Ah, the merry month of May! A soggy afternoon at Foulshaw. Look at how the rain beads on her back. Osps have a preen gland on their back that produces oil that they work into their feathers. Not quite 'off a duck's back', but pretty close!

Blue 35 checks on the eggs. 9 days to go. Give or take...

He sat on the eggs this morning, now he's off doing the shopping. A real all rounder.

Mr sits while Mrs keeps an eye on things. She has much darker feathers on her front, which is a good way to tell who's who when you can't see a leg ring.

A misty start to the day for the ever patient egg cosy. It looks like it will be a hot one, followed by possible thunderstorms tomorrow. Sitting about isn't always easy!

Having a lie in. It can take only 48 hours from an egg being fertilised to laying. Then comes the long wait.

Mr is on the eggs and looking alert. Osp eggs take 37 days to hatch on average. With 5 days between eggs 1 and 3 that’s 6 weeks of incubation.

Beak open for some gular fluttering, the bird equivalent of panting. Must be warm out there. Which is unexpected for a bank holiday weekend.

“Remind me again. Why do we migrate north? “
It may be a bit dank, but not too hot, has fewer predators and 18 hours of daylight for fishing.
“Even so...”

No-one will see me taking a quick nap behind this stick. Birds often take micronaps rather then sleep for a long time. Some, like Swifts, can shut down half their brain and sleep while flying!

Right, I'm off. YW has finished his turn on the eggs. Three weeks to go before we should see the first chick.

Guess who's back? The tiny fellow on the left who hatched in 2019 was spotted at Leighton Moss - about 4 miles from Foulshaw - on Sunday. He's a lot bigger now. Read his early story at cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/blog/foulshaw-…

Here is some slapstick as in I'm going to slap this stick right on top of your wing!

Someone has been making a nuisance of himself at Dyfi in Wales. Blue N0, Foulshaw class of 2017, buzzed the nest there a few times. He showed up there in 2020 too. Behave!

A real snake in the grass. Despite a chilly wind the Adders were out at Foulshaw today. We also had a couple of Marsh Harriers, Grasshopper Warbler and Mr Osp disappearing for a while then being spotted at Ulverston, more than 8 miles away.

Mum doing the egg shuffle. You will see her wiggling her bum and moving around as she turns the eggs. This makes sure they are kept evenly warm on all sides and stops the membrane inside from sticking to the shell. Incubation is more than just sitting there!