2015 - First Chick Hatches!!

2015 - First Chick Hatches!!

Welcome Chick 1!

Sometimes nature can be so unpredictable, yet at other times, you can almost set your watch to it.

This has been the case with Monty and Glesni in 2015. They arrived back from migration exactly on time, laid eggs exactly when we'd expect them to, and bang on 37 days later, the first chick hatches from the first egg laid.

Monty & Glesni - teamwork and timing is the name of the day in 2015

© MWT - Monty incubating, with Glesni, 2015

Monty (left) and Glesni. © MWT

At first light on 29th May, 37 days after the first egg was laid, we were ready. So were the eggspectant parents. The early morning weather wasn't good - wind and rain, but by early afternoon the sun was out and so were 300 visitors that came to see the first chick hatch at Dyfi Osprey Project.

The day would get much better after a gloomy start

© MWT - Glesni, 2015

Glesni. © MWT

If you weren't one of them, here are yesterday's 12 hours of hatching action condensed into two minutes.

© MWT

The official hatching time was 18:33 when the chick was completely out of its egg.

Many congratulations to Margaret Blakeley who won the Guess the Hatching Competition - you had a time of 18:36 - just three minutes out. Second and third places go to Alan Aplin and Helen Edwards with times of 18:45 and 18:11 respectively. Please get in touch guys.

Lots more action to come over the weekend, but as I write this at 07:57 on Saturday morning, 30th May, Glesni is just feeding her chick for the first time; he seems to like flounder!

Let's hope we get all three out - #Happy Days

© MWT - First chick (Merin) hatches, 2015

© MWT