Wales will keep a welcome for return of Ospreys
WITH the first returning Ospreys arriving back to Britain, efforts have been underway to repair their nests to welcome them back to North Wales.
After spending a reviving warm season out in Africa or Spain, the first early returner was spotted in Teignmouth Devon on February 24, with more set to follow.
But their 3,500 mile journey back to Wales will be rewarded by beautifully refurbished nests, badly needed after all the rain and storms of the Welsh winter.
The returning Ospreys will also find the nest rims firmed up by more sticks wired in with a layer of lovely fresh bedding.
Many of the nests have been overhauled by ‘Friends of the Ospreys’ (FOTO) who continue to put up nests in choice locations, working closely with Tim Mackrill from Rutland Water and the Osprey recolonisation management papers of Roy Dennis MBE.
These are in addition to the established nests run by the well known BGGW Glaslyn and Dyfi Osprey Projects.
Up on Hiraeth Moor last Friday, Gail Edgley orchestrated the refurb work on the three ‘Operation Jimmy’ nests by mobilising SP Energy Networks who provided a cherry picker.
This allowed easier access for FOTO’s Darren Moore in reaching the highest nests.
But according to Gail, the day was not without its challenges.
“As the ground was very wet and boggy in several places, it made access tricky,” she said.
“Jamie Chuchman and Paul Howell worked hard and with determination to make sure we got there, and with one nest, where the cherry picker had to be abandoned, they made a point of staying to help with the long ladder.”
“But now, the new Ospreys have pristine nests awaiting them, like freshly made beds.”
The project, Operation Jimmy, has been in operation since an Osprey Blue was tragically electrocuted on May 11, 2015.
To date, Wales has only had four breeding pairs since 2004, with high hopes we will finally see our fifth breeding pair.
Ospreys were all but decimated from the UK during the late 19th and early 20th centuries from human persecution.
This was largely down to hunting by Victorian Estates and their gamekeepers, plus the stealing of the Ospreys eggs by collectors.
In 1954, however, a new breeding pair produced two young in Scotland, which now has over 300 breeding nests.
Ospreys in England were kick-started by a trans-location project between 1996 and 2001, organised by Roy Dennis and Rutland Water.
There, a total of 64 six week old chicks were moved down before fledging, carefully cared for and then released when they could fly.
Many of these were tracked on migration and a landmark came when the first of the ringed birds returned to Rutland Water in May 1999, successfully breeding two years later.
From then Rutland Water have had up to 11 breeding pairs, followed by other regions of England including Cumbria.
But it was not until 2004 that Wales saw its first returning Ospeys in a century.
Luckily, one of the translocated males made his way back to the Glaslyn Valley, near Porthmadog, instead of Rutland and began to breed.
Then came Monty on the Dyfi who attracted a mate, Nora, producing their first eggs in 2011.
The Wales Osprey population increased from there, but still Wales has just four breeding pairs, producing a total of close to 60 successfully fledged youngsters.
On Hiraeth moor one Osprey, a young Scottish bird, spent several weeks last year at one of the Operation Jimmy nests, and was often seen fishing.
But having been spotted with a second bird, enthusiasts’ hopes remain high that possible breeding may be on the horizon.