Our last two birds have started their long migration south.

Teifi migrated at 92.9 days old and his Dad, who had made sure all his family had gone, went just over day later.

These are the migration dates and times:

13th August - TELYN last seen at 19:12
25th August - TYWI last seen at 07:00
29th August - TEIFI last seen at 09:31
30th August - IDRIS last seen at 11:26

And here are Tywi and Teifi's migration ages compared to all previous Dyfi offspring:

Males tend to migrate a couple of days earlier than their sisters on average (89 days vs 91 days), which makes sense of course; females are heavier so need a little more developmental time.

Ten Years of Success

2020 was the 10th consecutive year that we have had ospreys breeding at this Dyfi nest.

In those ten years we've had:

• 28 Eggs
• 2 of which did not hatch
• 26 chicks
• Of which two died pre-fledging (2012)
• And one post fledging (2016)
• And 23 made it to migration age

To date, we've spotted six Dyfi birds back as adults.

Ceri fell off a perch in 2016 and injured herself shortly after fledging, sadly she didn't make it

We know that a recovering population, like the one we have in Wales - just five nests spread over 1,300 square kilometres, tend to have a higher productivity rate than those nests in more normalised and saturated colonies. The Welsh nests lack the usual pressures of a denser population - nest site availability, competition for food and mates, predation pressures etc.

Nevertheless, a productivity of 2.3 birds per annum over 10 years (23 ÷ 10) is phenomenal - and over twice the UK national average.

We've had five years (50%) where we've had a successful three-chick clutch that made it to migration.

Berthyn, Hesgyn and Peris in 2019

2020 was a record year for many reasons. We saw the largest fish ever caught (including mackerel and garfish), the first all-male brood and the largest haul of intruder ospreys we've ever identified in one season, 12 in all - and three of them were our own Dyfi birds returning and they included a brother and sister from the same nest in 2018. Remarkable.

2020 Intruding ospreys identified:

A lot has happened in ten years; we've had many happy times interspersed with sad ones.

There is a new book due out soon: Dyfi Osprey Project: The First Ten Years.

It will chronicle all the highlights of the first decade of DOP, the high and the lows, including some amazing photographs that have never been seen before. It's due out at around the same time Telyn and Idris are due back in the spring.

Monty

I've thought long and hard about writing an obituary to Monty at the end of the season. It's hard.

He was the most amazing animal I have ever known. I have changed my mind about writing a long and tearful blog, I've written too many the 'joy of sorrow' tributes over the years, Monty deserves better than a blog and some tears.

Due out in mid October, there will be a 'Monty' the book published.

At around 120 pages long including the best photographs ever taken of our boy, it will be a picture-book dedication to one of the most famous birds that ever lived.

The 2021 DOP calendar - with the 13 best photos from this year - and Monty the book will be available at the same time in the DOP online shop from mid October onwards.

And Finally

2020 has been a strange and bewildering year to say the least.

The covid virus has meant that DOP has been down to just one member of staff this season, with two volunteers doing a sterling job as moderators on the Live Chat. Thank you, Jill and Colin.

I wanted to use the "and finally..." part of this blog to thank all of our supporters, you. You'll never know how much you mean to us, and in so many ways. Just as the ospreys and live streaming has kept many of you the right side of sane, you have done the same for me.

We may not have opened our new centre when we planned to in April, but this has not been a football match played to an empty stadium. You have been 'everywhere' from letters, emails, live streaming and chat, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Some of you have even phoned.

We nearly didn't make it this far - financially. Because of you, we did. Our debt of gratitude is immeasurable. Thank you.

Now our ospreys have gone, we can turn our attention to finishing off our wonderful Dyfi Wildlife Centre.

They say the best things in life are worth waiting for, don't they?

Kim, Nadine and Janine will be back from furlough later this autumn and, before you know it, we'll be ready to go again. The Dyfi Wildlife Centre opens on St Davids day - 1st March, less than six months away. Look out for regular updates over the coming months, it's going to be the best osprey centre in the world.

So, to our 45th and final osprey video of the season.

Teifi took his time to go in the end. Idris stayed with him, providing food, until he had gone. What a brilliant partner he has been to Telyn.

A happy ending to a mercurial year; until we meet again...