Bassenthwaite Osprey Watch 2012 (1 Viewer)

[HelenB]

The Lake District Osprey Project opens on 31st March, 2012 - only 3 weeks away!

This year the LDOP team have been constructing a new nest platform, with cameras, on a pole fixed to the tree used last year. The site is in a marshy area at the southern end of Bassenthwaite Lake. Last year's nest blew down in a storm after all the Ospreys had left. The Wildlife Room at the Whinlatter Visitor Centre has been refurbished, too.

Photos can be seen on the Daily Diary photostream here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ospreywatch/

Another piece of interesting news: chick no. 12, which was fitted with a satellite transmitter in the 2010 season, is still being tracked on his wintering grounds in The Gambia. He should be returning to the UK this year, but has not left yet. See the tracking map of his activities on the Daily Diary - link above.

I will be updating our Opus page for Bassenthwaite Lake with news of the Ospreys throughout their stay in the Lake District this season.

 

[Tiger_mz]

Thanks for the new thread Helen. It all kicks off so soon!

 

[June Atkinson]

Welcome news

Thanks for this good news - all sounds promising and exciting.

We're all waiting for the ospreys to return to their various home grounds:
Bassenthwaite, Kielder, Loch of the Lowes and Loch Garten.

We appreciate your up-dates, Helen.

The Lake District Osprey Project opens on 31st March, 2012 - only 3 weeks away!

This year the LDOP team have been constructing a new nest platform, with cameras, on a pole fixed to the tree used last year. The site is in a marshy area at the southern end of Bassenthwaite Lake. Last year's nest blew down in a storm after all the Ospreys had left. The Wildlife Room at the Whinlatter Visitor Centre has been refurbished, too.

Photos can be seen on the Daily Diary photostream here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ospreywatch/

Another piece of interesting news: chick no. 12, which was fitted with a satellite transmitter in the 2010 season, is still being tracked on his wintering grounds in The Gambia. He should be returning to the UK this year, but has not left yet. See the tracking map of his activities on the Daily Diary - link above.

I will be updating our Opus page for Bassenthwaite Lake with news of the Ospreys throughout their stay in the Lake District this season.

 

[Goldfinch12]

Love going up there in the summer .

 

[June Atkinson]

Osprey reported back at Bassenthwaite on 10th March

In BirdGuides, I read that one of the Bassenthwaite ospreys has returned this week.

 

[HelenB]

In BirdGuides, I read that one of the Bassenthwaite ospreys has returned this week.

Thanks for the news, June. I've checked the LDOP websites and they haven't updated either of them yet. Perhaps the Osprey was just passing through.

 

[christineredgate]

Thanks Helen.

 

[HelenB]

Still no news of returning Ospreys on the Daily Diary or LDOP main website.

 

[Seatallen]

Have just seen on the BBC News website that the Rutland ospreys are back so hopefully the Bassenthwaite ospreys won't be too far behind.

 

[HelenB]

The LDOP posted on their Facebook page that Opsreys were seen over Wythop Forest and Derwentwater on Wednesday, 28th March, so hopefully Mr & Mrs No-Ring will be back soon.

 

[HelenB]

30th March - an Osprey was seen perched near the new nest site, eating a freshly caught fish, but didn't stay long enough to be identified by the LDOP staff who were preparing for the opening of the new season on Saturday, 31st March.

 

[HelenB]

3rd April - the female Osprey has been photographed on the new nest. See the Facebook feed here: http://www.facebook.com/ospreywatch

 

[captaincarot]

3rd April - the female Osprey has been photographed on the new nest. See the Facebook feed here: http://www.facebook.com/ospreywatch

good news

 

[June Atkinson]

good news

I have posted a short message on Facebook. The Team at Bassenthwaite deserve all the praise and publicity we can give them.

 

[Goldfinch12]

Has a Osprey from a previous hatching returned to the nest?

 

[Tiger_mz]

Has a Osprey from a previous hatching returned to the nest?

That is what I heard. In 2008 Laby at Loch of the Lowes returned with one of her sons in tow.

 

[HelenB]

I've just updated the Opus Bassenthwaite page with this news, taken from the Ospreywatch Facebook page

9th April: a male Osprey arrived at the nest, but it is not No-Ring. The photo from the webcam has shown that this bird is ringed and he is White YV, a chick from the 2007 Bassenthwaite brood!
10-11th April: YV is still at the nest and has been mating with the female - they are continuing to prepare for the breeding seaon. Still no sign of No-Ring!

I can't remember the complete history of the 2 females that No-Ring has had, but I think he could be this female's son!

 

[HelenB]

Reading through the recent Daily Diary postings, I've confirmed that Mrs is YV's mother. He and 2 siblings were hatched in the original nest in Wythop Woods on the opposite side of the lake from the Viewpoints, in 2007. YV and his sister YU have been seen in the Lakes over the last 2 years, but the other male chick, YT, has not been seen since he left for Africa in the Autumn of 2007. The Facebook page has not been updated since 11 April.

Daily Diary mentions that last year's No 12 is still in West Africa. I wonder when he will make his first journey back north. Perhaps he's heard about the freezing wet weather in Cumbria at the moment!

 

[Farnboro John]

Is it time for an Osprey-tempting nest pole elsewhere in the Lakes, or is it considered that at present there are only enough birds to keep one site going?

John

 

[HelenB]

Is it time for an Osprey-tempting nest pole elsewhere in the Lakes, or is it considered that at present there are only enough birds to keep one site going?

John

Apparently 2 Bassenthwaite chicks have met up and bred somewhere else in Cumbria. They are actually half-siblings, male Green 5Y (mother SX) from the 2006 nest and White YU (mother Mrs and sister of YV) from the 2007 nest. The nest failed in 2010, but they bred successfully in 2011. For security reasons there is no information on the Daily Diary or their Facebook page about where the nest was.