By James Johnson

Last updated at 13:11, Monday, 02 April 2012

An osprey has returned to its Cumbrian nesting site.

Osprey

The first osprey of the year was seen at the Lake District Osprey Project’s (LDOP) Bassenthwaite nest on Friday, and on Saturday the project opened to the public.

The female bird resembles an osprey that has nested in the area before but Barbara Thomson, information officer for the LDOP, is reluctant to identify the bird for certain until it has interacted with others.

She said: “It was very exciting. We started on Saturday and lo and behold there was an osprey spotted.

“We’ve seen her quite close and we are very pleased.

“Her markings look very like a familiar bird that we have had for the last four to five years.

“We were very pleased that it coincided with the opening - perhaps she knew.”

The bird has been catching and eating pike and Barbara believes this bodes well for the rest of the season.

The hope is that the same ospreys as last year will return and breed. Barbara added: “She’s been looking out for her mate in the sky so at the moment we are crossing our fingers.

“The bird we think is her mate will have been coming here for the past 11 years now and he’ll be around 15 or 16 which is a good age.

“Hopefully we will have another successful breeding season and see some chicks winging their way back to Africa.”

One of the reasons that it is difficult to predict when the ospreys will arrive for the season is changeable weather conditions during their 3,000-mile flight.

It can take between two and five weeks for the trip and this year strong winds in Spain have been holding some of the birds back.

First published at 11:29, Monday, 02 April 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk