August, 2007

Sightings of the ospreys are becoming less frequent now. The adult female has been gone for weeks and, for a few days this week, we began to think the others had done the same. On Saturday we saw just a single osprey, a couple of miles away fishing on the estuary.

That was the last sighting for a while and we were beginning to think the whole family had migrated.

Sunday - nothing, Monday - nothing, Tuesday - nothing, and then on Wednesday, a breakthrough - one of the males appeared at 11:25 am on the feeding tree high up towards the left hand side of the nest. He had a fish that he was tackling. We think it was the adult male, but it could have been YA, the youngest chick.

We've had some lovely views of an otter in the river just outside the viewing hide. On Monday 20th August it was basking in our attention at around 11am! We've seen it before, very early in the morning, but never in the middle of the day like this, so our visitors at the time were thrilled. It spent some time peering into the hide, curious to see what we were all up to I expect.

Though the ospreys are showing themselves less, we are still able to show magnificent footage of the ospreys that was recorded earlier in the season. The project has benefited from a wonderful new camera system this year, kindly funded by Environment Wales, charitable trust support (you know who you are), and installed by Criccieth TV.

The new camera system has given lots of pleasure to many people, providing breathtaking close-up footage of the osprey family, both at the visitor centre and via the webcam. Next year, we hope to have a microphone on the nest, so that we can hear the birds as well as see them.

We have been lucky enough to get some great views of other birds at the site, including two red kites in the field on the opposite side of the road circling around looking for food. They were around for the whole afternoon on Sunday.

Visitors who took part in the bird safari sessions over the weekend saw a real mix of birds including a great crested grebe, herons, kingfishers, canada geese, a sparrowhawk and our regular troop of garden birds that visit the feeders - goldfinches, chaffinches and blue tits.

By the way, thanks to everyone who attended the community weekend over the bank holiday. It was a great event with a wonderful atmosphere as always.

We are coming into the last ten days or so of the season for the Glaslyn Osprey Project, so make the most of the final weekend of school holidays and pay us a visit if you can!

Now there are just three ospreys left at the Glaslyn site, as the adult female has not been seen since last Thursday and has more than likely set off on her migration to west Africa.

Well, with the weather we've had this week who can blame her?! It's been blustery, wet and generally not very August-like. This was about the time we would expect her to go anyway. After five months in the nest, she has spent the last few weeks eatling lots and flying lots, building up her strength ready for the long journey ahead.

The adult male seems a little lost without the missus. On Sunday, an adult male osprey - we are pretty certain it was the Glaslyn male but couldn't be 100% sure - landed in a tree next to the nest tree and began bringing sticks and nesting material to it.

Within around ten minutes he had brought six big sticks to the tree and we could definitely see the outline of a very rustic nest in the making. It's likely that this is the Glaslyn male and that he is engaging in displacement activity. He must be a little out of sorts since his mate left and knows things aren't quite as they were so he's busying himself with something that feels safe and familiar. This new 'nest' is unlikely to get much further and the loose structure won't last long in this unseasonable weather.

He is certainly milking plenty of sympathy - sitting solo for hours on end in his favourite feeding tree, which is up on the left as we look from viewing site, about three quarters of a mile away from us. He spent around three-and-a-half hours just sat there yesterday before going fishing and is back there again today.

It appeals to him because he can see all around for potential threats, keep an eye on what the juveniles are up to and look into the nest. Not that there has been much nest activity for a few weeks now. The birds are barely using the nest, if at all.

When the chicks first began to experiment with fishing, they would often go off with the adult male to learn together. Now, however, each bird is more likely to go off on its own. In fact, the older of the two juveniles was seen fishing at Porthmadog Cob at around 10:15 am today.

Whether she caught anything or not we don't know as, just at that moment, the train went rattling past and blocked the view of the keen-eyed osprey watcher who made the sighting.

We are now into the last few weeks of the osprey season. Soon the adult male will head off to Africa, followed by each chick. But, there are still some great weeks ahead of us watching the ospreys around the Glaslyn as they prepare themselves for migration.

Plus we can still enjoy the last community weekend of the season, due to take place over the August bank holiday weekend (25 - 27 August). We will have lots of extra things to do at the viewing site over that weekend - local produce on sale, displays by local artists and photographers, face painting, bird safari sessions and refreshments - as well as osprey watching of course! It's all completely free of charge as always and we are open from 10 am until 6 pm. Come along and see us if you can.

Lately, we have trained the telescopes on a tree at Moel Ddu, which is between the viewing site and the nest, so we are getting great views of the ospreys as they increasingly use this as a perch.

A few days ago, one of the chicks spotted 'Dad' trying to sneak into this tree with a tasty little meal he had caught for himself. No sooner had he settled down to enjoy the snack than junior had joined him and blagged the meal for itself - what a cheek! 'Dad' was left with nothing more than empty talons and a rumbling belly.

He does have the skills to get more where that came from though, which is more than can be said for the youngsters so far. They haven't quite got the hang of fishing yet. They are trying their best and seem keen enough to master it but each dive results in a miss and we have yet to see either of them bring their own catch back. It will happen in time though, they just need practice.

The last couple of days have given us some wonderful views of both adults over the viewing site. On Sunday, the female flew over heading for the cob at Porthmadog, where she indulged in a spot of fishing herself and yesterday the male came in overhead grasping a fish he had just caught. The family have several fish whilst visitors are here between 10am and 6pm, but we know they start much earlier than that and probably go fishing soon after it gets light.

The ospreys have not been the only birds to enthrall our visitors with their breeding success this season. A pair of swallows chose the viewing hide as their nest site and built their home on a ledge inside the hide just below the roof.

On the face of it, the ledge made an ideal location, just the kind of spot that swallows love to nest in, and the pair probably chose it on a nice peaceful evening when no-one was around. The next day, however, they must have wondered what on earth they had let themselves in for as visitors began to arrive for a day of osprey-watching. They were not perturbed though and stuck with their choice. We were sensitive to the little birds' need for privacy and cordoned off a section of the hide so that they could nest undisturbed.

Visitors were very supportive of the pair and it was a real treat to see the female peeking shyly over the top of the nest or flitting back and forth with food for the chicks.

It was a proud moment when all four of the chicks were ringed a few weeks ago - just like the ospreys, ringing was carried out to allow study into the ecology of the species - and an even prouder one when the last of the four chicks fledged on Sunday. They have joined the many other swallows that are flitting around the osprey site, preparing themselves for the long migration ahead of them in a month or so. They too will head for Africa, but will go to the south of the continent, unlike the ospreys, who will head west.