On Sunday evening, five months after opening, the gates of the Glaslyn osprey site closed behind the last visitor of the season. All four birds have left on migration.
The female has been gone for over five weeks and is probably arriving at her winter home in west Africa around now. The last confirmed sighting of an osprey around the viewing site was on Wednesday 29 August.
The birds all make separate journeys rather than travelling in one family group. It's our estimate that the two juveniles and adult male will still be around northern europe at the moment, as they've only been gone a couple of weeks.
The only task that remains is to thank everyone involved in making it another great season. Glaslyn osprey staff and volunteers have been wonderful, as ever. Since the site opened in April 47,000 visits have been made here and hundreds of people have kept up with the news on the blog, so thanks for all your support. Here's wishing the Glaslyn ospreys a safe trip! In six months or so, we will hope to getting our first sightings of the adults back in Wales ready to do it all again!
RSPB Cymru is grateful for the support of the local community, landowners, North Wales Police, the Countryside Council for Wales, Gwynedd County Council, Snowdonia National Park Authority, the CAE Fund (Welsh Assembly Government Sustainable Development Fund), Tourism Partnership North Wales, Environment Wales on behalf of Welsh Assembly Government, the National Trust and unnamed charitable trusts.
The Glaslyn Osprey project is part of Aren’t Welsh Birds Brilliant!’ a partnership between RSPB Cymru, Forestry Commission Wales and the Countryside Council for Wales. It is funded by the European Union’s Objective One programme through the Welsh Assembly Government (European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund) and Enfys, funded by the Big Lottery Fund and administered by the Wales Council for Voluntary Action.