‘And now for something completely different’, as they used to say on Monty Python.

Until now our visits have concentrated on the past and buildings, matters Roman and old castles and historic houses. This visit was concerned with the future and nature. We were off for our first visit to Kielder Water. We’d heard lots about Kielder over the years but had never got around to making the detour off the A69. We set the trusty Sat Nav and followed the route we were told, arriving after an hour or so driving. As we passed several sites at the side of the water we began to be concerned that maybe we’d set the wrong postcode for our destination. However, all was well and we arrived at Kielder Waterside.

The helpful lady in the shop/information confirmed we’d come to the place we intended, and we went for our usual coffee and scones. Shock! Horror! No scones! Plenty of nice looking cakes but we don’t do cake in the morning, so we settled for toast.

We walked up to ‘The Bike Place’ where Martin was waiting for us with our two electric bikes. Yes, we know, what are two active septuagenarians doing with electric bikes? The answer is having a go with a view to the future. Martin gave us a tour of the controls which are the same as a normal bike with the extra facility to be able to select how much help one wants from the electric motor. One can of course use these machines as an ordinary bike, although it has to be said they are rather heavy, and if you don’t pedal you don’t get any assistance. It does seem a bit odd to begin with but very quickly you get used to it and can start to enjoy the ride. We went around a pathway in the trees and sailed up inclines that would have seen us getting off and pushing a standard bike. Next a trip round the side of the reservoir out in the open and covering considerably more distance than without the electric bike. I have to confess that I’m hooked on these bikes now, although it still feels like cheating, but it does mean one can cover much greater distances, ride up hills that would make one suffer, keep up with younger and fitter riders. All this without getting hot and sweaty, and one can really enjoy the views.

Reluctantly we gave our bikes back and went for our appointment with Milly to find out about The Ospreys. There are telescopes set up to see a nest across the water but at in excess of two miles there is not too much to see, however there is a camera set up on the nest and a live feed into a hut where one can see the actual nest itself. The nest is built on a man-made platform that is the size of a double bed. Milly is extremely knowledgeable on all things osprey and told us more things than our old minds can remember but we’ll try to relate what we can remember. Osprey’s favourite food is trout but they will also fly to the coast on occasion and catch sea fish, regrettably we didn’t see any diving for fish. Apparently, ospreys can rotate their rear talons so that they can carry caught fish like a torpedo in order to reduce wind resistance. Additionally, their eyes are adapted to allow for refraction so that when they dive they see the fish where they are, not where our eyes would think they are, nature surely is an incredible thing.

There are other nests in Kielder with chicks, and it is a success story that so many are returning each year to breed. We were amazed to be told that the parents leave the nest before the chicks and leave them to make their own way to Africa. Also, the parent birds spend the winter apart and fly separately back to Kielder but they arrive within days of each other. How do they do that, we can’t arrive for coffee at the same time if we separate in Morpeth? The chicks stay in Africa until they are ready to breed but hopefully they will return to Kielder for many years to come.

Speaking of returning to Kielder, one visit is nowhere near enough so we will be returning to Kielder to see much more. We returned home via a different route, not by choice but due to misunderstanding the sat nav, but hey it was nice to see somewhere different.

Photo credit: Forestry Commission England

Ospreys have now been stalking the fish of Kielder, on the doorstep of Northumberland National Park, for 10 years. Katy Barke of the Northumberland Wildlife Trust takes a look…. #summerofbeauty

The return of ospreys to Kielder is one of our most exciting and successful conservation stories. Although ospreys are found worldwide, in the UK they are still relatively scarce with fewer than 300 breeding pairs. In England, ospreys breed only in Cumbria, Kielder (both natural re-colonisations) and Rutland Water (a successful translocation project).

2018 marks the tenth year that ospreys have bred at Kielder Water & Forest Park, situated on the doorstep of the Northumberland National Park.

Historically, ospreys were distributed widely throughout Britain, however heavy persecution and egg collection in the 19^th and 20^th centuries resulted in dramatic population declines. They became extinct as a breeding bird in England by 1840 and persisted in Scotland only until 1916, although they still occurred as passage migrants. Ospreys remained functionally extinct in Britain until 1954, when they re-colonised naturally (most likely from Scandinavia) at Loch Garten, Abernethy Forest Reserve, Scotland.

For many years, Kielder has been a regular stopping point for ospreys migrating to and from their breeding grounds in Scotland. In 2006, a young male was seen to be summering in the local area, prompting the Forestry Commission to establish nesting platforms at various suitable points within the Kielder Forest area. In 2008, one of the platforms was moved and additionally splattered with white paint to simulate osprey droppings from recent use. In 2009, a platform was occupied by an unringed pair of ospreys who raised three chicks. These were the first ospreys to breed in Northumberland for around 200 years. Since 2016, Kielder has been home to four active osprey nests.

Once the birds had established themselves, it was clear that we needed to share them with visitors. For a number of years, Northumberland Wildlife Trust have run Osprey Watch from Northumbrian Water’s Kielder Waterside, a busy and popular family holiday park on the edge of Kielder Water. Osprey Watch is almost entirely volunteer led. Typically, there will be three volunteers working on an Osprey Watch day, showing visitors nest 1A through the scopes and manning the cabin with live video streams from three of the nests to further explain the lives and stories of these fantastic birds.

The Heritage Lottery Funded Living Wild at Kielder project has enabled us to employ a seasonal osprey assistant in 2017 and 2018. This has allowed us to extend the season, offering extra days of Osprey Watch and additional family activities. Visitor numbers more than doubled in 2017, compared to the previous year. One of the best things about the location of our Osprey Watch is that a large proportion of our visitors are not people who would consider themselves to be particularly interested in wildlife or birdwatching, but who have come over to see what we’re all about as part of their day out at Kielder Waterside. It’s always a treat to see families learning and enjoying themselves with our passionate volunteers, and who knows what kind of spark we may be setting off in the young people who get to see these magnificent animals for the first time…

Photo credit: Neil Denham

To further expand the osprey watching opportunities at Kielder, we’ve teamed up with Calvert Trust Kielder, which is a wonderful charity that challenge disability through outdoor adventure activities. Through the summer, Calvert Trust Kielder offers wildlife and osprey cruises for visitors, and our volunteers act as guides on the boat. Although it can’t ever be guaranteed, there is a high success rate for these cruises seeing ospreys flying overhead, and sometimes fishing in the inlets of the reservoir. £3 from each ticket sold is donated to Osprey Watch, to help make it sustainable. Calvert Trust Kielder has also offered us invaluable advice in constructing a platform at the Osprey Watch cabin and adapting a tripod to make sure that wheelchair users are able to use the scopes to view the birds on the nest.

2017 saw a landmark achievement for the Kielder ospreys, with the 50^th chick fledging since the ospreys recolonised. Chicks from previous years have been seen at several locations in the UK, including the Lake District, Balgavies Loch, Geltsdale and Derwent Reservoir, which is great news for the further recovery of the osprey in the UK.

Kielder Osprey Watch is a partnership betweenKielder Water & Forest Park Development Trust, Northumberland Wildlife Trust, Forestry Commission, Northumbrian WaterandCalvert Trust Kielder. To keep up to date with our ospreys, visit the blog at kielderospreys.wordpress.com/

This first appeared on the Campaign for National Parks blog as part of their #summerofbeauty campaign.