Beside the shores of Loch Ness in Scotland a hundred years ago, existed a huge monster. A monster so terrifying, it could wipe a whole species out in a blink of an eye. One minute you’re there doing your own thing, the same thing you’ve been doing for millions of years, then - BANG. You’re gone.

The problem was, this monster wasn’t one huge animal lurking in the depths of a loch, only visible to a few tourists after numerous decanter helpings of Scotland’s finest tipple, it was real. Worse still, there were more than one of them, there were hundreds of them, if not more.

Today we call these monsters illegal egg collectors, and by 1916 at Loch Loyne, just a few miles to the west of Loch Ness, they had succeeded in wiping out the osprey in the UK as a breeding species. Every single one. Gone. Extinct.

Here’s a photo of Glesni, fast asleep taken a few hours ago. At 03:12 to be exact.

Glesni knows nothing about egg collectors, Loch Loyne or any of that stuff. Thankfully we do. We also know that Glesni, like the vast majority of ospreys now breeding in the UK, has her ancestry in Scandinavia only a few short generations ago. After all, her ancestors had to have come from somewhere - there were no ospreys left in the UK.

Glesni does know a lot about protecting her nest and her eggs though. On DAY 16 after first bonding and mating with Monty, we were pretty sure she was just about to lay her first egg of the year.

Until this happened.

Glesni’s cousin Blue 24 is back, and she wants ‘her’ nest back

Both Glesni and Blue 24 disappeared for the rest of the day on Thursday. Periodically we could see two ospreys circling around each other in the distant skies around the Dyfi estuary.

Monty waited around patiently all day on his new larch tree perch. There wasn’t much else he could do really - this was a girls' fight. Nothing to do with him. By the way, the amazing close-up footage of Monty in the second half of the film was recorded with Camera 1 - the camera we replaced in March after all the storm damage. This is ‘your camera’.

Blue 24 was around at first light the following morning also, Friday. This was DAY 17. So the the big question that we had all been asking on Thursday and Friday:

“Would all of the disruptions and interference from Blue 24 have caused Glesni to somehow postpone or delay laying an egg?”

Here’s the answer, recorded at 10:19 on Friday morning:

Did you notice something unusual?

That egg is extremely white. It lacks the normal amount of red/brown pigmentation that forms those characteristic mottling spots usually seen on osprey eggs. So the next question then… did the Blue 24 disruption somehow cause this lack of pigmentation? Worse still, did the disruption cause something more serious like an unfertilised egg?

The amount of osprey eggshell pigmentation varies enormously, even between the same clutch in the same year, but it certainly will be interesting to see the colourations on the next egg. The second question will only be answered in around six or seven weeks (osprey incubation times: 35 - 42 days).

Look out for updates on Egg No2 and hopefully Egg No 3 underneath this blog in due course.

The most pale of osprey eggs

So why the 3am photograph taken in the middle of the night then? Well, these eggs are not only precious to Glesni and Monty, they’re also very precious to us.

Those monsters of a century ago are still with us, they won’t go away. Thankfully however, they are a declining species themselves these days. Like any discerning thief though, they tend to do their work at night, when most of us are asleep. Gone are the days when they used to prowl around in the middle of the day, carrying ladders and proclaiming to whoever that would listen how many rare eagle and osprey eggs they have in their rucksack, ready to be blown out.

Here’s a particularly persistent and annoying one. Why don’t they jail these people in April and May?

As the 24 hour protection volunteers in the Glaslyn and many other osprey nests in the UK are nearing the promised land of seeing and hearing those tiny egg teeth pipping out of their protective shells, our DOP volunteers are just starting their 40 days and 40 nights of around the clock surveillance. Sheer dedication and commitment - we can’t thank them enough.

I remember in 2006 doing an interview with Iolo Williams for one of his 'Iolo’s Welsh Safari' programs where we were talking about illegal egg collectors and egg-watch protection work. The Glaslyn ospreys were the only pair of ospreys in Wales at the time after an absence of many centuries. I said something like.. “If we all do our job right here on the Glaslyn for the next six weeks, we’ll see the fruits of our labour not just in a few days, but in many years to come as these chicks grow to become adults and, one day, return to Wales to breed for themselves”.

I remember us both looking at each other once the camera had stopped recording and saying... “yeah.. right!!”

“Paid a malu cachu” he said to me and we both laughed. Eight years on and there are four pairs of ospreys sitting on eggs in Wales as I write, and yes, those eggs in 2006 did hatch, and one of those birds did come back and is now breeding for himself - in Scotland.

Many thanks to Dyfed-Powys Police again this year for helping us set our Osprey Protection Systems up for another season - it will be worth it, we promise you.

I didn’t get everything right though. A Welsh born osprey has yet to survive and make it back to Wales to breed, just England and Scotland so far. One day, one year, one will however.

At the back of the cake and Tayto cupboard in the DOP office we have a wee decanter of our own, filled to the brim with Penderyn. You can guess when that will get opened.

Keep Calm and Stay Awake

UPDATE: Glesni laid her second egg at 20:18 on May 6th, a mammoth four days and 10 hours after her first one. It looks like another two egg clutch this year.