It has been a relatively calm few weeks on the osprey nest with both chicks feeding and growing well. One osprey chick, nicknamed the ‘monster chick’ by some of our #FoulshawOsprey followers, is visibly bigger than the other which has led to much speculation over the sex and health of the siblings.

Both chicks are being fed well with a good supply of fish (mainly trout and flat fish) caught by male White YW. Blue 35 spends her day on or close to the nest keeping an eye on the youngsters and waiting for White YW to deliver the food. Until they have learnt to fly the chicks are completely reliant on their parents for survival.

There is some sibling rivalry going on in the nest with the larger chick displaying dominance taking more than its fair share of the fish, whilst the smaller chick has to wait its turn.

The chicks are beginning to get their flight feathers through and starting to stretch out their wings. When stood on the osprey viewpoint with binoculars or having a look through the telescope (both available on site free to use, 11am-5pm most days!) you should be able to get a good glimpse of the chick’s heads bobbing about.

As the chicks get closer to fledging they will regularly exercise their wings to build up their flight muscles. Before they fledge the ospreys will reshaped the nest to form a flatter platform to make take off easier for the chicks on their first flight usually when they reach around 53 days old.