Osprey pair Blue 35 and White YW offspring- update

Osprey pair Blue 35 and White YW offspring- update

Three osprey chicks were ringed at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve recently © Danni Chalmers  

In anticipation of the return of our #FoulshawOsprey pair, Blue 35 and White YW, this month, here's an updated summary of the chicks they've raised together in the last nine years.

Since the #FoulshawOspreys breeding pair started nesting at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve in 2014 they've now (updated July 2023) successfully raised 27 chicks; 13 males and 14 females. 

All of our chicks are ringed before they fledge the nest. Sadly not all chicks make it this far: a chick died in the nest in 2016 and in 2020, and in 2019 an egg failed to hatch. 

Ringing the osprey chicks enables us to follow their progress as they grow up, nest and start to raise chicks of their own. Indeed one of our first chicks, Blue 7A, has been breeding at Esthwaite since 2017. 

It's fantastic when we get positive news that at least some of our other chicks have survived their first migration too – see the reported sightings in the table below.

Year RingCode/Name Gender Sightings
2023 Blue 8C3 Female (1.73kg)  
2023 Blue 8C2 Female (1.52Kg)  
2023 Blue 8C1 Male (1.45kg)  
2022 Blue 479 Female (1.8Kg)  
2022 Blue 480 Male (1.7Kg)  
2022 Blue 481 Male (1.4Kg  
2021 Blue 464 Male  
2021 Blue 462 Female May 2023 spotted on Foulshaw nest web cam visiting.   Seen off by Blue 35!
2021 Blue 463 Female  
2020 Blue410 (Yan) Female  
2020 Blue411 (Tan) Female  
2019 Blue 3N (Known as Biggie) Female  
2019 Blue 2N (Known as Tiny) Male  
2018 Blue 5N Male Sighted overwintering in the Gambia
2018 Blue 9N Female  
2018 Blue 7N Male Spotted wintering in southern Spain
2017 Blue U9 Male  
2017 Blue U0 Female  
2017 Blue N0 Male May 2020 filmed inspecting an occupied nest in Montogomeryshire Wildlife Trust Dyfi Reserve.  See film below
2016 Blue V8 Male Sighted again in the Gambia Autumn 2021
Spotted in the Gambia in January 2021 at Tanji Bird Reserve by Fansu Bojang.
Photographed at Leighton Moss in 2019
2016 Blue V9 Male  
2015 Blue V2 Female  
2015 Blue V3 Female Sighted at Kielder in 2017
2015 Blue V4 (Known as Little Chick) Male  
2014 Blue 5A Female  
2014 Blue 6A Female  
2014 Blue 7A Male Breeding at Esthwaite since 2017

Blue N0 visiting Dyfi reserve in Wales in May 2020 Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust

One of our 2017 brood back from migration and visiting a site at the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust Dyfi Reserve in May 2020

Image of the foulshaw moss breeding pair of ospreys - female on left and male on the right in 2015
Wildlife webcam

Osprey nest

Watch the osprey family in their nest at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve. They're usually at the nest site between March to early September.

Watch osprey webcam