For as long as I can remember, Jascha Heifetz has been my favourite violinist. One of the first things I bought with my student grant (yes I know!) as a young 'fresher' in Cardiff in the mid-1980s, was a secondhand LP of Heifetz playing Tchaikovsky's violin concerto. Oh, what a record. It is a 1957 recording of one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century right at the top of his game. A desert island disc if ever there was one. If they make records in heaven - this is what they would sound like.

For a reason I have no explanation for, I play the Heifetz record every Christmas. It's become a bit of a routine. I listen to other music throughout the year, of course, but not the Heifetz concerto. Maybe it's because I have more time on my hands at the end of December to appreciate it, maybe it's just escapism from the madness that can be Christmas. Or maybe, it's because I know that there is a very special treat coming at the end of every year that fills you with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Jascha Heifetz

At around the same time that Jascha Heifetz was recording the Tchaikovsky for RCA Victor in 1957, a pair of ospreys had just started to nest in Scotland for the first time after many decades of having been extinct in the UK as a breeding species. Three years later, and with still only one pair in the whole country, being continually hounded by egg collectors, a young lad from Hampshire was just starting his career in wildlife conservation. In February 1960, Roy Dennis received a letter from the great Scottish ornithologist George Waterston OBE, who was the Director of the RSPB in Scotland at the time, telling him that in April of that year, he would be starting his dream job - Osprey Warden.

Taken from Roy's book - "A Life of Ospreys"

Over half a century later, Roy is still the Osprey Warden. Not in title anymore perhaps, but in those 50-plus years, he has done more for osprey conservation than anyone else on the planet. Roy started ringing ospreys decades ago and much of what we know about British and European osprey ecology and migration is down to his research. He has overseen many osprey translocation projects, including the successful Rutland project in the mid 1990s. If that translocation project had not taken place, there would be no ospreys breeding in Wales today - period. And he's surprised that we are so happy to see him every year when he visits!

Roy continues to fly the flag for ospreys, eagles, seabirds and a lot more besides. He was awarded the MBE in 2004 for his of work in conservation over the decades. You can see more of Roy's work on his excellent new website:

www.roydennis.org

There is an old saying in Welsh: "Tri chais i Gymro". Loosely translated, it means 'Three chances for a Welshman'. Well, it worked for Monty on his third year of trying to find a female in 2011, so I thought we'd use it again in 2012. When Roy came down from Scotland to the Dyfi in July this year to satellite tag and ring young Ceulan for us, we spent a very pleasurable hour or so afterwards talking to him in the visitor centre before he had to dash over to Rutland. We had a tape recorder handy, so what better opportunity to ask Roy about our favourite subject - ospreys!

The Dyfi Osprey Team; Alwyn, Janine and myself (in that order), each asked Roy three questions which he gracefully answered. The video below contains the full interview of nine questions, unedited, with some images of the 2012 Dyfi Osprey Project season as a backdrop. It lasts 15 minutes, and while it may not be as popular as the Queen's speech at 3 o'clock this afternoon, nor is it in 3D, the messages that it contains are, to us anyway, just as important.

When Tchaikovsky finished composing his violin concerto in 1878, he dedicated and presented it to Leopold Auer, one of the most noted violin virtuosos and teachers of that era. The excitement was short-lived, however. Auer explained to Tchaikovsky that it was too difficult to play, proclaiming that whilst trying to play some passages of the concerto "the difficulties were terrifying". Auer was resigned to not being able to play it and told Tchaikovsky his violin concerto was "unplayable".

A few years later, Auer was introduced to a nine-year-old fiddler from Lithuania who would ultimately become his most famous and successful pupil: Jascha Heifetz. Auer died in 1930, so he never got to hear his star pupil play the Tchaikovsky violin concerto in 1957, as we can. Neither did Tchaikovsky, of course, but his spirit must still be embodied in that 1957 performance through Auer. Just imagine that.

Little did George Waterston know in early 1960 that his choice of appointment for Osprey Warden would be such an inspired one. When he penned that letter in February 1960, almost 53 years ago, a single pair of ospreys were fighting against all the odds, hanging on by a thread, in a battle to survive and produce young. Fast-forward over half a century and there are now almost 300 pairs of ospreys in the UK and their population is increasing. One of the most successful and inspirational British conservation stories of recent times. George Waterston's legacy continues through Roy and now through many thousands of others who have chosen ospreys as their species of interest.

Every time I listen to Heifetz's sublime Stradivarius playing each Christmas, I seem to hear something different, something I hadn't noticed before. Maybe this is what happens when you listen to the best there is. Every time I listen to Roy talk about ospreys, I hear something different, something I didn't know before.

I hope you enjoy Roy's interview as much as we did making it. Wherever you are today, and whatever you are doing and listening to, whether it be Heifetz or Gangnam Style, Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust and the Dyfi Osprey Project would like to wish all of you a peaceful, relaxing and happy Christmas.

Nadolig Llawen i chi gyd.