Thursday 12 April 2012

Golden Eagle and Osprey! - 12th April 2012



Today I went up to Bassenthwaite Lake to see the Osprey pair on the nest. I have been twice before but both times, I arrived late so it was closed meaning I couldn't see the birds. Today I was able to get distant scope views of the female next to the nest, but this years male (one of her chicks from 2007) was absent during my visit. My 9th Osprey of the year, equalling last years record and it's only April 12th!

Last year, I also went up to Haweswater to see the famous Golden Eagle, but I had no idea where to look so failed miserably. This year however, I got a tip off of where to look and a 30 minute walk later, I scanned the horizon and caught site of a large bird gliding across the valley. It was the eagle! What a fantastic bird and a real privilege to watch England's only example of this impressive and majestic bird. As the bird displayed over the valley in an attempt to find a mate, I felt slightly saddened that this was almost a waste of effort as he will probably never find a mate and start up the English population once more. If it was up to me, I would love to translocate a young female from Scotland to keep this population going. It would be a great shame if my children and grandchildren will never be able to observe such a wonderful animal in their own country (unless I move to Scotland of course!)

A fantastic day!

2 comments:

Lancashire and Lakeland Outback Adventure Wildlife Safaris said...

He'd stand a far better chance if there wasn't so much persecution in southern and south central Scotand - allegedly

Hope he succeeds in finding a friend and they continue to spread throughout the Pennines and Wales vying with WTE for nest sites!

Cheers

Davo

Millhouse Photography said...

It is a real shame that a mate is not to be found. That bird is a 'legend' and you've found him! Somebody told me that they'd seen him but I was sceptical. What a trill it must have been. I agree - let's bring him a mate!