Excitement at ospreys lake return

It is the ninth year ospreys have been seen in the Lakes

A pair of well-known ospreys have returned to the Lake District after spending the winter in Africa, experts have confirmed.

The Lake District Osprey Project said it was the same birds of prey who nested at Bassenthwaite Lake in 2008.

It is the ninth year ospreys have been seen in the Lakes.

The presence of the birds attracts thousands of visitors with a viewpoint set up and live images from the nest shown on a video wall.

Bill Kenmir of the Lake District Osprey Project said: "This is the ninth year we have seen ospreys in the Lakes but we're always very excited when they fly back in again.

"The first sighting of ospreys in the area was on 31 March but we can now confirm that they are the same pair that were here last year."

The birds are a male which first nested in the area in 2001 and the female he paired up with in 2007 after his original partner failed to return.

In 2008, the birds moved to a new nest on the south eastern side of the lake and they have returned to that nest.

It is now hoped there will be a ninth successful nesting season. A team of volunteers will run a 24-hour nest guard to prevent any eggs from being stolen.