THE Lake District Osprey Project team have confirmed that the two ospreys currently nesting at Bassenthwaite are now looking after three eggs.

It is not known when the female laid the eggs but the team believes the first one was laid on Wednesday April 18. The female osprey is now spending most of her time on the nest, incubating her eggs, although she has been observed taking a bath in a nearby stream. The male, meanwhile, has been focusing his efforts on making the nest safe and secure, bringing in bits of moss, twigs and possibly even manure.

Incubation is carried out mainly by the female and takes between 37-42 days. The eggs are expected to hatch in late May or early June.

This year’s pairing at the lake is different from last season with the returning female, mating with a Bassenthwaite chick from 2007.

There is still no sign of the male osprey that is thought to have bred successfully at Bassenthwaite every year since 2001.

Ella Dixon of the Lake District Osprey Project said: “It is wonderful news that this new pairing has successfully mated and produced a clutch. We will now be waiting anxiously over the coming weeks, hoping that the chicks will hatch. There is always the risk that the older male will return and reassert his authority over his old territory by destroying the eggs.”

Visitors can get great views of the ospreys at the viewpoints at Dodd Wood, near Keswick where staff and volunteers are on hand with telescopes everyday from 10am-5pm until 2 September.

Over at the Forestry Commission’s Whinlatter Visitor Centre, near Braithwaite, there is an exhibition area dedicated to the ospreys with a live feed from a nest camera showing the female incubating her three eggs. The Centre is open daily from 10am to 5pm. Osprey fans can get the latest news at www.ospreywatch.co.uk, at www.facebook.com/ospreywatch, or by following on Twitter @LakesOspreys. The Lake District Osprey Project is a partnership between the Forestry Commission, the RSPB and the Lake District National Park.