South Cumbria osprey chicks hatch for 10th year running

The osprey chicks at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve can be viewed via webcam

Osprey chicks have hatched at a wetland nature reserve for the tenth year running.

The parent birds, Blue 35 and White YW, first nested at Foulshaw Moss near Witherslack, South Cumbria, in 2013 and raised their first chicks the following year.

They arrived in March after a migration of about 4,000 miles.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust reserves officer Paul Waterhouse said it was a "landmark moment".

Ospreys became extinct in England in 1840 but were reintroduced in the 1990s.

They migrate each year to Africa or Europe before returning to breed.

Blue 35 and White YW returned to Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve within a few days of each other

Mr Waterhouse said the adult ospreys had raised two or three chicks on the site every year.

"Blue 35 and White YW first arrived in 2013 following major habitat restoration at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve," he said.

"This large-scale conservation success story saw a 900-acre site, previously drained and used for commercial forestry and farming, being transformed back into the healthy wetland you see now, which is teeming with wildlife."

The nature reserve is also home to other birds of prey including peregrine falcon and marsh harrier.

The ospreys can be viewed via the trust's nest webcam.