A breeding pair of ospreys have returned to their nesting site at a nature reserve, with the female seeing off a younger interloper who had tried to make the spot her home.
Cumbria Wildlife Trust said the male bird returned to Foulshaw Moss, near Witherslack, on 28 March with no sign of his partner until earlier this week, leaving staff and nature lovers watching an online stream “on tenterhooks”.
The male, known as White YW, and his partner, Blue 35, have nested at the wetland reserve since 2013 and bred every year since 2014.
Assistant reserves officer Keziah Taylor said it had been a “nail-biting time” as the wait went on to see whether the 18-year-olds would come back.