An already record number of osprey chicks hatched at a nature reserve has turned out to be higher than previously thought.
Cumbria Wildlife Trust, which previously said five chicks had been born across two nests at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve, has discovered two new nests and one more chick – pushing new-born numbers to six.
Nature reserves officer Paul Waterhouse said: “It’s absolutely amazing, I never contemplated there might be a third or a fourth nest.”
Ospreys went extinct across Britain in the early 20th Century but populations have slowly recovered in recent decades.
For more than 10 years Foulshaw Moss only had one long-standing breeding pair of the birds, which Waterhouse said felt like a “real privilege” in itself.
Two years ago another pair of ospreys came to stay, giving birth to a first chick last year.
Both pairs had two chicks this year.