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After a close encounter with an 'intruder' osprey last Tuesday, the Glaslyn female instigated a neighbourhood watch vigil from her nest and was taking no prisoners. She was in a foul mood on Friday, and more aggressive than usual, chasing off anything that came by including a couple of crows and a male peregrine that has a nest in the area. The poor peregrine was just passing, minding his own business, but she shot up off her perch and warned it away.

Meanwhile, the male osprey was taking his fatherly duties seriously and spending some quality time sat on the eggs. He has been doing it more this year than in previous years. Perhaps he has gained more confidence as a father now and feels comfortable incubating. He is also more familiar with the surrounding area so he knows where to go for the best fish, which means hunting trips are more concise and he has more time for doing his share at the nest - a thoroughly modern male!

He has not lost his taste for exploration though and flew off in a different direction to usual on Saturday afternoon. He was heading north west toward Llyn y Adair, and has only been seen heading there once or twice over the years. It was a relatively unfamiliar journey but it paid off and he came back within half an hour with a brown trout clasped in his talons.

It's been a lazy, sunny day today, if a little breezy. As I write, the female is sat on the eggs and the male is perched on the nest tree, above the camera. He must be stretching his legs, as he has been on the eggs more than his mate today. She has been perched in a fir tree to the left of the nest for much of the day - a tree that they pair use quite often for perching and feeding in.

When all the visitors have left and night falls, a whole new world of wildlife comes alive. The 24-hour protection team have been lucky enough to see badgers on their late night patrols. The badgers come scratching across the field at dusk looking for food. They may look cute and cuddly as they snuffle around but have fearsome teeth and claws and would put up a vicious fight if provoked.

We are now halfway through the incubation period, which means we can expect our first chick in around two-and-a-half weeks from now. The textbook incubation period for an osprey egg is 37 days, so if we count from Easter Monday when the first egg was laid, we reach Wednesday 16 May. Could this be the golden date? History would suggest so, as this pair have been spot on in previous years. Circle the date on your calendar and keep checking this diary to find out...

The third osprey was seen once again yesterday. It seems to be an early riser, as it was around 8am when it passed over the nest site, clutching a fish. The Glaslyn pair showed little interest. Their feathers won't be ruffled by the parade of some puny fish overhead - especially not when the Glaslyn male has such a skill for catching whoppers. At around 3pm yesterday he brought a big fish - around one foot long - into the nest. We often see him bringing mullet back but a couple of keen fishermen that were in the visitor centre at the time studied the screen and informed us that this was a sea bass, which he must have caught in the Cob in Porthmadog.

As usual, he had already eaten the head. Sometimes it looks as though he is a reluctant provider, because he seems to hang on to the fish and not want to give it up. Really it is only because he occasionally has trouble pulling his big talons out from the flesh and it can take a few moments to make the hand over to his mate. Ospreys have long arched claws which are brilliant at grasping fish when he emerges from the water with it slippery wet and thrashing around but do make it tricky to let go when the time comes.

We had fantastic views of a female peregrine on Tuesday afternoon. She was hovering over the field about 50 yards away from the hide. Peregrines are amazingly fast hunters and can reach speeds of up to 112 mph on the stoop (dive) when they hunt. She made a couple of dives to the ground, which were pretty spectacular and she was there for a good ten minutes but didn't seem to catch anything. Our 'Aren't birds brilliant!' comrades in south Wales are busy showing visitors the nesting peregrines in the Dare Valley Country Park in Aberdare and on the clock tower of City Hall, right in the middle of Cardiff city centre! Follow the Aren't birds brilliant! Link on the right of this page to find out how to visit these other viewing schemes.

On Tuesday we heard the first cuckoos of the season - a little later than elswhere perhaps but very special and now we regularly hear three or four of them in the woods, mostly in the morning and then late afternoon. A true sign of spring!

