NPWS Senior Conservation expert, Peter Stathis said the young Osprey was released back into the wild yesterday after 15 days of rehabilitation with FAWNA wildlife carers - marking a great outcome for the bird and her species.

"Osprey are a magnificent apex predator with a wingspan of up to 1.7 metres but are listed as vulnerable in NSW,” Mr Stathis said.

“The rehabilitation of this bird is a specialised task that requires considerable knowledge and patience, so we are delighted with such a fantastic result,” he said.

FAWNA Carer, Meredith Ryan said the Osprey flew away on release so quickly and strongly they couldn't even get good photos.

“She just took off out towards the river and back to her home grounds,” Meredith said.

“It really is an incredibly rewarding outcome especially given it took 12 days before she would adequately self-feed, we were not completely confident of a full recovery at first.

“The recovery process was relatively short once the bird began feeding,” she said.

Port Macquarie Veterinary Hospital assessed the bird initially and could not determine what caused the bird’s injuries given no fractures were detected on X-ray. 

FAWNA carers, with the Lendlease environment co-ordinator Clive Wightwick who originally found the bird, released the Osprey on May 31 near the Hastings River and only a short flight to her encounter location. 

NPWS’s Mr Stathis said the work of the FAWNA volunteers is essential to achieving positive outcomes for a wide range of native animals.

“They do a fabulous and difficult job, which is not well understood and are often at the front line when it comes to animal rescue,” Mr Stathis said.

“Amazingly, they are also all volunteers who have to deal with some pretty difficult and confronting situations to return injured wildlife back to nature and when they can’t, their role in ensuring humane outcomes for suffering wildlife is vital.

“This Osprey release is just one of their many great outcomes for our treasured wildlife,” Mr Stathis said.