[V]isitors to Bassenthwaite have just a few weeks left to get up close to the lake’s popular family of ospreys.
For the seventeenth year running, the Lake District Osprey Project (LDOP) staff and volunteers have been running special, free viewpoints at Dodd Wood where visitors can watch the spectacular birds in action. The viewpoints, which opened in April, will close on 31 August and won’t re-open until next year.
This is 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. They have successfully raised three young this season, which were named by the general public in a competition in July. Male chicks named Artegal and Ulysses, female chick Elter and their parents will shortly make the long migration to Africa where they are likely to spend the winter.
Nathan Fox, of the Lake District Osprey Project, said: “The last few weeks of the season are often the most exciting, with brilliant views of the chicks as they develop their flying and fishing skills, before they set off on their long journey south. To think that they only hatched in May, and are now preparing to embark on this massive migration, is absolutely staggering and proves just how incredible nature is. These last few weeks of the project should be all action and we hope lots of people can come and see the birds before they leave.”
To watch the ospreys, visitors can join a dedicated team of staff and volunteers at the viewpoint at Dodd Wood every day from 10am to 5pm until the end of August, and at Whinlatter Visitor Centre every day from 10am to 5pm, where visitors can watch live nest cam images on flat screen televisions.
This is the 17th year of successful hatching for ospreys at Bassenthwaite, with more than 30 chicks raised since the project began.
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.
