Osprey pair Blue 35 and White YW offspring- update

In anticipation of the return of our #FoulshawOsprey pair, Blue 35 and White YW, this month, here's an updated summary of the chicks they've raised together in the last nine years.

Since the #FoulshawOspreys breeding pair started nesting at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve in 2014 they've now (updated July 2024) successfully raised 29 chicks; 15 males and 14 females.

All of our chicks are ringed before they fledge the nest. Sadly not all chicks make it this far: a chick died in the nest in 2016 and in 2020, and in 2019, and again in 2024, an egg failed to hatch.

Ringing the osprey chicks enables us to follow their progress as they grow up, nest and start to raise chicks of their own. Indeed one of our first chicks, Blue 7A, has been breeding at Esthwaite since 2017.

It's fantastic when we get positive news that at least some of our other chicks have survived their first migration too – see the reported sightings in the table below.

Year	RingCode/Name	Gender	Sightings
2024	Blue 0C6	Male(1.45kg)
2024	Blue 0C5	Male (1.58kg)	Photographed in Portugl October 2024
2023	Blue 8C3	Female (1.73kg)
2023	Blue 8C2	Female (1.52Kg)
2023	Blue 8C1	Male (1.45kg)
2022	Blue 479	Female (1.8Kg)
2022	Blue 480	Male (1.7Kg)
2022	Blue 481	Male (1.4Kg
2021	Blue 464	Male
2021	Blue 462	Female	May 2023 spotted on Foulshaw nest web cam visiting. Seen off by Blue 35!
2021	Blue 463	Female
2020	Blue410 (Yan)	Female
2020	Blue411 (Tan)	Female
2019	Blue 3N (Known as Biggie)	Female
2019	Blue 2N (Known as Tiny)	Male
2018	Blue 5N	Male	Sighted overwintering in the Gambia
2018	Blue 9N	Female
2018	Blue 7N	Male	Spotted wintering in southern Spain
2017	Blue U9	Male
2017	Blue U0	Female
2017	Blue N0	Male	May 2020 filmed inspecting an occupied nest in Montogomeryshire Wildlife Trust Dyfi Reserve. See film below. Seen again in 2024 at Dyfi in Wales
2016	Blue V8	Male	Sighted again in the Gambia Autumn 2021 Spotted in the Gambia in January 2021 at Tanji Bird Reserve by Fansu Bojang. Photographed at Leighton Moss in 2019
2016	Blue V9	Male
2015	Blue V2	Female
2015	Blue V3	Female	Sighted at Kielder in 2017
2015	Blue V4 (Known as Little Chick)	Male
2014	Blue 5A	Female
2014	Blue 6A	Female
2014	Blue 7A	Male	Breeding at Esthwaite since 2017