Well, what a year!

Dominated by the weather, 2012 was a year that will stay in the mind for a long time. What started out so promisingly ended up as one of those 'once in a lifetime' events - the wettest year since records began all the way back in 1910.

We started off with one heck of an ambitious project, installing four state-of-the-art, 1080P High Definition cameras on Monty and Nora's nest. And then, with the help of Network Rail, Aberystwyth University, and over 100 volunteers on St. David's Day, we connected those cameras up to the the visitor centre via half a mile of super armoured fibre-optic cable. We called it The Big Pull - and what a pull it was!

Camera 3 - the camera that we used for the live streaming

By the time Nora returned to the Dyfi on March 24th, we had set up what was probably the most sophisticated and advanced nest camera system in the world. Never before had anyone observed the life of two ospreys played out in such clarity and detail. What we saw was incredulous, enlightening, fascinating, joyous, scientifically groundbreaking, but at times, utterly devastating.

Nora returns to her Dyfi nest - little did she know what unforgiving events lay ahead

Monty and Nora laid their three eggs and managed somehow to keep them dry, protected and viable through the worst April and May, weather-wise, on record. That in itself was an amazing story of endurance and resolve. June however, had in store one of those once-in-a-century weather events that would play havoc not only on the osprey nest, but on all wildlife - people included.

By the first week in June, the first chick had succumbed to the rain; he died at three days old. 'The Perfect Storm' on June 8/9th was to claim the youngest chick and almost claimed the last remaining youngster, a bird we came to know as Ceulan. By the time the BBC's Springwatch team had come and gone on that Saturday morning looking for a story, all looked lost - I was more worried about Monty and Nora, having completely resigned myself to the fact that the weather had accounted for all of this year's brood.

It rained for just over 36 hours. Driving, torrential, continuous rain had pelted down on the nest so hard we had lost the electricity to the cameras since Friday afternoon - we had no idea what was happening until the cameras came back on at 11:50 on the Saturday morning, shortly after the rain had finally come to an end. The Dyfi Osprey Project was shut, the roads impassable under several feet of water. There were only four of us in the visitor centre: Al Davies, Hugh Gillings and his son Justin, and myself. The second the cameras came back on, this is what we saw..

Both youngsters were too weak to stand up and beg for food and just moments later, the youngest chick had died. I'm sure you know what happened next so I won't go in to that, but here is the one image that Al took just as he placed Ceulan back in the nest after his 28 minutes away.

Al asked me what should we do with the rest of the fish - I wasn't taking it back to Morrisons!

The remission in the weather was short-lived and the rain was back by the end of the day. In fact, Ceulan was over five weeks old by the time he had experienced his first whole day of life without any rain at all. Unprecedented.

By the time Ceulan was next out of the nest five weeks later, he had grown - just a little bit

Many stories and experiences of 2012 will stay with me for a long time, but two things stand out.

The first is the amount that we have all learnt about these remarkable birds this year. The unbelievable tenacity and courage of Monty and Nora as they fought against weather conditions of biblical proportions to protect and nurture their eggs and chicks. I never thought that birds could and would tolerate so much and not abandon their offspring and nest. There were times this summer that I looked at those birds in their nest in complete disbelief - it was very humbling, and quite emotional to watch. Who would have thought that Ceulan would not only survive to September, but then fly to Africa in a record 12 days, cutting corners and coast lines as he went? What we observed this summer was truly groundbreaking and something you certainly would not find in any textbook on ospreys.

Secondly, I will remember 2012 as the year that thousands of people from around the world engaged with Monty, Nora, and their struggle to live and protect their family. By the end of 2012 over 10,000 people were Tweeting, Facebooking or subscribed to the Dyfi Osprey Project's YouTube channel. Thanks to BT and Openreach, Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust had a Live Streaming facility on this website for the very first time by early June - the first in Wales and in glorious HD too. By the time we switched the cameras off in September almost half a million people had viewed the Dyfi ospreys. Imagine that!

July 21st, 2012 and Ceulan is seconds away from lift-off for the first time

We end 2012 with a greater understanding, and hopefully appreciation of Monty, Nora, and ospreys in general. As we start 2013, the whole cycle begins again. In a couple of months, many of us will again have caught the early spring bug - Ospreytitis. A bug so powerful, Norovirus feels like a wet mullet in comparison. In a few weeks, thousands of ospreys will start their long journeys from west Africa to the UK and Europe again, many for their 30th time no doubt. Some, for their first time - will Einion be one of them? Now what a story that would be.

We have no idea where Monty and Nora spend the winter, they may be just a few trees apart on the same stretch of river or on completely different continents. Wherever they go, we hope they have kept safe and will return to Wales once again in 2013. We always keep a warm welcome in the hillsides for them. Will Monty be earlier than the missus this year? Will Nora have overcome her dislike of flounders? Will Dai Dot and Blue 12 come back? All will be revealed of course, plus a whole lot more.

Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust enters its fourth decade in 2013, having been set up in 1982. It promises to be an exciting and adventurous decade, to say the least. We start work on the 360 Observatory in just a few days and it will hopefully take the Trust, Cors Dyfi Reserve, and the Dyfi Osprey Project to a whole new level - quite literally.  Thank you to everybody that has helped in 2012  and for all your messages, donations and above all, support -  it really is a privilege sharing the lives of these beautiful birds with you.

A happy new year to you all.

Blwyddyn newydd dda i chi gyd.

See you soon..