The birds have flown...

Nothing to do with the opening of Parliament but the successful fledging of our two young ospreys. Jenny Cornell, one of our briliant volunteers who shares a passion for these birds of prey, tells us more about it.

This summer hasn’t been very kind to our osprey family. The nest has been soaked with endless rain and has frequently been battered by storm force winds. However, our ospreys have managed to thrive; White YW has brought in plenty of fish and Blue 35 has kept the young birds dry and safe.

The young are hunkered down on a stormy day. Mum skilfully flies in to remove a piece of bark precariously flapping in the wind. If you blinked you would have missed it.

Opportunities for wing exercising and strengthening, though, have been limited with very few calm, dry, sunny days for the youngsters to safely stretch those wings and try to take to the sky. So they have done amazingly well to successfully fledge with very little practice at just over seven weeks old.

Fledging is a hazardous time for the juvenile ospreys, so we watched with bated breath as they both took their first flights. It’s difficult to see where they go once they lift above the nest and their dangling talons disappear from camera view. Have they managed to land safely close by? We wait several minutes to see if they reappear, or perhaps we can hear them chirping off camera.

Blue 0C6 doing a lap of honour and Blue 0C5 trying hard.

0C6 was the first to fledge, safely flying off the nest on the 17 July.

And his brother 0C5 followed him one day later, succesfully fledging on 18 July.

As it turned out, they both seemed to have flown to the camera perch for their first attempt and then safely negotiated a return to the nest with a reasonably soft landing.

Even though the birds have fledged, they will stay close to the nest. They will still be dependent on the adult birds for catching and delivering their meals – and the meals will only be delivered to the nest. So, even as the young birds start to venture further afield, they will need to return to the nest to be fed.

If you have been watching the webcam, you’ll see that the young no longer need mum to feed them. They are learning to snatch the fish away from dad’s talons and feed themselves.

White YW will be busy over the next few weeks bringing in plenty of fish to build up the youngsters ready for their marathon journey at the end of the summer. Blue 35 also needs to regain weight and strength after nurturing the young over the past weeks. She will be the first of the family to leave for her wintering grounds – but not yet, she’ll still be with us a little longer.

Here are a couple of endearing clips of our osprey family and their adventures.

If you are lucky enough to live fairly close to Foulshaw Moss reserve, now is a good time to visit as you may get to see all four of the ospreys as they take to the sky. Keep an eye on the webcam too to see how these youngsters develop and get ready for their next adventure.