Ospreys...V6 and V7

First of all apologies to my followers as I have not posted for over a month. Various commitments at home have kept me away from the camera. Last week I did manage to get out with the camera and decided on a visit to Cumbria to see how the ospreys were faring.I made two trips north on the Tuesday and Friday.There was a little drizzly rain on the Tuesday and Friday didn't begin well with heavy rain and delays on the motorway.However all turned out well in the end and the results are shown in some of my images below.

The two young ospreys from the lakeside platform nest at Esthwaite had been ringed and had successfully fledged and were being seen in the vicinity of the nest.On both my visits I hired a rowing boat as the site was on private land and only distantly visible from the road on the opposite shore of the lake. It was a good decision as I was able to approach closely and quietly to the lakeshore where the young ospreys were active.

The birds spent some time on the platform nest awaiting the arrival of a parent bird with food but mostly they were perching up in lakeside trees calling for the parents.This provided some super opportunities for a careful approach with the camera and both V6 and V7 duly obliged.They would also from time to time fly around the area and again gave great opportunities for flight shots.Only once during my time on the lake did a parent return with food and this was taken up to the platform nest site out of range of the camera. It was a wonderful experience to be close to these magnificent birds and I wish them well for the future as they will be departing soon for their winter quarters in West Africa.Hopefully they will survive to return to the Lake District in a few years time when they will be ready to breed and continue the expansion of ospreys in the North of England.

Thanks for looking in and I will be back soon with regular postings from my travels.