media release

Issued by the Lake District Osprey Project

A partnership between The Forestry Commission, the RSPB and the Lake District National Park Authority

24 July 2008

FLY BOY TAKES TO THE SKY

THE youngest of the three osprey chicks hatched this year at Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbria has successfully taken its first flight today.

The youngster, a male, made his first flight at around 10.30 on Thursday morning.  He flapped unsteadily from the nest for a short maiden flight, before making an ungainly landing in a nearby tree.  He’s followed his two sisters who left the nest earlier in the week and who are now rapidly gaining confidence on the wing.

The adult ospreys and their chicks have become a star tourist attraction in Cumbria, and so far this year around 50,000 people from around the world have visited the viewpoints run by The Lake District Osprey Project (LDOP).

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

Already this year, the LDOP team have welcomed visitors from as far afield as Holland, Japan, France, and Canada who have followed the osprey tourist trail to the Lake District.

Barbara Thomson of the Lake District Osprey Project said:  “With all three youngsters now in the wing, anyone coming to the Lake District over the next few weeks should be lucky enough to see one of the best wildlife spectacles in England – a family of five fantastic ospreys in one of the most beautiful places in the country.  With the schools breaking up this week we hope to see lots of families down here, enjoying these brilliant birds.”

Visitors can watch the ospreys from the LDOP’s public viewpoints at Dodd Wood near Keswick and at the Forestry Commission’s Whinlatter Visitor Centre.  The birds are expected to stay in the area until at least the end of August.

At Dodd Wood, near Keswick, there are two viewpoints where Osprey project staff set up telescopes for visitors to watch the action between 10am and 5pm daily at the 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.

The Lake District Osprey Project team has also installed a camera pointing at the new nest, which 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 Bassenthwaite ospreys re-colonised England naturally 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.

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
Graeme Prest, Lake District Osprey Project on 0774 7762916

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