THERE is huge delight as a nature reserve is celebrating the arrival of osprey chicks.

Members of the Lake District Osprey Project, base at Whinlatter Visitor Centre in Dodd Wood, say they are overjoyed at the news - especially after disappointment last year.

Details of the addition were revealed in a social media by the group post.

“We are pleased to announce we have chicks,” it read.

“Like every expectant parent will know, the wait for the signs of new life is filled with a mixture of anticipation and nerves.

“Staff and volunteers alike have been feeling like that over the last couple of weeks.

“The first sign of our young female dipping her head down with fish was the sign we were waiting for.

“Mum is doing a great job of feeding and sheltering the new arrivals.”

The positive news comes after a long, anxious five-week wait by the team for signs of any newborns in the nest.

Annabel Rushton, from the Lake District Osprey Project, told the News & Star: “We’re delighted to have seen behaviour from our adult ospreys that shows they’re feeding at least one chick.

“Last year, our regular female ‘KL’ unfortunately didn’t return and although our regular male ‘Unring’ mated with a new female, they sadly didn’t raise young.

“This year Unring has a new female and they have successfully bred.”

Annabel added that the team didn’t have any footage of the ospreys this year as they didn’t have a nest camera.

“There are a number of Osprey nest platforms around Bassenthwaite that were installed to encourage Osprey breeding,” she explained.

“It’s the female Osprey who chooses the nest site and the previous female KL had the nest which we had the camera on.

“However, this new female chose a new platform so it means we don’t have the camera this year.

“We will continue to watch the nest closely and would love to see people coming to the viewpoints at Dodd Wood to spot these incredible birds.”

The upper and lower viewpoints at Dodd Wood are open until August 31 for visitors to come and see the birds for themselves.

For more details about the osprey project, visit www.ospreywatch.co.uk