Dai Dot has been with us again at the start of the week. We established during last week's blog that he was around at the end of August last year, as we have a video of him. Maybe he is a Scottish or Scandinavian bird on his way south, following the same route and timeframe at the end of the season?

Apparently not. You may remember a blog I wrote at the end of July entitled 'Blue 12'. In that blog, there was a photograph of an osprey on 'Pete's Post' that I suggested was a male bird. The photograph had the bird looking to his right, concealing any characteristic head markings that he may have.  A quick look through some other images taken at the time turned up this..

Is that you Dai?

This bird looks remarkably like Dai Dot, doesn't he? Male, same chest markings, bleaching on the wings, no leg rings and, of course, those two characteristic white dots above his beak. This bird has been spotted on that log since at least the end of June (thanks to Posh Pete and Judy for sending me the sightings) on an almost daily basis. Now this is incredible news.

Adult males don't wander around as much as females. They tend to stay in one area and try and attract females to breed with them. Dai Dot could be another Monty from 2008/09, the Dyfi being his 'home', prospecting for a good nest site and a female to settle down with. I wrote in the Blue 12 blog - "It seems that the case for putting up more osprey nests on the Dyfi is as compelling as at any other time." Indeed.

Today we close the Dyfi Osprey Project for another season, we've been open five months and welcomed over 30,000 visitors.

The Visitor Centre: Four live images at the front, live bird feeder cam on the right, season highlights on the left. All in HD!

Have a look at the image below - it was taken a year ago to the day almost

We were testing one of the first demo models of this type of High Definition camera in the UK. We placed two replica osprey eggs in the demonstration nest we had outside the visitor centre, hooked everything up via some fancy electronics, and waited for the images to appear on the 50-inch screen. The excitement was palpable, the tension tangible. We could hardly speak when those HD images started to come through. It reminded me of what Howard Carter said when he peered into that hole he had drilled into Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 and shone a light through it.. "I see can wondrous things".. or something like that.

The rest, as they say, is history. We managed to find the funding for the cameras through Communities and Nature and get the whole lot up, tested and operational before the ospreys came back. Just! Network Rail were immense with their donation of the 800m of fibre optic cable which enabled us to connect the cameras to the visitor centre and, by the first week in June with the help of two additional BT lines, the world via HD live streaming. A first for Wales.

This website will be a year old in two days time (here's the first ever blog!) and in the first year it has attracted over 20 million 'hits' - insane. Along with Facebook and Twitter, it has allowed the Trust to keep people around the world up to speed with all the goings-on from Cors Dyfi.

As I write, Ceulan is still with us, as is Monty. He's just delivered a large mullet to his son. Nora left Ceulan in Monty's sole care almost four weeks ago and is now probably at her wintering grounds in Africa. What a strange thought.

Nora is probably on another continent by now, thousands of miles away

It's impossible to predict Ceulan's departure day, as those of you who entered the Facebook competition know! I think it's safe to say, however, it won't be long now. This week? Probably. He's 96 days old today.

It's time to go son..

What happens now? Well, Alwyn and Janine finish today, but they will be back again next year welcoming people to the visitor centre and hide as they have done so well for the last four years (we open in five and a half months - not long!). You've still got me, I'm afraid, throughout the winter -  the blogs will continue as normal, as well as updates following Ceulan's progress hopefully down to Africa. I'll still continue with the updates on Facebook too, and Janine will be doing our Twitter tweets (is that what they're called?) as always.

On behalf of Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust, I just want to end by thanking a few people. Our two seasonal engagement guys, Janine and Alwyn, and 78 incredible volunteers who have donated over 8,000 hours this year (that's the equivalent of employing one person non-stop for five years!). Network Rail, Andy and his IT team from CCW Solutions, Communities and Nature, Heritage Lottery Fund, Countryside Council for Wales, and you. All of you that have followed the Dyfi Osprey Project on various websites and supported us on so many levels, including financially.

And finally, we are expecting some news in around 10 days time. Not any old news, BIG news! In a couple of weeks, I'll write a blog about all the changes and improvements the Trust will be making over the winter months at Cors Dyfi. Improvements to the Project, to the cameras, nest audio, to the live streaming and to the website. I will also explain a bit more about erecting a series of osprey nest platforms on the Dyfi next March. We will need your help - it will be a bit like The Big Pull we did last March. Can you think of a name for it? I can.

And the BIG news? We're just going to have to wait until the end of next week to find out. Let's just say that we're hoping to take Cors Dyfi and the Dyfi Osprey Project to even greater heights next year and beyond. It's been one hell of a ride this year - thank you all for engaging with us and for all your support, it is greatly appreciated. Diolch yn fawr i chi gyd.

Warming up - 28 minutes that saved a young osprey