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Bassenthwaite Osprey Project 2013 (2 Viewers)

HelenB

HelenB

Opus Editor and Expat from Cumbria
Opus Editor
The team have just announced that all nests are ready and have webcams set up. Let's hope the Ospreys decide to go back to the one on Dodd Wood which is nearest to the viewpoint!

The viewpoints at Dodd Wood and Whinlatter Visitor Centre will be open and manned from the Easter weekend at the end of March.
 
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Bassenthwaite ospreys

Looking forward to visiting this year. All the Staff and volunteers work so hard to welcome visitors and at the same time protect and promote their ospreys.
Let's hope this season will be very successful!


HelenB said:
The team have just announced that all nests are ready and have webcams set up. Let's hope the Ospreys decide to go back to the one on Dodd Wood which is nearest to the viewpoint!

The viewpoints at Dodd Wood and Whinlatter Visitor Centre will be open and manned from the Easter weekend at the end of March.
Click to expand...
 
Just posted on the Facebook yesterday:

An osprey landed on the marsh nest this afternoon at 12.50. It left after a few minutes, but displayed streaking on the breast and was thought to be a female. Fingers crossed!
 
No more Ospreys on the nest, but there have been several sightings - over Thirlmere, Dodd and Grizedale Pyke. The latest Osprey return was April 18th in 2007, so there is hope yet! A short video of the Opsrey on the nest has been posted on the Facebook feed: http://www.facebook.com/ospreywatch
 
This week 2 Ospreys have been seen on the marsh nest. They both have streaked breasts and from the camera angle, appear to be about the same size, so they thought they were both female. Neither is ringed, so YV is not one of them! Thursday morning (11th April) both birds spent some time on the nest and were observed mating at various spots around the marsh, which means they are a pair!

Later in the day a newcomer landed on the nest with a large fish, but then flew off to eat it elsewhere, returning to the nest later. The team think this is a different bird to the 2 mentioned above.
 
We definitely have a pair at Bassenthwaite. Since last Friday they have been seen mating several times and the male has caught a large pike and later another fish, and presented them to his mate.

At 7pm on Monday, 15th April, the female rejected her suitor and was seen settling down in the centre cup of the nest. Perhaps the first egg is on its way, although the team think it's a bit soon.
 
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HelenB said:
We definitely have a pair at Bassenthwaite. Since last Friday they have been seen mating several times and the male has caught a large pike and later another fish, and presented them to his mate.

At 7pm on Monday, 15th April, the female rejected her suitor and was seen settling down in the centre cup of the nest. Perhaps the first egg is on its way, although the team think it's a bit soon.
Click to expand...

In my view about 11 days after first mating is the norm but it can vary widely as we have just seen with Lady at Loch of the Lowes.
 
The recent bad storms have downed the power and telephone lines at Whinlatter. They are using a temporary generator, but the phones are still out. They should be repaired soon, but until then there is no feed from the nest cameras.

The team report that the young male is bringing in lots of fish, more than the female can eat! She should be coming into good breeding condition and if other years are anything to go by then eggs should be imminent very soon.
 
Exciting news from Bassenthwaite!! Yesterday (Thurs, 25th April) a new female came in and chased off their female. The new female is ringed - white KL on the left leg. Here's a link to the Facebook page where there are comments about where and when she was ringed:

http://www.facebook.com/ospreywatch

It looks like she is a Scottish bird, but they don't know her year of birth or who her parents were. Very interesting - I wonder what will happen to the other female.
 
very interesting indeed.
I spotted a osprey collecting materials for a nest (my theory) at Bassenthwaithe. I also saw a first sighting for me of a osprey at Derwent water (beside Portinscale).
 
There's now some information on the new female: she was ringed in Inverness-shire on 19th June 2009. She's been seen in Senegal in 2011 and 2012 by the Rutland Osprey Team, and she's 4 years old, but it's not known whether she has bred before.

Trying to read all the info posted on the Flickr Diary and the Facebook page, it's had to find out if there's been a complete changeover of birds, or whether the original male has paired up with White KL! Maybe they just don't know for sure. If the first female was already "pregnant", as it were, what will she do?
 
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New update on the Flickr Diary: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ospreywatch/

The new couple have made themselves at home and are defending the nest against the previous male who has been bombing the site from time to time. KL sits tight while her mate does the chasing!
 
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I had three lovely days over in the Lake District, specifically to see the new pair of ospreys which have caused quite a stir in recent days..
At Whinlatter Visitor Centre Her Royal Highness KL was shown on the big screen - and she is absolutely gorgeous!! As always, the volunteer on duty was doing a sterling job - knowledgeable and enthusiastic - bringing the visitors up-to-date with events.
I was able to arrange for another volunteer to take me up to the Viewpoints at Dodd Wood on Thursday morning. The nest is in a tree on the valley floor and can be seen quite easily from both the lower and the upper viewpoints. A steady trickle of people kept coming and again the Volunteers from the Osprey Team, RSPB and Forestry Commission were all keen to share their knowledge.
As I left on Friday morning, and drove along the lakeside, I looked for signs of activity, and there, perched at the very top of a dead tree, was one of the ospreys. Until next time, I thought!
The accompanying photos show folk at the upper Viewpoint, and me, kindly taken by Phil, a Volunteer.

HelenB said:
New update on the Flickr Diary: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ospreywatch/

The new couple have made themselves at home and are defending the nest against the previous male who has been bombing the site from time to time. KL sits tight while her mate does the chasing!
Click to expand...
 

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