A full version of this article appears in the magazine.

The hawk of salt water, the osprey Pandion haliaetus, occurs across Europe, Asia as far as Japan, throughout North America and, in the southern hemisphere, in Australia, Indonesia and New Guinea. It is thought to be resident in Cuba but migratory elsewhere.

 

So why has it taken so long to colonise Wales? There is no written evidence of breeding here in the past, though there are historical and cultural references which seem to suggest that it may have done. The Swansea Coat of Arms bears an osprey on its crest, the recently formed rugby club is The Ospreys. Although I have been unable to discover it, there must be some substance in the portrayal of the bird in this way.

 

Ospreys nest

In the late 1990s birds were seen in a variety of likely breeding places. In an effort to attract their attention, some artificial nests were erected where there had been regular sightings. These have proved successful in attracting ospreys at Rutland Water and are ‘backyard’ features in America where ospreys seem happy to live alongside people.

 

In 2003 one of these platforms was erected beside the river Severn on the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust Reserve of Dolydd Hafren, where there had been many sightings of birds fishing and carrying sticks, but only a Canada goose, crows and a kestrel showed passing interest. However, the following year a fisherman watched an osprey catch a fish then fly to a distant tree, a dead Douglas fir in which a nest was visible. He reported this to the Wildlife Trust and, as the site was on private farmland, with the help of the farmer it was kept under wraps, and a group of volunteers stood guard.

 

Amazingly, at the same time, a second nest was discovered near Glaslyn in north-west Wales. (See Natur Cymru No. 12) The RSPB and the Countryside Council for Wales decided to publicise this site and erected a public viewpoint with cameras and telescopes and, following the example set at Loch Garten in 1959, invited in the general public. The male of this pair was found to have been ringed at Rutland in 1998.

 

The two pairs, however, enjoyed mixed fortunes. During a storm the Glaslyn nest was blown out of the tree. The two young did not survive. The Severn valley pair were now bringing fish to the nest and on 4^th July the head of a single chick could be seen. In the hope of ringing this chick Roy Denis, the renowned osprey man from Scotland, and ringer Tony Cross attempted to reach the nest from a hired ‘cherry picker’, but they were unable to do so because of thick vegetation at the base of the tree. The growing chick was now flexing its wings and left the nest on 8^th August 2004 – the first recorded fledging of an osprey chick in Wales. The parent birds were identified by the rings they carried. The male was ringed at Rutland Water in 1997 and the female ringed in Perthshire in 2000. Sadly neither bird returned the following year. The Glaslyn pair have bred successfully every year since then (2005-09).

 

A new location

Encouraged by the success at these two sites, Jim Marshall, warden of the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trusts Cors Dyfi Reserve, organised the construction of a nest platform on the Dyfi Estuary. In the first summer ospreys spent the whole of the season in the area but did not take to the proffered podium. There were high expectations for the following year. On 5^th May 2008 we watched a male osprey catch a fish and carry it to the platform to eat. Hopes were even higher when a female arrived on the 24^th June, but it was too late in the season. There is a critical date for the laying of the first egg and this was past.

 

In 2009, an elevated viewing hide complete with telescopes was erected under the supervision of Emyr Evans, who has successfully managed the Glaslyn project for four years. The hide has panoramic views over the surrounding reserve and saltmarsh. Cameras and a microphone were mounted on a dead tree which had been rescued from the river and placed close to the nest platform. A visitor centre equipped with plasma television screens and displays of osprey pictures was constructed, and a car park for the expected visitors was renovated. On cue, on 10^th April a female osprey arrived followed by a male a few days later. The Dyfi Osprey Project was launched on 25^th April.

 

All summer long the ospreys hung about, fishing, adding sticks to the nest and mating after a fashion. Occasionally one would disappear for a few days, and once there were three birds on the nest! They didn’t seem sure who was who, the female often taking the male role and trying to initiate mating. The centre received more than 20,000 visitors, many attracted by the banners at the car park entrance. Not all were lucky, but many saw their first osprey. Sadly the birds did not breed, probably because they were too young and not sure of themselves. They were not seen again after the end of August. Our fingers are crossed that 2010 will be the year of the osprey at Cors Dyfi.

 

Brayton Holt,  Montgomeryshire County Bird Recorder

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