A milestone moment has been marked at a South Cumbrian nature reserve.
Three six-week-old osprey chicks have been tagged with ID rings at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve, near Witherslack. They are the offspring of Blue 35 and White YW, who have now successfully bred every year for a decade.
Paul Waterhouse, reserves officer for Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said: “It’s great to have ringed another brood of osprey chicks, for the 10th year running! So far, we’ve tagged a total of 27 osprey chicks at Foulshaw Moss.
“They were weighed by a licensed and experienced bird ringer and each chick was given a coloured ID leg ring. This year we have one male and two females. All three chicks are doing very well.
“Soon they’ll start to fledge and I’d urge anyone who hasn’t visited us yet this summer to come to Foulshaw Moss to see them. You’ve got a couple of months before these incredible birds of prey leave us for their long migration, most likely to west Africa.”
Paul said the tags were important as they allowed the birds to be identified and their movements tracked to help experts understand their history.
He added: “They have been fitted with metal rings, as part of the national bird ringing scheme and also a plastic coloured ring, which allows individual birds to be identified in the field using a telescope or telephoto camera. Thanks to these tags, we’ve had several sightings of Foulshaw Moss ospreys around the world, in particular in the Gambia.
“Due to increasing cases of avian influenza across the country, we’ve been following guidance from the British Trust for Ornithology while carrying out our ringing operation this season. Although ospreys are considered low risk for the disease, it’s always best to put procedures in place to reduce any risk.”
You can watch the ospreys live at https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife/cams/osprey-cam
