HD footage of some of the Foulshaw Moss osprey viewpoint nest webcam highlights from the past 2 weeks.  

#FoulshawOspreys

The grass has been growing taller, & the ospreys have been making the nest sides taller, presumably as a buffer against the freezing wind and driving rain we have had all month. 

At the end of the video you will see we have had to change the camera angle, as the ospreys have been slowly building themselves out of shot. The new picture also shows the dead tree where the male often roosts, so keep an eye out for him. 

We definitely have 3 eggs, as we thought. Both birds have been taking it in turns to incubate them whilst the other hunts for fish. There has been lots of resting in the roost tree and the nest tree, so they appear to be finding plenty of food.

The female has been seen leaving the eggs several times for up to 2 minutes, to go and pester the male into taking over (but with rather limited success). She must be getting hungry sitting up there on cold windy days. She can also be seen snatching fish from him and flying off.

Ospreys aren't just eating flatfish from the Kent Estuary, as I had assumed. The cameras are showing coarse fish & trout/small salmon, and I know they have been flying inland into both Cumbria and N. Lancs. We know very little about where they fish, so please do send all local osprey sightings to Cumbria Wildlife Trust, ideally with the date and time so I can look for patterns & see if they relate to the tides.

For those who want to see the newly reintroduced white faced darter dragonflies at Foulshaw Moss, the first ones of the year emerged a week ago, and they should be on the wing through June and July. It's been too cold to see them on territory around the pools, but several have been seen around the car park and trees at the reserve boundary. 

Green hairstreak butterflies are also visible from the boardwalk, but not for long, they are a late spring species and the numbers are slowly dropping now.

We systematically count exuviae (shed skins) to estimate how many adult white faced darters emerge from the reintroduction pools & the donor site each year, to see if the population is viable.

This year the search has been widened to other pools, so we can confirm that adults have emerged both from the pools near the boardwalk, and from the big 'dragonfly pool' near the car park. Good news, as those pools can be viewed from the public paths.

Simon