Our two young ospreys are five weeks old and now sporting smart ankle bands.

Early morning on Tuesday 2 July the chicks were carefully lifted from the nest to the ground below where they were checked over, identity tagged, weighed and measured. We were also able to confirm that they're two males; Blue 0C5 weighing in at 1580g and Blue 0C6 weighing 1450g.

The parent birds circled overhead for the thirty minutes or so that it took before the chicks were safely returned to the nest.  Both the parents and the young settled back as though nothing had happened.

We normally ring the chicks at around five weeks. It is the only time that we intervene in their lives. They are nearly fully grown, but not able to fly yet and the parents have a strong bond with them so there is very little risk of them deserting the nest after the ringing.

Over the past ten years, all of our osprey chicks have been ringed. It is undertaken by an experienced and licensed team of climbers and ringers.

The chicks are given two rings. The coloured blue “Darvic” ring with large contrasting numbers is placed on one leg and a smaller metal “British Trust for Ornithology” (BTO) ring with a unique number is placed on the other leg. In England and Wales the Darvic ring is normally placed on the right leg of the bird. Scottish ospreys normally have the Darvic ring fitted on their left leg.

The young ospreys were also checked over, weighed and measured. Our two birds looked really fit and surprisingly clean. Their age, weight, wing and leg size indicated they were males. Males are about 20% lighter than females and their legs are less stocky!

The rings are carefully fitted and don’t impede the birds in any way. However, the amount of information they provide in tracking the young ospreys is invaluable. The numbers on Darvic rings can be seen from a distance with telephoto lens or binoculars so that we can record when and where the birds are seen.

During the years that White YW and Blue 35 have been breeding at Foulshaw Moss we have had reports of their offspring having been seen in various places – in the UK as well as Spain and West Africa.

Growth spurt

You can see from the photos below how much the young #FoulshawOspreys have grown over the past five weeks. With just two chicks this year they have been well fed by the parents. We have seen frequent fish deliveries of flounder, mullet, trout and salmon – all high protein meals.

They need to build their strength in preparation for their marathon flight at the end of the summer to their wintering grounds much further south.

The young ospreys now have a couple of weeks to strengthen their wings and flapping skills before they fledge the nest.

They look comical at times as they practise being grown up!

Keep an eye on our live osprey webcam and don't miss them helicoptering off the nest and hold your breath as they make their first successful flight in a couple of weeks.