Help the Glaslyn ospreys

Lots of people coming to see the ospreys are so impressed that they want to support the project and the other important work that the RSPB carries out in Wales and across the globe. We couldn't do any of it without the support of our RSPB members. It costs as little as £2.67 per month to join but makes a huge difference. If you would like to join or find out more about our membership, please contact Ellen Perry (029) 2035 3045 ellen.perry@rspb.org.uk

Or, why not raise money to help projects like the Glaslyn ospreys? You could become one of our wonderful team of fundraising volunteers across Wales and it can take just half an hour a month. For more information, please contact Nick Bates (029) 2035 3009 nick.bates@rspb.org.uk

The Glaslyn osprey pair were called on early yesterday morning and it wasn't a particularly welcome visitor. A third osprey made it's appearance at 6:40 am to mix things up a bit. It flew over the nest and the female shot up off the eggs, calling the whole time, probably warning this intruder to back off. She is as fiercely protective of her family as any mother and made a formidable opponent in flight, with her legs dangling down below.

The male got involved too and at one point, all three birds were in the air together calling and flying close to each other - the intruder got within a foot or two of the nest but the Glaslyn pair performed wonderfully together and managed to ward it off. The altercation didn't actually get physical but it was a tense ten minutes. Towards the end, the female went back to sit on the eggs and the male escorted his visitor off the premises - they flew off north together into the early morning mist. When the male came back at around 8am he had a fish with him, so had obviously combined his territory protection flight with a spot of fishing - resourceful chap! At first, the female didn't seem to want to eat, she could have been feeling a bit churned up from the morning's upset, but eventually she took it off to a feeding tree and had a nibble.

So who was the guest osprey and what was it doing? It could be looking towards mating and trying to get into the territory. From the views we got at the protection site, it was hard to identify as male or female. When Iolo Williams turned up later to film for his new series of Iolo's Welsh Safari, he told visitors that ospreys often try and interfere with each other and each other's nests. We will wait and see if it puts in another appearance. By the way, Iolo spent quite a bit of time filming with us - you can catch the piece on Iolo's Welsh Safari on BBC One Wales, Monday 14 May at 7:30pm.

As for this morning, well, it's a good job the osprey nest is so high up, they are about the only ones around here not getting their feet wet at the moment. After pelting rain all day yesterday and through the night, the river is high and raging and the ground is sodden.

That's the peril of having a viewing site on the flood plain. We are able to use the nest cameras to zoom in and see the bird's efficient waterproof plumage in action. The rain is just running in rivulets off their backs. Down on the ground it is flowing rather less glamorously down the tops of our wellies.

The pair's ongoing attempts to build up the nest caused a bit of drama yesterday. Always eager to please, the male has been bringing back nesting material to make the nest more secure, comfortable and chick-friendly. Somewhat misguidedly, he is of the opinion that if a big stick is good then an even bigger stick must be better.

That is how he came to land on the nest with a three foot long branch yeterday morning. Not content with dropping it in gently into the nest, he plunged in with a triumphant 'look what I've found' approach and deposited himself and the stick on his partner's head, pinning her head to the floor of the nest.

It looked pretty uncomfortable to say the least and it was ten seconds or more until he moved. In the visitor centre we were yelling at the screen for him to get off, fearing that he might have hurt his mate. Ospreys are made of strong stuff though and she seemed no worse for wear when he got off - a little disgruntled perhaps but she accepted the 'gift' and made room for it in the nest.

He did this last year too, almost knocking her clean out of the nest by swinging around too quickly with a branch in his beak. For all his agility and skillfulness, he is still capable of the odd 'Frank Spencer' moment.

Spring is a great time of year to get outdoors.  There's always a flurry of wildlife activity as the breeding season gets underway. There are certainly lots of other birds to see as well as the ospreys up here, as you'll know if you've already been to visit us. The red kite has been seen several times flying around over the glaslyn. It is always alone, and usually quite high up in the air. We have seen a handful of red-breasted mergansers, half a dozen curlews demostrating their melancholic call, and several lapwings flying around, roughly half a mile from the viewing hide - they have such a unique and interesting flying style. 

