Well, we’ve had a few frantic weeks over the years at DOP - but this one will take some beating!

Monday - April 7th

It’s still the Dai Dot and Blue 24 show. Both birds have been bonding for four days, mating and nest building.
 

Mid morning, our People Engagement Officer Alwyn shouted down the radio from the Osprey Hide (North Walian accent) "INCOMING OSPREY - DAI DOT WITH TWO FISH”.

We thought that Al had got the date wrong and thought it was April 1st again, it wasn’t though. Dai Dot actually had caught two fish at one attempt and brought them back to the nest, a mullet in each talon.

Tuesday - April 8th

MONTY IS BACK!!

At 15:13 and 14 seconds precisely, Monty arrives back from his migration, just a day later than last year.

He had a bit of a shock when he did, however. Instead of finding his partner, Glesni, from 2013 in residence, he found a couple of squatters.

Monty landed on his nest for just a second, literally. He was off chasing Dai Dot and a couple of hours later, Monty was back, alone. He had dispatched Dai and with some ease by the looks of it. Of course, Dai Dot ‘knew’ this was Monty’s nest, he has been around for years and seen Monty with Nora and Glesni, and probably with a few others too!

Wednesday - April 9th

This was an interesting day for the animal behaviourists.

When Blue 24 first ‘met’ Dai Dot, she accepted him almost immediately and let him mate with her. By the time Monty showed up, their bond was strengthening and maturing.

There was one fatal flaw however. Dai had still not reconciled that sharing his dinner was tantamount to sharing his genes a few weeks down the line. We can only speculate now as to when the penny would have dropped, and Dai would have gifted a fish to Blue 24. He was probably quite near making that association.

Monty, an experienced breeder now of course, knew all about the chocolates and flowers trick. It didn’t take him long to present Blue 24 with a mullet, and then another one, and then another one…

Monty and Blue 24 - a frosty relationship to begin with

Thursday - April 10th

GLESNI IS BACK!!

At 06:40, Glesni arrives back at her nest, only to find her cousin, Blue 24 on it.

Things start off peacefully before all hell breaks loose.. By mid morning both the Rutland born ospreys were gone, last seen heading east up river, clearly in a dominance stand-off for ownership of the nest.

In the osprey world, males tend to fight males, and females fight females. We didn’t see either cousin for the rest of the day.

Friday - April 11th

At around midnight and again at just after 6am and 10:30, Glesni was still trying to regain her nest. She was not successful.

Having fought her cousin for the Dyfi nest for several hours and seemingly won, Blue 24’s decision to start mating with Monty was an easy one. The fact that Monty, unlike Dai Dot, kept her well fed made it a no-brainer.

Saturday - April 12th

A pretty quiet day although we did observe a female osprey come close to the nest and cause some disruption for a couple of minutes. Was this Glesni?

Sunday - April 13th

Today has started off pretty routinely. Several mating attempts throughout the night, Blue 24 on the nest perch, Monty on the new larch perch mostly. Some nest building, some food soliciting from Blue 24. At 07:10 both Monty and Blue 24 flew off after another osprey..

08:25 UPDATE: Glesni lands on the nest and sends Monty and Blue 24 into the air..

So what will happen now - where’s Glesni?

The last thing an osprey wants to do after a 3,000 mile migration is waste more energy in a prolonged battle for territory and nest site. That’s exactly what Glesni flew in to.

If she would have been here a week earlier, she would most probably have disposed of her cousin with ease. Problem was, Blue 24 had been back since 31st March - a full 10 days earlier. She had sussed out the Dyfi nest, nipped to Rutland for a day only to find a load of females there, and returned to the Dyfi where Dai Dot was waiting for her. She had regained much of the stamina and energy she would have lost on migration and would have been in much better shape to undertake and win a territorial fight.

Glesni bred extremely late in the season in 2013, and for the first time as a three year old. For an osprey to lay eggs during the last week of May is practically unheard of. Had this very late breeding cycle (and her first) somehow skewed her biological clock for 2014?

We are at a very interesting stage right now. Glesni could be quietly feeding herself up for a few days before another attempt to overthrow her cousin, or she could have resigned herself to having lost the Dyfi nest to a stronger bird. There are plenty of examples of both outcomes in the recent past. Whatever happens, we will keep you updated of course.

Look out for another blog soon about a very different arrival. The 360 Observatory is complete. We have a few 'i’s' to dot and a few ’t’s' to cross and a bit of painting too. But not much. I was in the observatory on Friday afternoon and Monty flew straight over me with a half eaten mullet - I could almost smell it. I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or grab the camera. In the end I just watched - it was utterly amazing. Wildlife watching and learning will soon be taken to a new level here at Cors Dyfi.

Nearly there..