Many of you will have heard that Mr and Mrs No Ring, our two Osprey at Bassenthwaite, have abandoned the regular nesting platform and moved to a new site the other side of the Lake.

This has caused a few difficulties for the Osprey Project team, none of which they tell me are insurmountable!  The walk up from The Old Sawmill Tearooms is the same and well signposted.  There are still Osprey project staff and spotting 'scopes at the original viewpoint and you can watch red squirrel and many birds, plus get views of the Osprey fishing in Bass Lake.  It is now a gentle half mile walk along a forestry road further up the side of Dodd to the new viewpoint.

On the afternoon of my visit (Monday 28th April) there were two huge Swarovski Spotting 'scopes set up on tripods plus a box of binoculars for anyone to borrow.  Staffing levels were high with one permanent member of staff on hand plus two volunteers, all of whom answered an endless stream of visitor questions with patience and in-depth knowledge.  One of the volunteers is a neighbour and friend so it was all too easy to spend a couple of very pleasant hours chatting and watching the male Osprey "do his stuff".

It was a privilege to see him bring fish to the female on the nest, to hear her calling (more like agitated screaming - definitely saying "get down here with my tea and hurry up"), to see the male seeing off a large buzzard who came too close and to watch the delivery of moss and sticks to enhance the nesting platform.

Whilst the birds' relocation is causing some headaches for the Osprey team (it's still not clear if they will be able to bring webcams to the new nest site so there are no Osprey pictures on the big screens at Whinlatter) I had much better views of the birds than I ever experienced from the original Dodd viewpoint when they nested over at Wythop.  One view of the male bringing a fish to his lady and landing on the nest with wings fully outstretched is an image I hope never to forget - definitely a "lump in throat" and "oh my, he's beautiful" moment.  The team want to improve the facilities to bring this area up to the standard of the original one (more telescopes, seating, etc).  Don't let the relocation of the Ospreys or the viewing point put you off making a visit - the views I had today were unforgettable.

For a daily update on what Mr and Mrs No-Ring are getting up to visit the Osprey Project team at http://www.ospreywatch.co.uk/ or better still - visit in person during your next trip to the Lakes.

From the Daily Diary at Osprey Watch
by FC Staff on Wed 30 Apr 2008 19:49 BST
Members of the Forestry Commission REBU carried out a succesful camera trial on Wednesday and, thanks to Graham Prest, we hope to have a camera installed which will give visitors to Whinlatter Visitor Centre an excellent view of the Ospreys new home. At the moment we are looking at around ten days before the new equipement will arrive, but rest assured, this has our highest priority! (and for once that means exactly that)

Link to original Daily Diary entry.

All photographs by Jayne Hill