The hobby, a small, elegant falcon, is a frequent summer visitor to the south and east of England and South Wales but less common further north. However, two of our volunteers recently reported what is believed to be the first confirmed sighting of a pair of nesting hobbies here in Cumbria.

Matthew Cookson and David Thexton are regular volunteers at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve. The site is no stranger to birds of prey, with a pair of breeding ospreys spending every summer here, and peregrine and marsh harrier are regularly spotted.

This summer, for the first time, they confirmed that a pair of hobbies were nesting here. Matthew takes up the story: