THE New Forest National Park has welcomed a young female Goshawk and experts now think the bird of prey’s population might be peaking.

Staff at the Date with Nature in the New Forest project noticed that the young female could not be seen via the webcam in the nest.

Watch live footage from the nestcam

Since then, she has been spotted returning to feed on prey brought to the nest by her mother.

Andy Page, head keeper for the Forestry Commission in the New Forest, said: “She will still rely on her parents for food for up to a month after fledging, but she will become increasingly independent, moving further from the nest into higher branches of the nest tree and neighbouring trees.

“She’ll also be intercepting her parents in mid-air to get food, instead of perching on a branch waiting to be fed.”

Project staff say it is encouraging to see yet another young Goshawk make it to the fledging stage in the New Forest.

Mr Page added: “We’ve seen a healthy increase in numbers since we found the first pair of New Forest Goshawks in 2002, however the New Forest population has only increased slightly this year so numbers may be levelling off as they reach a natural balance with their prey species.”