[T]he Lake District Osprey Project (LDOP) has confirmed that a recent health check on the three famous osprey chicks has shown them to be in excellent condition.
The chicks, which are thought to be two males and one female, were checked at the weekend and ringed by highly trained, licensed, experts.
Nathan Fox, of the LDOP, said: “It is always one of the highlights of the season when we give the chicks their health check. As ospreys are now expanding in England, it is even more important to ring them in order to find out more about their migration routes, wintering grounds and breeding locations.
The female bird was fitted with a blue ring on her right leg, numbered ‘U7’, while the males were fitted with blue ‘U6’ and ‘U8’ rings, also on their right leg. Their left legs were fitted with a British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) ring.
Following the health check, the chicks were immediately returned to their nest.
All the procedures were carried out under rigorous government licence, by experts who have undergone years of training. It’s important to remember the disturbance of ospreys on the nest is an offence, and anyone responsible for disturbing the birds may be liable for prosecution, so the best and only places to see the ospreys are the viewpoints at Dodd Wood or Whinlatter Visitor Centre.
To watch the ospreys, visitors can join a dedicated team of staff and volunteers at the viewpoint at Dodd Wood every day from 10 am- 5 pm until the end of August, and at Whinlatter Visitor Centre every day from 10 am -5 pm, where visitors can watch live nest cam images on flat screen televisions.
This is the 17th year of successful hatching for the Bassenthwaite ospreys, with more than 30 chicks raised since the project began. It is also the fifth year of raising chicks for ringed female KL and the unringed male, believed to be the same male which has returned to Bassenthwaite with KL for the fifth year running.
Osprey fans around the world can keep an eye on the action from the nest by following the webcam on the LDOP homepage ospreywatch.co.uk and get the latest news at facebook.com/ospreywatch, or by following on Twitter @lakelandosprey.
To help support the project, which has attracted more than 1.5 million visitors since it started, people can also donate at justgiving.com/lakesospreys
The Lake District Osprey Project is a partnership between The Forestry Commission, the RSPB and the Lake District National Park.
