HUNDREDS of people are expected to flock to the Lake District as the area's most famous birds have landed safely back on home turf.

After a 3,000-mile flight from west Africa, the ospreys have returned to Bassenthwaite Lake to the nest they have called home for the past two years.

The male bird landed home on April 8, followed more than one week later by his female companion.

Bill Kenmir, of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said the predators' return had been eagerly anticipated. "The return of the long-distance migrants such as ospreys is never guaranteed and the arrival of these fabulous birds back in the Lakes has been anxiously awaited.

"It is fantastic to have news of their return. The ospreys captured the imagination of tens of thousands of people and have come to represent all that is most special about the Lake District," he said.

It is now hoped the birds of prey, who are busy spring cleaning the nest, will settle down to breed.

An army of willing volunteers is ready to start a three-month vigil to protect the nest from the greedy hands of egg thieves.

The migrating predators first nested at Bassenthwaite in 2001 when they raised one chick and the pair returned last year to rear two chicks.

The ospreys were first lured to the Lake District in 2001 following several years' work by the Lake District Osprey Project a partnership between the Forestry Commission, the Lake District National Park Authority and the RSPB to encourage the birds to nest in the area.

The Forestry Commission's North West England forest district manager Graeme Prest said the project was "going from strength to strength."

"We are thrilled to see the ospreys back in the Lake District again this year and we hope they will now settle down and lay eggs," he said.

The viewpoint at Dodd Wood, near Keswick, is now open for eager eyes to have a peek at the birds without disturbing them. Live pictures of the ospreys will also be beamed straight from the nest to Whinlatter Visitor Centre.

Footage of the pair can also be seen on the Lake District Osprey Project website at http://www.ospreywatch.co.uk.

April 24, 2003 15:00