BIRD-LOVERS are eagerly awaiting the return of the pair of ospreys which successfully nested and reared a chick in the Lake District last year.

After a winter spent in West Africa, the fish-eating birds of prey - the first wild ospreys to breed in England for more than 150 years - are expected to return to their nest near Bassenthwaite Lake within the next couple of weeks.

In preparation for their return, the public viewing point at Dodd Wood, near Keswick, has been enhanced and security stepped up to cope with the anticipated 50,000 visitors who will flock to have a look at the birds.

A camera has also been fixed to a tree overlooking last year's nest site meaning live pictures from the nest will be transmitted to the Forestry Commission's Whinlatter Visitor Centre.

The video link - paid for by a £21,000 donation from English Nature - should provide a unique insight into the private life of the birds, capturing the birds egg-laying, hatching, and hoped for first flight of the chick.

Pictures beamed from the nest will also help project staff monitor the day-to-day activities of the birds and protect the nest.

"This is a very special opportunity for people to see these spectacular bird at close quarters, and provides an exciting alternative to watching ospreys from the open-air facilities at Dodd Wood," said Graeme Prest, of the Forestry Commission.

Mr Prest said he was 90 per cent sure that the birds, which mate for life, would return to the nest within weeks.

It is hoped that the chick, which has also migrated to Africa, will return to the area where it hatched to breed by 2004.

This could enable the Lakes site to follow the example of Loch Garten, in Scotland, where there are now 140 pairs of ospreys, with the population built up after a single pair of ospreys bred in 1954.

Last year, news of the re-colonisation of the ospreys attracted an audience of 25,000 people in just ten weeks, and it is expected the visitor numbers will double this year.

As soon as the ospreys return, the viewing point will re-open, giving visitors the chance to watch the birds fishing in Bassenthwaite Lake, and view the nest site by binoculars.

The nest site is managed by the Lake District Osprey Project - a partnership which consist of the Forestry Commission, the Lake District National Park Authority, and the RSPB.