Double joy for osprey nest

9:05am Monday 11th June 2007

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THE pair of Lake District ospreys is celebrating double joy after two chicks hatched in their Bassenthwaite Lake nest at the weekend.

At dusk on Saturday, (June 9) the female osprey was peacefully incubating her three eggs in the nest overlooking the lake.

But in a surprise overnight development, the next morning, two tiny osprey chicks were spotted in the nest.

The first chick hatched out during the night and was first seen at 3.40 am, the second chick was spotted a few hours later.

Normally ospreys chick hatch out at least a day apart.

The news has thrilled staff at the Lake District Osprey Project who have been anxious that the arrival of a new female osprey very late in this year's breeding season, might result in no chicks hatched out this year.

In previous years, the chicks have hatched out before the end of May.

Graeme Prest of The Lake District Osprey Project said: "We have been waiting with baited breath for the first egg to hatch for the last few days so to wake up this morning and hear that there are two chicks in the nest is fantastic news.

"The male will now be kept very busy providing fish for the two chicks and his mate, and of course we are hoping that there will be a third chick."

The Lake District Osprey Project is a partnership between the Forestry Commission, the RSPB and the Lake District National Park Authority.

Everyone can follow the osprey story either by visiting the Whinlatter Forest Visitor Centre or Dodd Wood near Keswick, or going online.

At the Forestry Commission's Whinlatter Visitor Centre pictures beamed from the nest are screened on a giant videowall.

The pictures from a camera overlooking the nest can also be seen at www.ospreywatch.co.uk.

A public viewpoint is open at the Forestry Commission's Dodd Wood near Keswick, where osprey project staff set up telescopes between 10am and 5pm daily for visitors to watch the action as part of the RSPB's Aren't Birds Brilliant! initiative.