Caught on CCTV: Osprey ensures nest is the best
WITH its astounding 5.5ft wingspan on show, this osprey is among the first to be seen in south Wales in around 200 years.
A majestic pair of ospreys were seen at the site for the first time last year – their arrival stopped a plan for the Green Man festival to use a Powys farm as its permanent base.
The Welsh Government had spent £4.25m on Gilestone Farm so the team behind the much-loved music festival could develop plans for a permanent site, sustainable farming and smaller events for up to 3,000 people.
The plan was ended by Vaughan Gething, then-economy minister, because it was incompatible with the raptors’ safety.
The nest is located at the northwestern end of Gilestone Farm, Talybont-on-Usk, and a 750m exclusion zone has been designated around the birds, with only certain controlled and carefully monitored farming activities taking place within that zone.
Earlier this year, Mr Gething said: “The known behaviour of ospreys is for them to return to the same nesting site they have selected and indeed to build their nest out further, and we expect the birds to return to Gilestone Farm during spring of this year. Protecting the environment for the birds is and will remain paramount.”
Usk Valley Ospreys was set up by a small group of interested people from the Talybont community.
They have been monitoring the site and said that since the end of March there has been some activity at the nest with a couple of ospreys calling in before moving on to other sites.
One of those was a three-year-old male, caught on CCTV here, who started to refurbish the nest, but he is not believed to be one of the pair that constructed the original nest last year.
“The return of the original pair is still awaited and it will be interesting to see what happens if they return and find their nest occupied,” the update reads.
There are no public rights of way or other public access on any of these farms and people are told not to attempt to access the farmland to view the birds.
The Welsh Government has given £22,000 to fund cameras on the nest and the neighbouring buildings.
The camera is live but is currently only being used for scientific monitoring and security purposes. It is hoped it will be published as a live video feed later in the season.
■ Anyone witnessing disturbance to the birds is asked to contact the Dyfed-Powys Police Wildlife Crime Team via 999 if the disturbance is ongoing, or otherwise on 101 or online.