Lake's ospreys hatch first chick

Thousands of people have seen the ospreys on the Internet

The first osprey chick of the season has hatched at a nest in Cumbria after an anxious five-week wait.

Staff from the Lake District Osprey Project at Bassenthwaite Lake, near Keswick, got their first glimpse of a chick at 1700 BST on Friday.

They were alerted by a change in behaviour by the adult birds.

Ospreys usually lay three eggs and the project team monitoring the nest is hoping that more chicks will hatch in the next few days.

A 24-hour guard had been mounted to protect the nest from egg thieves or other disturbances.

Live images

The osprey nest is the only one known in the north of England this year.

Pete Barron of The Lake District Osprey Project, said on Saturday: "We are thrilled that at least one egg has successfully hatched and that the ospreys are raising young.

"Every chick reared in the Lake District is a potential new recruit to the English population of ospreys, bringing the prospect of even more people seeing these brilliant birds a little closer."

The ospreys have been using the Bassenthwaite nest since 2001, which marked a natural recolonisation of England by the birds after an absence of at least 150 years.

They have raised four young since they first nested.

There are public viewpoints near Keswick and live images from a camera overlooking the ospreys' nest can be seen on a screen at he Forestry Commission's Whinlatter Visitor Centre as well as on the Internet.