Fay J Wildlife: July 2024

Six weeks after my visit to Yorkshire I was back up north, this time the other side of the Pennines in south Cumbria. Again, this was for a small 'underground' extreme music festival (at Windermere) and, again, I combined a bit of birding with it.

This was my sixth visit to the twice a year music festival at Fell Foot Wood (not the National Trust place right on the lake but the wood yard and campsite the other side of the road) but I hadn't been to Foulshaw Moss, despite driving past, and in the summer it has Ospreys nesting there so it was about time I paid a visit.

Foulshaw Moss lies just off the A590 so it’s easy to get to from the M6. It’s accessed by a very narrow track, which makes things awkward if a vehicle is coming the other way as there is about one passing point. Getting back out onto the A590 is not for the faint-hearted because it’s a fast road and no-one lets you out. You have to wait for a promising gap in the traffic and go for it without causing a pile up.

Foulshaw Moss is a raised peat bog that was drained and had conifers planted in the mid-20th century, but is now owned by Cumbria Wildlife Trust who have restored the peat bog almost to its former glory. Wildlife is returning and bog plants like sundew, bog asphodel, bog myrtle and sphagnum moss are all present.

There are boardwalks to make it easier - and safer - to walk around the reserve, as there's some deep water pools as well as bog.

We went to the raised platform, which is accessed by an incredibly rickety bridge followed by some - thankfully more solid - steps. At the top of the platform there are views over the reserve. I heard the pig-like squeal of a Water Rail and saw something move in the vegetation but, unfortunately, there was a chatty couple and another person and their constant loud conversation scared it away. One volunteer said that the rails had attempted to nest in previous years but the disturbance from the platform put them off. I wondered why they can't close the platform during breeding season as the ospreys are visible from other parts of the reserve, not least a ground-level viewing platform further along, well away from the pool.

The ospreys were around: a pair on distant trees eating fish with crows loitering hoping for scraps, with two more - the female and the second chick which fledged that very lunchtime - on the nest. My photos, unsurprisingly, didn't turn out, due to heat haze and distance.

There is another nest nearby which the CWT volunteers call the 'play nest'. It wasn't used for breeding but ospreys are constantly adding sticks to it. The following day, I walked along another boardwalk to the north of the car park and had decent binocular views of the ospreys at the 'play nest'. Photos were, of course, shite, but better than nothing.

There is a woodland hide close to the car park which gives nice views of common birds going in and out of the feeders. I took some photos but my 800mm wasn't up to it, because of the low light levels. the R6 Mark II has excellent high ISO performance but, even so, the photos aren't up to much. That said, the great spotted woodpecker and tree sparrow were passable, even more so as the sparrow was a massive crop with a fair amount of nice reduction applied to it.

Birds seen and heard: osprey, lesser redpoll, water rail, kestrel, spotted flycatcher, blue tit, great tit, long tailed tit, great spotted woodpecker, tree sparrow, chaffinch, goldfinch, greenfinch, swallow, swift, blackbird, chiffchaff, willow warbler, robin.

Reptiles: common lizard. Was hoping for adders but none were seen.

It is a nice little reserve and well worth a visit if you are in south Cumbria. However, avoid the afternoons as it gets busy there. Mornings are best.

Plants and wide angle views - iPhone 13

Bird photos - Canon R6 Mark II with RF 100-400 and RF 800mm f/11 lenses

For full size ~~click on photos~~ actually don't bother. They're crap. To be fair, they're record shots only.