, which has become one of the top tourist attractions in Scotland. More than 10, 000 people visited the remote loch in the Cairngorm foothills in a fortnight. Picture Shows: The Mother Osprey returns to her young with building material for the nest

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10000 Absence Acre Attractions Barbed Cairngorm Chicks Debut Exercised Eyrie Foothills Fortnight Garten Hatched Hawks Inverness Loch Osprey Reared Remote Ringed Sanctuary Shire Strathspey Successfully Twenty-five

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