A month after osprey ‘Blue 35’ laid three eggs in her nest at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve in south Cumbria, one of the chicks has hatched, with the other two expected to hatch at any moment.
It's the third clutch of chicks the osprey pair has produced after they successfully fledged three chicks last year.
Ospreys are loyal to their mate and the site where they nest, and staff from Cumbria Wildlife Trust were happy to see the same couple return to the nature reserve which lies just off the A590 near Witherslack again this year.
On most days a telescope is available for visitors to see the osprey nest first hand.
Live footage from Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s web camera has also been popular this year, with people all over the world watching each significant moment, from return of the osprey pair from their wintering grounds in Africa or southern Europe, to the eggs being laid and attacks from other birds.
Simon Thomas, Reserve Officer for Cumbria Wildlife Trust says: “Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve is a good location to raise chicks, with a choice of fishing locations.
"The ospreys aren't just eating flatfish from the Kent Estuary, as I had assumed.
"The cameras are showing coarse fish and trout and small salmon, and I know they have been flying inland into both Cumbria and North Lancashire but we don’t know that much about where they are fishing.
"We would love to hear when and where people see them fishing.”
Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve is open to visitors and free to enter, and can be found off the A590 near Witherslack.
Live footage from the nest can be viewed here.