Ospreys Over Bassenthwaite

==Background==It’s assumed that ospreys were extinct in England by 1840, and in Scotland by 1916. These graceful birds were persecuted for their audacity in daring to take fish from the lakes and streams of the landed classes. Their eggs were stolen by collectors and their migrations interrupted by southern European hunters. But in 1954 it was noticed that a breeding pair had returned to the Highlands of Scotland. ==Breeding Ospreys==Probably from a Scandinavian ancestry, these new birds built their distinctive nests and slowly began to expand. But it was painfully slow. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) at Loch Garten took an active role in protecting their nesting sites and even then, by 1976 there were only 14 breeding pairs. But the hard work of conservationists began to pay dividends. Twenty-four hour security for the nests helped fend off the egg thieves and by 1991 numbers had swelled to 71. With so many birds now making the long migration every year to West Africa, perhaps it was inevitable that some would find alternative places to breed, where competition for food was a bit less intense. In the mid 90s eagle-eyed Forestry Commission staff had noticed some birds were beginning to spend a little time each summer in the forests of Whinlatter, making their distinctive diving predatory fish grabs in the waters of Bassenthwaite Lake. A partnership between the Forestry Commission, the National Park and the RSPB was developed and the Osprey Project was born. In 2001 a pair bred at a nesting site in Thornthwaite Forest, the first in England for over 160 years and they have returned every year since then. ==Viewing Stations==To see them you’ll have to be in the right place at the right time. That means being somewhere on the slopes of Dodd, the shapely forested mountain above Bassenthwaite’s eastern shore, sometime between April and the end of August. You’ll find staff at the viewing stations with binoculars and telescopes to help you, and if you miss out, you can always watch the day’s highlights on TV up at the Whinlatter visitor centre. Ospreys are big business in this valley, but still a dramatic sight for all that. Away from the official viewing zones you may still catch a glimspe. These birds are not small – the female has a wingspan up to 5ft 7in (170cm), the males are slightly smaller. Their cry is a sharp ‘yeuk yeuk yeuk’ and they may drop as much as 44yds (40m) straight into the water to pluck out a medium sized fish. It’s an impressive sight and one that many people hope will only become more familiar as these amazing creatures fight their way back into our landscape.

From the car park at The Old Sawmill Tearoom, cross the bridge and follow the sign marked ‘All Trails’. Cut back left with the multicoloured trail marker and stay with these on a route heading back towards the road before cutting back into the woods to a junction. Cross to the path on the opposite side, now heading up less steeply. At a junction in front of a wooded crag turn right, continuing to ascend with red, green and blue trails. Climbing relentlessly, the path rises through the forest. Ignore the blue trail dropping off to the right (unless you’ve had enough already!) and continue now with just read and green on a more level path. Cross a beck and keep ahead, rising through an area of beech wood before descending to join a trail rising up from the valley below.

Turn left along this and stay with it past a junction on your right where the red and green route turns off. The track, with fading tarmac, enters a clear felled area and continues up the valley, now as a rougher forest track. At a craggy junction with a forest road from the left, continue ahead, keeping this direction past another junction with a track joining from the right. You’ve rejoined the green trail now heading for another junction at the col ahead.

Turn right here on the path directed to Dodd summit. It swings round the shoulder and a high balcony path gently edges up the slope. Rounding another bend a series of green posts lead left and right.

Take the right-hand option, up a zig-zagging path that in time tops out at the summit by a memorial cairn. Don’t be tempted to follow the ridge onward from here, instead, after soaking up the view, return to the junction passed earlier with the green post options. Now take the second option, walking out to a belvedere viewpoint.

In a dip just before it, a narrow path nips away to the right, soon revealing itself as your descent route. The zig-zag path brings you speedily down though young plantations before settling to a more gradual slide into more mature forest. Stay with green-topped posts as the path steepens then emerges on a wider trail. Turn right, along this trail descending steadily, turning left to rejoin the red markers again.

Keep ahead though at the next junction on the larger track, ignoring the red and green trail dropping down to the right. Reaching a wider forest road, turn right and follow it immediately swinging left. At the next junction, you’ll find the osprey viewpoint a few paces down the track to the left. To return to the tea room, turn right here and follow the osprey marker posts soon rejoining the red and green posts at a crossroads and keeping on down to the car park.