Telyn and Idris Return

Both Telyn and Idris have returned home safely. This is their fourth year together.

🦅 27th MARCH: TELYN arrives home 12:15

🦅 30th MARCH: IDRIS arrives home 17:31

After the usual settling in period, both birds now seem at ease with each other.

A mantling Idris - getting used to married life again.

I often talk about birds in various 'modes'. Primarily a breeding mode and a non-breeding mode.

Depending on the time of year, an osprey's behaviour (and physiology – think hormones) are very different, and switching between breeding and non-breeding modes is not like flicking a switch. Each bird takes time to acclimatise to a new mode.

For example, it still takes Idris a while to realise he needs to hand over his lunch after seven months of having no-one else to share with but himself. It's the ultimate food-for-sex equation. He gets it pretty quick.

Easter Eggs?

Every female osprey will allow herself an 'assessment period', before she commits to breeding with a male again for another season. Even if it's been the same partner she's had for many years.

Is he injured in any way, is he committed, is he providing food on a regular basis?

Telyn's investment is for a whole year of breeding - she doesn't get a second chance. This assessment period allows her to make an informed investment decision.

Once that 'decision' is taken (a subconscious one, rather than a commanded one), Telyn will start the egg factory going inside her single ovary. Egg production takes around 70 hours before she is ready to lay.

So what is the combined assessment period and egg production time?

Here are all previous times, first-mating to first egg. Idris and Telyn are the last three columns.

So to save you doing the maths, if Telyn plopped out an egg after 11 days - that's this Sunday. We may well have an Easter egg.

Cameras

You may have noticed a significant improvement in the Live Streaming this year?

We are now streaming in 4K resolution for the first time, at the full 25 frames per second with no compression.
We have software that can fade from one camera to another, seamlessly - including the new beaver camera (more on this in the summer).
We replaced the live streaming camera that broke last year with a better one. More zoom and better resolution.