CUMBRIA
MAX MILES ON FOOT: 1 MIN TIME : 3 HOURS
A star raptor species, plus plenty of other birds to enjoy
©CROWN COPYRIGHT 2024 ORDNANCE SURVEY. MEDIA 007/24
Foulshaw Moss is a Cumbrian Wildlife Trust reserve and is now well known for showing the public its breeding Ospreys. The reserve offers year-round interest, though, with bird feeders and plenty of sightings of other raptors.
WHERE TO WATCH
1 Come off the A590 onto a track to take you to the car park. Look back at Whitbarrow Scar for raptors like Peregrine, Buzzard and Red Kite. Check the fields for egrets with Little being the most numerous, but chances of Great White and even Cattle.
2 The car park is an ideal place to scan for Water Rail at the feeders. A mix of finches and tits have been recorded, even Hawfinch and Marsh Tit. Look out for Sparrowhawk, while Kestrels hover over the surrounding ground. A circular boardwalk allows you to see a section of the reserve with its varied habitats, including reedbed.
3 The big draw in recent years has been the Ospreys, with telescopes to help you view the distant nest on the edge of the moss, now with scattered woodland where the whole area was once a pine forest. Volunteers will guide you to the nest but make sure you can see other raptors here, like Marsh Harrier and Hen Harrier in winter. Hobby enjoys the many dragonflies, and the moss is home to Snipe, Whinchat and Stonechat, Reed Bunting and Meadow Pipit.
4 The area is ideal for looking for geese in winter along the minor road off the A590 with large grass fields around the mosses. Greylags draw down Pink-footed, along with the odd Barnacle, European White-fronted and Tundra Bean Goose. The many channels draining the land are ideal for Green Sandpiper in winter.
5 Ulpha Meadows, which is part of the Cumbrian Wildlife Trust reserve, can be viewed from a flood bank along the Cumbrian/ English Co
