Osprey chicks have hatched at a South Cumbrian nature reserve for the 11th year running.
Parents Blue 35 and White YW, first nested at Foulshaw Moss in 2013 and a year later raised their first chicks there.
This year, three eggs were laid but one wasn’t viable and failed to hatch.
Paul Waterhouse, reserves officer for Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said: “This could be for a variety of reasons, the most likely cause in this case being bad weather or simply that the egg wasn’t fertilised properly.
“It’s unlikely to be down to disturbance because of the remote location of the nest. Due to timings, we think it might be the first-laid egg that hasn’t hatched, though we can’t be sure. Thankfully the other two osprey chicks appear to be healthy and strong.
“When there’s a third chick, it can struggle to compete for food with its older siblings and lag behind. With no third chick, there’s more food and less competition for the other two, so they should both do well this year.”
Last year, Cumbria Wildlife Trust celebrated 10 continuous years of ospreys breeding at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve. The adult pair have returned for 12 years running now, raising two or three chicks every year since 2014.
Paul added: “Ospreys are faithful to their nest site and their mate. They very rarely leave a living partner – if their mate doesn’t return from migration, they’ll find another partner to make sure that they have the opportunity to pass their genes on to a further generation.
“Adult ospreys can live up to 20 or 25 years, so hopefully we’ll see White YW and Blue 35 at Foulshaw Moss for a few more years!”
Blue 35 and White YW first came to Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve after it was transformed by a large-scale habitat restoration programme. Over a decade or so, the 900-acre site, which had been drained and used for commercial forestry and farming, was returned the healthy wetland you see now, which is teeming with wildlife.
The nature reserve is now home not only to migrating ospreys, but other birds of prey including peregrine and marsh harrier. In the summer months, it’s alive with dragonflies and butterflies, wetland-loving plants such as Sphagnum moss and bog rosemary, and adders and lizards can be seen basking in the sun.
Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve is open daily and is free to visit. It is located off the A590 near Witherslack.
