Northumberland's Osprey

[craigthirlwell]

This is worth a read

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/8093664.stm

I've heard that there are plans for some sort of viewing facilitiies at Leaplish Lakeside park.

[craigthirlwell]

More info here....

http://www.visitkielder.com/site/kielder-ospreys

[Cartman]

and here's me planning a bloody trip from Newcastle to Loch Garten and they turn at Kielder

[Gill Osborne]

Bassenthwaite is closer ;) The pair were showing great this afternoon :t:

[Tiger_mz]

Does anyone know if the Nortumberland pair are ringed?

[peterlevinr]

Would be interesting if we could findout where they have originated from
Poss lakes?
I wonder if these are a new pair
Gossip tells me they have been successfull pairs here poss 3year or so

[rokermartin]

There have been rumours for sometime now that Ospreys were breeding at Kielder. I was told about 3 years ago by a forest ranger that there were Ospreys breeding.

[craigthirlwell]

If anybody does plan to go and see the ospreys Kielder Birds of Prey Centre is also worth a look. If for nothing else to see their female white tailed eagle.

[Cartman]

If anybody does plan to go and see the ospreys Kielder Birds of Prey Centre is also worth a look. If for nothing else to see their female white tailed eagle.

Agree with that, we've been a few times, the staff are so nice there. Did they ever find Hopper?

The WTE is a stunning bird, huge

[Rewcastle]

Did they ever find Hopper?

Think he's still hopping around...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/8089974.stm

[Gavia101]

I went up to the observation point yesterday for the training session for volunteers, & viewed the nest through some heat haze with my scope & the 200x astronomical scope in use at the site. The nest is about 2.5 miles from the observation point so..... its a dot, sort of dark & elongated with a white dot for a head! You can identify it as an Osprey - just! :eek!:

While there we did get a better view of the male over the reservoir to the east, & probably the best (only decent?) views to be had would be when the parents are feeding. The best chance for occasional sightings over the reservoir would be in a couple of weeks or so when the chicks are larger & demanding more food, so the parents will be hunting more. The nest has been visited so presumably the chicks have been ringed.

Birds have summered in previous years, but there were no nesting attempts until last year when the nest was blown down. The FC then constructed four platforms around the forest, deliberately in locations that are very difficult to access. The local forest roads have all been closed & we were told it is extremely difficult to get near to the site.

Hopefully in a few years when there are more birds in Northumberland, closer views may be possible, but I certainly would not recommend it as an "Osprey experience" at present!

[peterlevinr]

sorry but i disagree with the above post

as an experience i think you should take the whole day into consideration, ospreys at kielder are a bonus yes, and at least this time you will always be garaunteed to see osprey, even if over a distance.
was at the viewpoint yesterday and once the heat haze went credible views were given by the scopes, espescially the astro scope.
also some great info was given by the wardens on osprey and behaviour and how osperys came to be at kielder. although i do have reservations on the public truth of this.
i mean when you go somewhere to sight a particular bird you nearly always get the unexpected. yesterday got my first tawny own near bakethin dam, yellow wagtails, yellowhammer, sparrowhawk. on the way back home
so i would fully recommend a visit to the watchpoint, best on a weekend though when the scopes are there, unless you have your own of course.
also what we sometimes miss is the accessibility of the viewing point. if you do have difficulty bassenthwaite is out of the question - always has bee, but at kielder nothing more than a 2 min walk up a slight incline to the viewing point
just my thoughts

[Gavia101]

sorry but i disagree with the above post

I'm not saying don't go. It is simply that the view is very distant compared to other sites, such as Loch of the Lowes which I visited last year. By all means go up to Kielder & enjoy your day, but if people travel long distances just to see the Ospreys with a high expectation of getting excellent views of the birds, they may well be disappointed. There are plenty of other things to see & do in Northumberland, & there is a chance of getting a closer view of one of the birds fishing in the reservoir.

[craigthirlwell]

Hopper update.
He is still on the run. He spends most of his time around the Calvert Trust where people have been putting food out for him. The chances of catching him are slim, but these animals have a very good sense of smell so there is still a chance that he'll make his own way back, even more so if the 2 females at the centre come into season.

[salty]

had a good view of the bird sitting on the nest today, though there were no wardens there with scopes.

10x binoculars were a strain but views were managable, a guy came with a 30x scope though the heat haze made it hard to watch too long.