Foulshaw Moss Osprey chicks get their special ID bracelets

The five-week-old chicks were carefully lifted from their nest to the ground and checked over, identity tagged, weighed and measured.

Volunteer Jenny Cornell was one of few who to have attended the milestone occasion of assigning ID rings to the osprey chicks this month.

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She reported that the parent birds circled overhead for thirty minutes before the chicks were safely returned to the nest. 

In a video posted to Twitter, Jenny said: "We bring them down from the tree in this very high-tech duffel bag.

"This time we also brought down the unhatched egg.

"This will get sent away for testing to see if we can find out why it didn't hatch.

Here's how our osprey chicks end up with their fancy blue ID bracelets 🦅 The ringing process allows us to measure and weigh the birds to find out their sex, and adding the ring means they can be identified from a distance, and...

(1/2)#Osprey #OspreyCam @foulshaw2 pic.twitter.com/o1jrbnkkbD

— CumbriaWildlifeTrust (@cumbriawildlife) July 12, 2024

"So each Osprey gets gently put on its back and then we make them into a little Osprey sausage to keep them comfortable while they get weighed.

"Weighing helps us to determine the sex as females are generally heavier.

"In this case, we have two males. 

"For the Ospreys this whole experience is like being abducted by some very gentle aliens - but they don't seem too worse for wear.

"The process takes about half an hour and then we pop them back up in the tree." 

Both the parents and the young settled back as though nothing had happened.

(Image: Cumbria Wildlife Trust) The chicks are usually ringed at around five weeks and it is the only time they see human intervention.

The chicks are given two rings, the first is the coloured blue 'Darvic' ring with large contrasting numbers which is placed on one leg with contact details on.

A smaller metal 'British Trust for Ornithology' (BTO) ring with a unique number is placed on the other.

In England and Wales, the Darvic ring is placed on the right leg of the bird. Scottish ospreys normally have the Darvic ring fitted on their left leg to identify where they come from quickly.

(Image: Cumbria Wildlife Trust)

Now, they are nearly fully grown but still have a long way to go as they're not able to fly yet.

The parents have a strong bond with them so there is very little risk of them deserting the nest after the ringing.

Soon however, the pair will fledge the nest so keep an eye out for their first flights on Osprey live webcam.