Science Corner

Welcome to the Science Corner part of the website, here you will find some interesting data from the 2011 season including information on how much, and which species of fish Monty caught, plus some key facts, dates and figures for the three chicks, Einion, Dulas and Leri.

Key Dates

First time breeders tend to return to the UK from their west African wintering grounds a little later than established breeding ospreys. Nora and Monty had probably never met each other before so it was with great joy we saw them displaying and mating as soon as Nora made an appearance on April 9th. Sixteen days later she had laid her first ever egg which is quite early for two first time breeders, this was an indication that the pair bonding was strong and that they had experienced minimal disturbance. After a five to six week incubation the first osprey chick to be laid on the Dyfi in over 400 years made his appearance to the world. Two days later all three eggs had hatched and by July 19th all three chicks had grown into healthy, strong birds which is when we ringed and tagged them at six week old. By August 9th, all three chicks had successfully fledged their nest and just 11 days after Leri took her maiden flight her mother Nora had started her migration back to Africa.

✷ Note - It is unlikely that Monty started his migration after the last sighting at 16.05, 11th September. More likely he started off to Africa the following day, September 12th.

Monty checks over his nest April 8th, two days after he returned and a day before Nora entered his life!                     © Emyr Evans/MWT

Osprey Facts ☛