A new osprey has settled in at a South Cumbrian nature reserve.
The male – named Blue 476 – has landed in a second nest at Foulshaw Moss nature reserve, near Grange-over-Sands and is patiently waiting for a female to join him.
Cumbria Wildlife Trust, who own the reserve, said Blue 476 is a local lad, having hatched at a private site in the Lake District in 2021.
The Trust added that while he’s been hanging around on his lonesome, they believe he won’t be on his own for much longer.
The Trust added it is also expecting some interaction between Blue 476, his future mate and the reserve’s original resident ospreys.
While the second nest on the reserve doesn’t have live cameras to view Blue 476’s activities just yet, the Trust has installed a second viewing hide on the eastern side of the reserve.
The Trust said they did this after several ospreys came to scout out the second nest last year.
While people are welcome to visit the reserve to view the ospreys, the Trust said people should be aware of a few things before visiting.
Osprey nests are vulnerable to disturbance and the nest is quite close to the reserve’s boardwalk.
The new hide has been built for visitors to use to safely view the nest and people are asked to use it respectfully and take other visitors into account.
While there are currently no live cameras set up on the new nest, the Trust said it does have some camera footage, which it will share at a later date.
The reserve’s long-term osprey residents are believed to fly to West Africa or Europe during the winter before returning to Foulshaw Moss in the summer for nesting season.
All chicks are ringed by Cumbria Wildlife Trust before they fledge the nest so as they grow, their progress can be tracked as they nest and raise chicks of their own.
Sadly not all chicks make it, one chick died in 2016 and in 2020 and 2019 and in 2024, an egg failed to hatch.
But one of the site’s first chick’s born in 2014 has been breeding since 2014 – meaning ospreys have used Foulshaw Moss as a breeding site for over a decade.
Foulshaw Moss car park is also small and gets full quickly. Bike racks are available and the reserve can be accessed via public transport.
If the car park is full, people are asked to return at a later time or date. The access road to the reserve is narrow an doesn’t have passing places.
Blue 35 and her White YW can also be watched on the Trust’s Foulshaw osprey web camera, which is funded by public donations.