On a smaller (but no less important) scale, the feeders hanging in our mini wildlife garden have been attracting long-tailed tits and a variety of finches, entertaining people as they eat their picnics in the lovely sunshine we've been having this week.

The male has been taking it easy to an extent over the last few days and has not been fishing very much - both their energy needs are very small right now. The female's day is mostly taken up with sitting on the nest perforimg her role as a living egg-cosy. On the occasions when she does feel peckish and her mate brings back a fish, she will take it off to a nearby feeding tree (the male will take over the egg-sitting duties whilst she's away) pick at it awhile, have a little fly around to stretch her wings, and maybe do a little poo, then back to the nest to resume sitting.

It's not a strenuous life really. Similarly, the male isn't too hungry himself either, as he spends lots of time lounging around the place. Of course, all that is bound to change when the eggs hatch and they have three hungry chicks to feed, so they should try and make the most of their leisure time whilst they still can.

The male is bringing back plenty of sticks, moss and clods of earth to build up the nest with. They will add to the nest in this way throughout the season, as they did last year. In this warm weather, the clods dry out quite quickly and must get scratchy and uncomfortable, so to combat that, the female tears at and teases them to break the earth down into softer, powdery material.

Naturally, when visitors come along to the viewing site to see the birds for themselves, they want to know which is the male and which is the female. Once you know how to tell them apart, there really is no way of getting them mixed up, as they have quite pronounced differences. For one thing, she is visibly bigger - that is to say, a couple of inches longer and much broader - she makes him look quite slight by comparison. Also, female ospreys have a kind of speckly brown necklace around their breast, whilst males are much whiter.

In the Glaslyn pair, this is particularly clear, the female's necklace is really deeply dark and chocolatey, whilst the male's breast is washing powder white - he fairly gleams like a beacon when he is facing the camera head on.

The female osprey has done it again - laid another egg in the Glaslyn nest, bringing the total to three.  Around half past one yesterday afternoon, we were all relaxing in a Sunday afternoon kind of way, when the female flattened herself out across the nest again.  Well, we'd seen her do this move before and had a pretty good idea of what was coming, so a few of us ran over to the viewing hide, arms flailing, and rounded everyone up.  All snugly gathered in the visitor centre around the nest-cam screen, it was about another 10 minutes before she got up.  Unaware of the gathered masses, waiting for a first glimpse of the new arrival, she stood in between the camera and the eggs for a few frustrating minutes, before stepping back.  The mossy bowl that the pair have built to protect their eggs is so deep within the nest that it was hard to see at first but by quickly switching the screen to another camera, we could look down into the nest and see all three of the perfect eggs - brilliant!  All of the osprey's attention will be on protecting and incubating their little shell-encased family over the next four or five weeks.  Hatching is expected to begin in the middle of May and they will hatch in the order that they were laid, a couple of days apart.

More peculiar behaviour came to light yesterday.  When we switched the TV on in the visitor centre first thing in the morning, we could see a rough slate - about 3 inches square - in the bottom of the nest.  The birds were fussing with it and moving it around so that it was beside them whilst they were sitting on the eggs, then spending quite a bit of time rubbing their beaks against it - most odd!  However, we think there is a pretty sensible explanation for this.  You see, the beaks and talons of birds of prey continue to grow, just like our fingernails do.  And, like our fingernails, need a bit of maintenance to keep them from growing long and curling around.  Basically, the birds seem to be filing their beaks and talons to keep them in tip-top shape - great eh?

Great news...moments ago a second egg was laid in the Glaslyn osprey nest at 2:56pm! Just before, the female had been flattened out across the nest like a great flat feathery pancake.  When she got up a minute later, the  first egg had been joined by an identical white speckly brother or sister.  It's impossible to say now which egg is which as they look just the same, but we will know when they hatch, as they hatch in the order that they were laid, several days apart.  The 35 expectant visitors that had been eagerly watching the screens exploded with glee.  There was lots of smiling, back-slapping and clapping.  Everyone's thrilled and already having thoughts about a third.  Could they make it a hat trick? We can expect it to arrive over the weekend if so...  

