Within the organisation of the Lake District Osprey Project there are two groups of people who deserve a special mention.

The first is the Steering Group. The Steering Group represent the three organisations and the Lake District Osprey Project. They work behind the scenes all year planning and preparing for the new season. It is this group that make all the major decisions affecting the project. This year for example it was the Steering group that made the arrangements for a new camera to be set up on the second nest site, not easy at a moment’s notice. They are people who are utterly dedicated to the Ospreys and the idea of the Lake District Osprey Project and very rarely receive acknowledgement or thanks for it.

The other group of people that the Lake District Osprey Project just cannot do without are the volunteers.  We now have nearly a hundred people of all ages that give their time freely to the project and to the birds. A more diverse and talented group it would be hard to find. They cover both areas of protection and information dispersal. They put up with all sorts of difficulties from changing nest sites to faults with technology, from freezing hailstones to subtropical heat. They both protect the birds and help to inform and educate our numerous visitors. Since 2001 they have cheerfully dealt with over half a million visitors to the Osprey Project both at Whinlatter Forest Park and at Dodd Wood. Without them the project would simply not exist.

Hopefully over the last few days you have been able to see what a complicated operation the Lake District Osprey Project is. One of the simple aims of the project is to send our visitors away with a smile and a little bit of knowledge about Ospreys. But it is always humbling to think that all of this organisation and effort is based upon two birds sitting in a tree.

If you are interested in volunteering with the LDOP just contact Whinlatter Forest Park.