THE only osprey chick to hatch in the north Lakes has taken her first shaky flights.

The female delighted visitors to the Lake District Osprey Project (LDOP) at Bassenthwaite, as she spread her wings for the first time - accompanied by her mum.

The bird is the only chick to have hatched at the project this year, after regular male Unring mated with a new female.

His mate of a number of years failed to show last year and he did not find a new one in time, so project organisers were delighted when he mated with the new bird this summer.

However, this female opted not to use the same nest as that used in past years, and so osprey fans have not been able to monitor progress via the nestcam.

The chick, known as Blue 400, took her first tentative flights just eight weeks after hatching.

Barbara Thomson, from the LDOP, said: “She did a few wobbly circuits flying over her mum’s head. Then mum accompanied her back to the nest, flying over her to keep her in view.

“She had been practising wing-flapping hard over the previous couple of weeks, strengthening her muscles but we had not seen her do much ‘helicoptering’ which the young birds usually do first, so it came as a welcome surprise when she took off so suddenly.”

At the end of the summer, it is expected the youngster will migrate to Africa, where ospreys spend the winter months.

Barbara added: “Now is the perfect time for visitors to come and see the young osprey taking to the air.

“She is learning to use her powerful wings and will be making lots of short flights around the area to build up her strength, ready to make her first incredible migration in just a few weeks’ time.”

A dedicated team of staff and volunteers can be found at the osprey viewpoints at Dodd Wood, which are open every day from 10am to 5pm until August 31.

Osprey fans around the world can also get the latest news at ospreywatch.co.uk, at facebook.com/ospreywatch, or by following @lakelandosprey on Twitter.

To help support the project, which has attracted more than 1.5m visitors since it started, people can also donate at justgiving.com/lakesospreys

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