Lake District Osprey Project

'Lake District Osprey Project'

Dood Wood, Keswick.
Bassenthwaite, Keswick.

Location : Bassenthwaite / Braithwaite / Keswick
Map - Ordnance Survey - NY 235282

Lake District Osprey Project. Pic N1136.

The public viewpoint in Dodd Wood

Park at the Mirehouse/Dodd Wood carpark, and from there it is a short walk (up a fairly steep climb) to the viewing position, which is open at all times. The public viewpoint at Dodd is now open at all times. Between 10am and 5pm project staff will be present with telescopes available for public use. Live CCTV coverage of the nest may be seen at the Whinlatter Visitor Centre, also staffed by Osprey Project staff.

Lake District Osprey Project - photo CH Gomersall, RSPB.
Ospreys returned to breeds at loch Garten in the Scottish Highlands in 1954, after many years of absence. Since then, the Scottish osprey population has expanded and now numbers about 150 pairs. In the last ten years ospreys have regularly been seen fishing over a number of Cumbrian Lakes, raising the hope that they may breed one day.
The ospreys' return to the Lakes was the culmination of several years of hard work to encourage ospreys to stay. The nest you see on the far side of Bassenthwaite Lake is man-made on a purpose built platform, and is the same nest that was used last year. The Forestry Commission and the Lake District National Park Authority have built a number of these platforms at suitable locations throughout the Lakes. Volunteers have supported this work, carried out with the full support of local landowners.
Ospreys are spectacular fish-eating birds of prey with a wingspan of nearly five feet. Look out for their white head and undersides, which contrast with the rich brown upperparts. With razor sharp eyesight, an Osprey can spot a fish whilst hovering high above the Lake.

The Osprey chicks aged five weeks - 24th July 2002

From the press release dated 24th July 2002 -

"The health-check and 'ringing' of the Lake District osprey chicks has taken place, with wildlife experts scaling the nest tree in Wythop Forest near Keswick for their first visit to see the two chicks hatched in this year's nest. The chicks - believed to be a male and a female - were also photographed for the first time.
The chicks were carefully lowered from their tree-top nest, so that representatives of the Lake District Osprey Project could check on the progress of the two birds, which are now five weeks old. The team were delighted to find that the young ospreys are growing-up rapidly on their diet of fresh fish. They are already flexing their wings and are expected to leave the nest next month."

See The Lake District Osprey Project, for more information about the project, which is managed by a partnership of the Forestry Commission, Lake District National Park Authority and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
See also BBCi Online - Osprey Webcam.

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