Bakethin Raptor Viewpoint (1 Viewer)

Coming up to Northumberland for a week hoilday and I know there meant to a Raptor Viewpoint in kielder water roughly in the Bakethin reservoir area and i was wondering if anyone could point me in thr right direction for where to go and places to park if not a local secret many thank

There is a live feed from Kielder castle, not sure where the watchpoint is but I seem to recall signs near Bakethin weir on the north side.

You may want to keep an eye on this blog for latest news : https://kielderospreys.wordpress.com/

The viewpoint best to use (at least to view the Osprey nest) is Mounces Viewpoint at NY656887 - you will need a scope though as the nest is c.1.5km to the north.

Thanks for the import i read there was a viewpoint where a chance of seeing Goshawk but could be wrong as it was 2nd hand information

Mounces is as good as any other place to see Goshawk but it may well be a little late as I doubt there will be any display by now.

I had cracking views of Osprey from the Leaplish waterside park on Wednesday,from what i gather the nest is miles away but one bird twice flew right across the water to fish on the Leaplish side flying right over me in the process.

a_j_steele said:

Thanks for the import i read there was a viewpoint where a chance of seeing Goshawk but could be wrong as it was 2nd hand information

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The Bakethin Raptor Viewpoint is virtually redundant now as the surrounding trees have not thinned out enough to maintain good visibility. As Alan says Monces Viewpoint is as good a place as any at Kielder to see Gos, although you are probably going to struggle at this time of year. At least the Ospreys should be showing well, and there is always the chance of a Gos. The Osprey nest can also be viewed from Leaplish - along the reservoir shore just past the bird/squirrel feeding station hide. I consider the views from Leaplish to be better than those from Mounces Viewpoint.

There's still plenty of Crossbills at Kielder at the moment, along with Siskins & Lesser Redpolls. Raptor wise you will see plenty of Buzzards and there is always a chance of something else, such as Merlin or Peregrine. Bakethin Reservoir (at the northern end of the Reservoir) is always worth a look - best viewed from the viaduct on the eastern edge or Bakethin Weir, although there is also a hide on the western shore. I also always have a look off the dam. Although there are rarely any birds at this end of the reservoir, this ara of water has attracted the likes of divers, grebes, Sandwich Tern, skuas and Kittiwake in the past.

Cheers
Paul

The Bakethin Raptor Viewpoint is now redundant. Forestry Commission have removed the signs that indicated it's location and have put a barrier across the bottom of the track that you used to be able to drive up to get to it, in order to discourage any use of that viewpoint.

Gos is relatively easy in February/March...and then gets really difficult. I was watching an active nest site in early May and saw a grand total of no birds. Your best chance at this time of the year will be during interaction between a territorial male and other raptor species, so watch any raptor you see carefully, particularly if it's drifting across a plantation.

cheers
martin

I find that the best place to see raptors at Kielder is here.....

http://www.kwbopc.com/

Fantastic views of Gos, GE, Merlin, WTSE all without a scope