The Ospreys

So the Journey progresses. And, it's still raining. I know I'll head over to Bassenthwaite and see if I can catch a glimpse of the Ospreys that are nesting there. 

I've checked out the location of the viewpoint on the web it's just a matter of finding the place. 

Didn't prove too difficult. Head North up the right hand side of Bassenthwaite Lake on the A591 and it's signposted into an offical looking car park that serves a local country house too. From memory it's about  £1.50 per 90 mins so it ain't cheap. Dodd Wood is the location. Once parked head up the hill on the top left hand corner of the car park between the cafe and the toilets. 

It's a steep walk up to the viewpoint but it's only 10 minutes from the car park. It's even steeper if you choose to do it twice by checking it our first and then coming back for your cameras. Word of advice take the kit with you. It'll save a world of pain later.

Once I got up there the RSPB Ospreywatch team were there. They'd set up some scopes overlooking the nest and you could see the nest and Mummy Osprey on it. It was however about a kilometre and a half from where we were standing so unless you could log your camera into the Hubble telescope, the nest was out of the reach of most standard photokit. I'd even say that digiscoping probably wouldn't have given much reward. But hey, never mind I've seen an Osprey.

Now you'll recall I mentioned earlier that I had to go back for my kit. I did this because below the viewpoint were some bird feeders and regular visitors to these was a Jay and a Red Squirrel, neither of which I've photographed before. Or, if I have, they were blurred and I've thrown then away.

Got some nice shots of the Squirrel but the Jay wasn't so good, but hey, ho they can be improved when I next try and photograph them. I used the 50-500mm lens to capture the images. and didn't bring either Sigma converter on this trip which was a bit of a mistake. So instead of getting close ups I defaulted to environmental shots of them. Good thinking!

I spent a couple of hours there and ended up ringing ahead to my boarding hopuse for the night to let them know I was going to arrive a little later than planned.

Eventually off to the digs in Ambleside where they recommended a local hostelry the Unicorn for good food and even better beer. Best get there early or book in advance if you're desparate for food as it's quite a small place.

Then off to kip on the softest matress in the world while looking forward to tomorrows fun.

Next post recalls my foray into the wild to try and catch up with Englands only Golden Eagle.