Ospreys have returned to Foulshaw Moss, our wetland nature reserve near Witherslack.

Once again, there’s been a lot of drama surrounding their arrival. On Saturday 28 March, White YW (male), one half of the long-standing breeding pair, returned but there was no sign of his mate Blue 35.

Keen osprey-watchers were on tenterhooks, waiting for over a week for the return of the female Blue 35, wondering whether she’d come back this year. At 18 years old, it’s possible the pair are approaching the end of their breeding life, and each long migration can be treacherous. 

However, she arrived back in spectacular style on Monday 6 April, seeing off a younger female interloper (Blue 717) who had temporarily taken up home on the nest.

There’s a second osprey nest at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve, where Blue 717 now seems to be settling, possibly with Blue 474, a five-year-old male who has also been spotted on the osprey cam.  

Keziah Taylor, Assistant Reserves Officer for Cumbria Wildlife Trust said: “It’s great to welcome back the ospreys at Foulshaw Moss. It’s always a nail-biting time for us until they get here and we’re obviously delighted that our long-standing breeding pair are once again reunited on the nest. We’ve also been intrigued to watch other younger ospreys on the second nest and look forward to seeing how this season will unfold. This year we’re excited to announce that we’ll have live osprey cams on both nests, so whatever’s in store, you can keep up-to-date with it all. 

“Last year, we went from one drama to the next, with the experienced pair being joined for the first time by young newcomers who became first-time parents; the excitement of eggs on both nests and the sadness of losing two chicks, though four in total survived. And to cap it all, at the end of the summer, a young intruder appeared on the first nest and, unusually, was fed by the veteran White YW – it was fascinating behaviour to watch. There was never a dull moment!”

Read our blog about last year’s osprey season here.

Blue 35 and White YW first came to Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve in 2013 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, was returned to the healthy wetland you see now, which is teeming with wildlife. 

Blue 35 and White YW have bred every year at Foulshaw Moss since 2014. A younger pair, Blue 476 and Blue 717, first arrived at the nature reserve in 2025 and bred in the same year.          

The second osprey nest is quite close to the boardwalk and is vulnerable to disturbance, so visitors are asked to be aware of this when they visit. We've built a hide nearby to view the new nest from and ask everyone to use this hide respectfully, taking other visitors’ experiences into account.

The car park at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve is quite small and gets full quickly. If you’re able to, please access it via public transport – you’ll find information about this on our website. There are also bike racks available.  

If you do arrive in a car and find that the car park is full, please return at a later time or date. The access road to the nature reserve is narrow and doesn’t have passing places, so please drive carefully and expect that you may need to reverse to help others pass.  

Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve is open daily, free of charge. It’s located off the A590 near Witherslack.

To view the ospreys close up, watch our 24-hour live streaming osprey cams.  

Use #FoulshawOspreys to join the osprey conversation on social.