WHEN TWO BECAME THREE

(FIRST PHOTOS OF 2008 LAKES OSPREY CHICKS)

THE Lake District ospreys have revealed the secret they have been sitting on all summer – it’s a trio of healthy chicks in the nest, not just two as had been expected.

This year, the osprey parents have kept the project team guessing as to what was going on in the lakeside nest.  In previous years’ a ‘big brother’ style nest camera has given the team close-up images of life in the nest.  But, this year the ospreys unexpectedly moved to a new breeding site and the team no longer had views of life in the nest.

Until now, osprey watchers thought they had glimpsed at least two osprey chicks…probably!  However, all was revealed when a ‘health check’ of the chicks took place this week, and experts from the Lake District Osprey Project were delighted to discover three chicks in the nest.

The chicks were carefully lowered from their treetop nest near Bassenthwaite Lake, so that experts from the Lake District Osprey Project could check on the progress of the birds.  The team was delighted to find that the young ospreys are growing rapidly on a diet of fresh fish brought in by the diligent parents.  The eldest of the three chicks is 41 days old and the youngest (the boy) is 37 days old.  They are expected to take their first flight at the end of the month.

As part of a national monitoring programme to learn more about ospreys, the chicks were ‘ringed’.  The young ospreys were fitted with a ‘colour ring’ on their legs and this will identify the birds if they are seen on migration between Cumbria and their wintering quarters in Africa.  The male has the unique number White YY (and weighed in at 1.3kg), the females White YW (weighed 1.45kg) and Yellow 7V (weighed 1.41kg).

The Bassenthwaite ospreys re-colonised England naturally in 2001 as part of a population expansion from Scotland, where numbers have been increasing since the first pair returned to the Highlands in the 1950s.  It was the first time that ospreys had nested in the Lake District for at least 150 years. A new female osprey arrived last year and this is her second brood of three chicks to be hatched in the Lakes.

The ospreys are a popular visitor attraction in the Lakes, and since the birds returned in April tens of thousands of visitors have been to the public viewpoints at Dodd Wood near Keswick and the Forestry Commission’s Whinlatter Visitor Centre.  The ospreys’ unexpected move has meant that visitors to the public viewpoints at Dodd Wood are able to get better views of the birds than ever before, and with the adults delivering more food to the young, this is a great time to visit the ospreys.

At Dodd Wood, the Lake District Osprey Project team has set up telescopes for visitors to watch the action between 10am and 5pm daily at a lower viewpoint (which has panoramic views over Bassenthwaite Lake) and between 10am and 4.30pm at the upper viewpoint, which has the best views of the nest.

A camera pointing at the new nest beams live pictures to the giant videowall at Whinlatter Visitor Centre, near Braithwaite.

For the latest updates on the ospreys and information on how to see the birds visit www.ospreywatch.co.uk.

Since ospreys first nested in 2001, more than half a million visitors have watched the birds nesting and rearing young from the viewpoints provided by the Lake District Osprey Project.  The LDOP and a team of dedicated volunteers carry out a round-the-clock guard on the nest to protect it from potential egg theft or disturbance.

The Lake District Osprey Project is a partnership between The Forestry Commission, the RSPB and the Lake District National Park Authority.

www.forestry.gov.uk

www.rspb.org.uk

www.lake-district.gov.uk

ends

For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
David Hirst, Lake District Osprey Project on 07885 834889 or 0191 2334321

Images:
A selection of photographs of the osprey chicks are attached.  Higher resolution images are available on request.

Additional notes:

1. Bassenthwaite Lake is a National Nature Reserve and a Special Area of Conservation owned and managed by the Lake District National Park Authority.

2.      The Lake District Osprey Viewpoint at the Forestry Commission’s Dodd Wood is located, 3 miles north of Keswick, off the A591 – follow signs to Mirehouse.  An upper viewpoint has been set up about half a mile further on up the hill from the original viewpoint.  Visitors are advised to go to the lower viewpoint first, where staff from the Lake District Osprey Project can provide directions to the new site.  Osprey project staff set up telescopes for visitors to watch the action between 10am and 5pm daily at the lower viewpoint and between 10am and 4.30pm at the upper viewpoint. The Lakes osprey viewpoint is part of a UK-wide network of RSPB Aren’t Birds Brilliant! sites.  A camera pointing at the new nest site, beams live pictures to the giant videowall at the Forestry Commission Whinlatter Visitor Centre, near Braithwaite.

3.      It is now easier than ever before to visit Dodd Wood and Whinlatter thanks to a new Osprey Bus.  The liveried bus service named after the spectacular birds of prey operates around Bassenthwaite Lake at weekends, Bank Holidays and school holidays.

4.      Ospreys returned to the Lakes without human intervention and colonised as part of a population expansion in Scotland.  The project team helped them by providing some ready-made nests, but otherwise these are entirely wild birds.  The Bassenthwaite ospreys first nested in 2001, it was the first time that ospreys had nested in the Lake District for at least 150 years.

5.      The RSPB has launched a campaign to stamp out the illegal killing of the UK’s birds of prey, which research shows are still being illegally killed in large numbers in parts of the UK despite receiving full legal protection.  For more information click on www.rspb.org.uk/birdsofprey