FEMALE OSPREY RETURNS – WITH A NEW PARTNER
FEMALE OSPREY RETURNS – WITH A NEW PARTNER
Posted: April 16, 2012
There’s been an unexpected twist with the return of the Ospreys to the Lake District this year.
A pair of the rare birds of prey have returned to Bassenthwaite to breed every year since 2001, but this time, what’s thought to be the female from last season has returned – with a different male.
She’s flown here with a chick that hatched at the lake five years ago.
Experts say while they can’t be sure the female is the same bird that was here last year, it is likely, as she has the same markings and behaviour.
They say if the male does not return this year it will be the end of an era and also the beginning of a new chapter for the osprey project.
The female, which could be the same female as last year, was first spotted at Bassenthwaite on 30th March and spent several days on her own around last year’s nest site where she successfully raised two chicks. On 9 April, however, she was seen with a different male, who was identified as YV, a Bassenthwaite chick from 2007. Since then the pair have wasted no time in mating and nest building. They are using the new platform erected in the winter after last year’s nest blew down.
Barbara Thomson from the Lake District Osprey Project says: “Although we think it is the same female bird as last year because of her markings and behaviour on arrival, we cannot be 100% sure as she is not ringed. She could be a look-alike but completely unrelated bird.’’
Visitors can get great views of the female osprey and her new mate at the viewpoints at Dodd Wood, near Keswick where staff and volunteers are on hand with telescopes everyday from 10am-5pm until 2 September.
Over at the Forestry Commission’s Whinlatter Visitor Centre, near Braithwaite, there is an exhibition area dedicated to the ospreys with a live feed from a nest camera showing the action as it unfolds. The Centre is open daily from 10am to 5pm.
Osprey fans can get the latest news at www.ospreywatch.co.uk, at www.facebook.com/ospreywatch, or by following on Twitter @LakesOspreys.
The Lake District Osprey Project is a partnership between the Forestry Commission, the RSPB and the Lake District National Park.
