Ospreys in Wales

Ospreys started nesting in Wales in 2004, with pairs in two locations, close to the Severn near Welshpool and in the Glaslyn valley near Porthmadog. The Severn pair raised one young but have not returned to breed there; the Glaslyn nest tipped in a gale and the young died. The Glaslyn pair – the same two birds – did not give up but have returned each year since and always reared young.

Thousands of people have been to this site to view the nest and watch close-up pictures on screen. Emyr Evans was the project manager for the RSPB on the Glaslyn for the first few years, and then moved to the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust reserve on the Dyfi when Ospreys started prospecting there. After great dramas with flooding, torrential rain and interference by visiting ospreys, this pair has also become established and is well seen from a new HLF-funded observation tower reached by a boardwalk across the Cors Dyfi marshes.

Emyr has now written and published the story of the first 10 years, as a handsome coffee-table book with superb illustrations and the complete history of the sites, the people who made it all possible, the individual ospreys, young reared, their migration to West Africa in the autumn as shown by satellite-tagged birds from the Dyfi, and really everything you might want to know about this really exciting story. Just the book to cheer you up during a wet, windy, Welsh winter.

It costs £25 if ordered direct from Emyr; post-free if you place your order by Jan 18th 2015, otherwise a small charge. Full details and how to order: www.ospreysinwales.com

Nora hates flounders

Last weekend was bad news for the Dyfi ospreys and you can hear Emyr Evans describing the storm, the death of one chick and the dramatic rescue of the other, on Country Focus, Sunday 17^th June.  I met up with Emyr on Thursday afternoon to make the recording and Ceulan, the rescued chick, had doubled in size over five days and was looking fit and well.

I will NOT eat flounder

But there were concerns that Ceulan had not been fed that day. Monty, the male osprey, had delivered a flounder to near the nest and left it draped over a branch. Nora, who started her life in Rutland Water, well away from strange-looking flat fish, ignored it while crows pecked away. By the time I left the wind had picked up, another storm was on its way and Monty had not delivered anything more appetising. What happened next?

The wonders of social media .... there was a tweet from @DyfiOspreys to say Monty had arrived with a huge grey mullet at teatime. See live streaming here. At the time of posting this item both mother and chick looked fit and well.

Emyr has written a brilliant article about the reserve which will appear in the next edition of Natur Cymru due back from the printers on 22nd June. The summer edition would have been a week earlier but for the fact that the printers, based in Aberystwyth, also got flooded!