There's still only one egg in the nest at the moment.  It is almost exactly three days since the first was laid so we are expecting the next to come along at any time.  There is a great reluctance among visitors to leave the screens in the centre just in case something happens whilst they are away.  The first egg is being incubated nicely and, the female has just this minute turned it over.  Both the male and female turn the egg every half an hour or so, either using their huge talons, or by nudging it over with their beaks - delicately of course.  This is so that the heat from their little feathery bottoms gets distributed evenly around the egg as they incubate it.  The birds have continued to mate.  This is normal and they will only cease mating completely when the final egg is laid. 

Down on the ground, we have been indulging in some light decorating.  Last night, as the last car drove away from the viewing centre after 6pm, we threw on our overalls and got to work on giving the viewing hide a good lick of paint.  Two hours later, the hide was resplendant in glorious green.  It has dried overnight so there's no danger of visitors sticking to the walls today.  A great job by our multi-talented volunteers.

We can't help but notice this year that the osprey pair have a couple of funny habits that we never picked up on before.  It could be that they have always had their weird little ways and we are only just noticing them now thanks to the super, zooming camera system.  Or perhaps they have adopted some new behaviour...

The male has been seen standing on one leg quite often.  This kind of thing is common with wading birds but we have never seen our male osprey doing it quite this much.  He routinely stands on the nest with one leg tucked up under him, giving it a rest for several minutes at a time before swapping over and resting the other leg.  Still tired from his long flight perhaps?  Or resting his super talented talons, which need looking after if he is to continue being a great hunter? 

Both birds are winking lots too.  It's most obvious when we have the camera zoomed in on one of their heads and they turn to the camera, one eye shut, the other open in a jaunty little gesture.  It looks pretty funny and several of our visitors have commented on it.  It's difficult to say why these couple of habits have come about but we'll keep watching for any others and keep you posted.

Other birds that have been delighting our visitors at the site include a beautful red kite that came soaring over on Saturday - unmistakeable with it's vibrant red feathers and forked tail.  We got great views of it overhead.  A kingfisher has been spotted flying up the Glaslyn and three oystercatchers have been visible right outside the viewing hide - wonderful!  

The Glaslyn ospreys are now proudly incubating their first egg, laid at 5.25pm yesterday - Easter Monday.  Around 15 very chuffed visitors saw the great event and were cheering and clapping with as much enthusiasm as if they had laid it themselves!  During Sunday and Monday, the female had been very agitated, shuffling and fussing around the nest.  The male had busied himself bringing moss and lichen into the nest to line the inside and make it a soft, egg-ready environment.  It turned out to be a very well-timed bit of bank holiday DIY and the egg has been able to nestle among the moss in complete comfort.  Using our new technology we were able to zoom in on the egg and see it close up.  It is white with brown speckles and around the same size as a chicken egg.  Ospreys usually lay between two and four eggs, so we are hoping to see some more soon.  The eggs will be laid a couple of days apart, so we could expect another one to arrive on Wednesday - there will certainly be many of us eagle-eyed viewers in the visitor centre waiting in anticipation.  The birds will also be closely watched by members of our protection team.  They are at a seperate location, keenly watching footage from the nest-cam round-the-clock to make sure that nothing happens to the birds or the nest in this critical incubation period. 

The male has always shown himself to be a great father and partner, and this year seems no execption.  He is staying very close to the nest, ready to protect his family if need be and to take over the incubating duties when his missus needs a break to stretch her wings or to eat on one of the feeding trees.  The female was eating in the nest more than usual over the weekend but that could be because she knew the first egg was iminent and didn't want to stray too far from home.  The male has been bringing plenty of food back, though his judgement was a little less than perfect on Saturday lunchtime.  He would be embarassed if he knew I was telling you this I'm sure, but he presented his mate with the weediest thumb-sized tiddler of a fish that you ever saw.  Ever the supportive mate, our lady osprey ate it anyway, though it barely amounted to a mouthful.  Apart from that little blip, he has been bringing some whoppers back and the pair have been eating very well indeed.

