The Great Fledge Competition - 2014

The Great Fledge Competition - 2014

© MWT

When Will Gwynant and Deri Fly for the First Time?

Today (Saturday) the chicks are just short of seven weeks old. Or to be exact, Gwynant is 48 days and Deri 45 days old. When will they fly for the first time?

The Great Fledge Competition!

Take your time son - no hurry...

© MWT - Gwynant, July 2014. Dyfi Osprey Project

Gwynant, © MWT

The aim is simple enough - Guess the day and time (to the nearest minute) that the first osprey will fledge. It doesn't matter which one fledges first (although it most certainly will be Gwynant, won't it?). Put your entry on the Guess the Fledge competition post on Facebook. So, for example: "July 27th at 10:35" would be one guess.

Definition of fledging: Gwynant or Deri leaves the confines of the nest in a controlled flight and either lands back on the nest or another location. In other words, a prolonged 'helicopter' flight does not constitute fledging.

Gwynant on a helicopter flight as the family watch on..

© MWT - Gwynant, Deri, Glesni, Monty (Gywnant helicoptering). 2014

© MWT

To enter, just donate a minimum of £2 or more per guess using the donate buttons on the Live Streaming page. All the money goes towards funding the Dyfi Osprey Project.

To help you guess a bit, here is a bar chart showing all the ages of Dyfi and Glaslyn chicks going back to 2005. The blues are boys, reds are females.

(Thanks, Heather, for the info)

Dyfi & Glaslyn chick fledging chart, 2005 to 2013

And just the Dyfi youngsters:

Dyfi chick fledging ages, 2011-2013

As you can see, the fledging window has just opened. We know also that Gwynant and Deri both had healthy weights (1,520g and 1,600g) when we ringed them last week.  Will this have an effect?

Here is some more information on the Dyfi birds since 2011:

Dyfi chick stats, 2011-2014

Competition open to all, including international, except Monty, Glesni, and of course Gwynant and Deri.

The nearest THREE guesses (people) will win a first prize - a photographic print of Gwynant and Deri looking to the skies, below. The print is A4 in size and is professionally mounted and framed. It really does look phenomenal. We will send the prints worldwide. GOOD LUCK!!!

© MWT - Gwynant & Deri (2014). Dyfi Osprey Project

© MWT

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UPDATE: Gwynant has fledged!!

He flew on Sunday, July 27th at 49 days. Exactly seven weeks old.

He took off at 10:33

Many thanks to Jo Cheetham for the photo she took from the Observatory

© Jo Cheetham. Gwynant fledging, 2014. Dyfi Osprey Project

© Jo Cheetham

Many congratulations to our three first prize winners!! They are..

Dolly Cox with a guess of 10:33 (Bang on!!)
Margaret Lewis with a guess of 10:44
Carol Duckworth with a guess of 10:45

Here are the fledging ages of the Dyfi ospreys so far..

Dyfi chick fledging ages, 2011-2014 (through Gwynant)

And here is the moment Gwynant took to the skies for the first time: