IT’S EGGS-ACTLY WHAT WE HOPED FOR

The ospreys nesting in the Lake District are incubating eggs, the Lake District Osprey Project announced today (Monday 13 May 2002). The good news raises hopes that a chick will fly from a Lake District nest for only the second time in 150 years.

This year even more people will be able to follow the fortunes of the ospreys, as the project has gone hi-tech and pictures beamed direct from a ‘spy in the nest’ camera can now be seen on monitors at the Whinlatter visitor centre and will soon be broadcast worldwide on two websites – www.ospreywatch.co.uk and www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria

This is only the second year that ospreys have nested near Bassenthwaite Lake, Cumbria. Last year the birds successfully raised one chick, the first time that the rare birds of prey had been recorded nesting in the region for at least 150 years.

After over-wintering in Africa, the pair of ospreys – spectacular, fish-eating birds of prey – returned to the Bassenthwaite area in April and now the behaviour of the birds shows that they are incubating eggs.

A round-the-clock protection scheme is now in place to safeguard the nest from egg thieves or other disturbance. If all goes well, the eggs should hatch in June.

Pete Davies of the Lake District National Park Authority, said: “We are thrilled by the news that the ospreys are incubating and very much hope that the eggs will hatch successfully. This great news confirms that after an all too long absence, these spectacular fish-eating hawks are re-established as a breeding bird in England.”

This year, the fortunes of the ospreys can be followed in several ways:

· A public Osprey Viewpoint near Keswick gives open-air viewing of the nest from a safe distance. It is located at the Forestry Commission’s Dodd Wood, 3 miles north of Keswick off the A591 – follow signs to The Mirehouse. The Viewpoint is open all daylight hours and from 10am-5pm osprey project staff are on hand with telescopes for visitors to use.

· Live images from a camera overlooking the osprey’s nest can now be seen on screen at the Forestry Commission’s Whinlatter Visitor , located west of Braithwaite on the B5292. This ‘spy in the nest’ is giving amazing close-up pictures of the activity on the nest as it happens. A generous donation from English Nature has allowed the video link to be set up.

· A daily “osprey diary”, viewing arrangements and nest cam pictures are on the Lake District Osprey Project website – www.ospreywatch.co.uk

· Pictures from the osprey “nest cam.” will also soon be running on the internet on the BBC Cumbria website at www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria

Bill Kenmir of the RSPB said: “The return of ospreys to the Lake District has really captured the public’s imagination and we are delighted that there is so much interest and good-will for these fantastic birds. I am sure that there will be interest from far and wide over the next few months as the fortunes of this special family unfold.”

Graeme Prest of the Forestry Commission, added: “Last year around 25,000 people came to the Lakes to see the ospreys from the viewpoint at Dodd Wood. This year we are delighted that thanks to the BBC and English Nature, the ospreys can now be seen by an even larger number of people without causing disturbance to the nesting birds or other wildlife in this sensitive area of the Lakes.”

The Osprey Project partners are asking visitors only watch the ospreys from the official viewpoints and not from other locations, due to road safety concerns. They are also concerned at the risk of disturbance to the nesting ospreys and other wildlife in the Bassenthwaite Lake area, which is designated a National Nature Reserve.

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

For further information, to arrange an interview with a project representative, or to request images of ospreys contact: David Hirst on 0191 2126121 (office), 07885 834889 or 0191 2961332 (out of hours)

Osprey information:

The Osprey is a dramatic, fish eating bird of prey with a five-foot wingspan. Its return to Scotland in the late 1950s after a century of extinction as a British breeding bird is one of the great conservation success stories of the 20th century.

Identification:
Head: White with speckled crown and black eye-stripe
Upperparts: Dark Brown
Body: White with band of buff streaks on upper breast
No of eggs: usually 3

Migration: Ospreys spend the winter in Africa, returning north each spring to breed. Ospreys can catch and carry fish weighing up to one kilogram. They will fly up to eight miles to feed. In autumn, ospreys leave Britain for West Africa. The females leave first, while males stay with the young birds to show them where and how to fish. The males leave in late August, with juveniles following several weeks later.

Bassenthwaite Lake has been owned and managed by the Lake District National Park Authority since 1979 and is now a National Nature Reserve

e-mail: graeme.prest@forestry.gsi.gov.uk