Anyway, fingers crossed for another egg soon.  We have polished off a chocolate egg or two and plenty of biscuits here in celebration...well, calories don't count on a bank holiday, everyone knows that!   

It was T-shirt weather up here yesterday and (in between lots and lots more mating) the Glaslyn male found time for a spot of fishing.  At around midday he brought back a huge trout - it must have been over a foot long.  His normal routine is to take the fish to one of the feeding trees and chomp off the head, gobbling it down to maintain his energy and get plenty of nutrients.  With our new camera systems in place, we are now able to show images from the feeding tree in the vistor centre, which means we can see what they get up to even when they are not on the nest - it's compulsive viewing, and our visitors so far have been very impressed with the new footage.

After eating the head of the big trout yesterday, the male took it on a couple of victory laps, circling round the nest - most probably showing off to his missus!  Less than impressed, she took it from him and went back to the feeding tree with it for a bite of lunch herself.  They generally prefer to eat on a tree away from the nest, as it allows all the waste - bones etc - to be depoisted away from the nest, they are a houseproud pair.  Of course, once the chicks arrive, all that will go out of the window as the female will need to stay on the nest and rip pieces of the fish to feed to her chicks. 

Last night we held a volunteer evening locally, to meet any volunteers interested in helping out with the Glaslyn Osprey Project this year and talk about the season ahead.  There were some old faces (in the nicest possible way!) and some new ones.  It's great to all get together like this and we had a good evening.  If you missed it but would still like to volunteer with us, it's not too late, just contact Lucia Ruffino (01492) 562168 lucia.ruffino@rspb.org.uk

It's not just ospreys that are attracted to the Glaslyn - we have seen a water rail over the last couple of days, and a few whooper swans are still hanging around before making their journey to their summer breeding grounds.  Plus our well-stocked feeders have attracted great tits, blue tits and a siskin so far.  Last year we had a great spotted woodpecker too but he has yet to make an appearance.

The viewing site officially opened over the weekend and we have had some glorious weather to get things started.  More than 1000 people have been to see the ospreys so far over the first three days.  This year, we have some magnificent high-powered telescopes, giving a much clearer view of the nest and the birds.  

In fact, our technology at the site has improved all round this year and we now have not one but three cameras watching the nest!  The original camera remains on the nest tree, just above the nest giving us a view looking down on the birds.  A second one is level with the nest and we are able to zoom in on the birds with this.  The camera is in a protective dome to keep it safe from the weather (it can get pretty wild at times here in north Wales) and doesn't move or make a sound as we zoom, so the birds are totally unaware of it.  A third camera is on a seperate tree around 40 metres away, giving us a wider view of the area.  There are now two screens in the visitor centre and we can choose which of the three images to show, depending on what the birds are doing.  It means we should have even better footage to show visitors this year and get all the nest-side action.

The birds have had an active couple of days and have been mating plenty.  As well as all the visitors on the ground, they have had a few aerial guests to deal with.  Love is certainly in the air, as a couple of peregrines were displaying and bonding together around the nest on Sunday afternoon.  They didn't bother the ospreys at all, they were just wrapped up in their own courtship rituals, plus it made great viewing for us through the binoculars.  This morning, just before 10am, a pair of herons went over the nest - they looked huge, even from all the way down here.  The ospreys took this a little more seriously and both went up off the nest.  After plenty of angry calling from both pairs the herons made off and have not been back.  That's great teamwork from the ospreys! 

More mating and plenty of fish-eating has followed this morning.  It's a little cloudier today but still pleasant around the site and we are looking forward to welcoming lots more visitors over the Easter holidays.