A little later in the day than eggspected, egg number two has arrived at 18.01 on 19th April, fresh out of the paint shop.
Usually osprey eggs are laid just under three days apart (72 hours), however this one was slightly over - 74 hours. It was pretty cold and rainy this afternoon, so Telyn just took her time, can't blame her for that.
Telyn. © MWT
This is Telyn's 14th egg in five seasons and with this arrival, she officially takes over the record of most eggs laid at the Dyfi nest; Glesni laid 13 eggs in all during the same time period, over five seasons.
This second egg seems to have more pigmentation than the first, so should be fairly easy to identify. We'll post more pictures as we get the opportunity.
Look out for the hat-trick egg on Friday, Live Streaming here.
19:20 - Idris sees the second egg for the first time
Idris. © MWT
Egg No 2 (left) has much more 'maculation' than the first egg as you can see in this photo.
Each egg is different and we try and use these differences to identify which egg is which in a clutch. It matters not to the ospreys, of course, but for biological recording and analysis we have always been able to identify what order an egg/chick was laid.
Thing is - and this is a proper question - there is so much pigment (protoporphyrin) in the second egg, will Telyn be able to make enough for a third?
We've seen plenty of eggsamples in the past of almost pure white eggs - Gwynant (2014) being the obvious one.
Has the ink-well run dry? We'll know on Friday afternoon.
We're almost up to 50% of the camera appeal this year - thank you if you have/are donating!
We are so pleased with the new cameras and microphone - it's like looking through a window.
Can anyone make out the reg on da plane?
Telyn, Idris. © MWT
There are two ways you can donate online:
Birds have evolved a structure for protecting their eyes.
Like us, ospreys have upper and lower outer eyelids, but beneath the outer eyelids lies an extra eyelid called the nictitating membrane. Nictitating simply means “blinking”.
This extra eyelid is hinged at the inner side of the eye and sweeps horizontally across the cornea. The nictitating membrane is largely transparent, and it helps keep the eye moist and clean while guarding it from wind, dust and mullet bones – as demonstrated here by Idris yesterday.
Talking of blinking, try not to later on this afternoon, Telyn will be going for her fifth consecutive hat-trick.
