Nature lovers are waiting for their first glimpse of osprey chicks that have hatched at two nests at Rutland Water.

The baby birds are currently too small to be seen from outside the nest, but experts have been able to watch their parents bringing them food.

They hope to see the chicks for the first time next week, when they will finally be able to count how many are in the nest.

It follows a nervous few months for an army of more than 130 volunteers who have been watching the nests around the clock. Last year, none of the osprey eggs hatched.

Tim Macrill, osprey project manager at the Lyndon visitors' centre at the reservoir, said the arrival of the chicks was "such a relief".

He said: "We have had volunteers guarding them 24 hours a day during incubation, so it is really great thing for all of them that this has happened.

"The weather since they hatched has been good as well, so that has helped.

"At the moment they are too small to be seen over the nest, but next week we should be able to see them.

"We are hoping there will be three in each nest."

Ospreys were absent from central England for more than 150 years until they began breeding at Rutland Water in 2001. This was thanks to a reintroduction programme by Anglian Water and Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. Since then, 22 chicks have fledged.

This year, the birds returned to the reservoir in April for the breeding season and began nesting at two private sites near the reserve.

Chicks were born in one of the nests on May 25 and the second on May 26. They are expected to be big enough to be able to see over the nest in the next week.

There has been a big rise in the number of visitors to Rutland Water in the past couple of months as nature lovers have tried to catch a glimpse of the ospreys.

The next big step will be in July when experts remove the chicks from the nest to give them their identification rings, measure and weigh them and check if they are male and female.

Diana Spencer, information officer at the osprey project, said: "It's been fantastic, particularly after the nest failed last year.

"They are very small so we can't see them, but we can see the mother leaning forward to feed them fish.

"When we first see them in the nest it will be a superb moment. Then we will be able to watch them grow."

To watch footage of the ospreys on webcam, log on to the website below.