Excitement as male osprey returns

Last year the pair raised three chicks

The annual excitement over the Lake District ospreys has started again after experts confirmed the male bird has returned.

The Lake District Osprey Project said the bird reached the Bassenthwaite Lake nest site on Monday after spending the winter in Africa.

Experts now face an anxious wait for the female's return amid hopes of a seventh successful nesting season.

Last year, the pair raised three chicks and attracted thousands of visitors.

Live pictures

A pair of ospreys first nested near Bassenthwaite in 2001, the first birds to do so for at least 150 years.

In 2006, the female arrived in Cumbria on 3 April and the male on 4 April.

Experts believe northerly winds and bad weather further south may have held up the birds during their migration from Africa.

Viewpoints are set up for people to watch the birds and last year 91,300 people visited.

At the Forestry Commission's Whinlatter visitor centre, near Braithwaite, there is an exhibition centre where live pictures from a camera overlooking the nest are shown.

The BBC Cumbria website also has a webcam and articles about the ospreys.