Three rare osprey chicks have taken to the air for the very first time, it was announced.

The young birds, named Aqua, Splash and Spray, have all successfully flown from their nest, which is on a platform on the top of a tree in the 155,000-acre Kielder Water and Forest Park, in north Northumberland.

They are only the second osprey family raised in the region since records began 200 years ago,

Over the past week rangers have been monitoring CCTV coverage beamed live to Kielder Castle Visitor Centre as the chicks exercised their wings and leapt into the air, getting ready for takeoff.

Two of the birds left the nest for the first time some days ago, but the third – the smallest of the brood and possibly a male – proved reluctant to leave and has only fledged in the past couple of days.

Facing the world is a daunting challenge, but the chicks’ instincts are driving them on. Their mother and father will continue to feed them and they will stay near or on the nest built in a tree by Forestry Commission rangers.

But they need to gain their wings quickly and learn to hunt for themselves on Northumbrian Water’s Kielder Reservoir.

Kevin Hudson, Northumbrian Water leisure manager, said the ospreys’ diet consists almost exclusively of fish.

“Kielder Water is well stocked with rainbow trout – a favourite dish for these raptors,” he said.