nature notes

I think the birds here are a bit earlier than usual in pairing off - I've seen some with nesting material looking very determined.

I used to have bird feeders here Marigold, but stopped feeding the birds (unless the weather really is very cold) because of the number of rats I was seeing helping themselves to whatever the birds dropped.
 
Reading about your bird species count Marigold made me curious as to how many we have here at the moment. My total is 17. Some of the more unusual ones are Kestrel, Nuthatch, Egret, Jay, Woodpecker (lesser spotted) and a Black Winged Kite. There will be several more later in the year including a Golden Oriole, Red Kite, Green Woodpecker and Buzzards plus the resident barn owls which nest in our loft. Our Sparrow Hawk annoyingly prefers Blue Tits, taken as they fly off the feeders.

Sitting outside this morning and a red squirrel ran across the lawn to the walnut tree, presumably to dig up some of the nuts it buried last year?
 
So cocky, just wait until Pippin arrives.

Our Nuthatch missed being on last years bird watch form by about 5 mins, he made sure he was on time this year and brought a friend. 19 species including a Red Kite which landed on the fence
 
I'm afraid I gave up doing the RSPB birdwatch after ringing up to register a couple of years ago rather than accepting cookies that I didn't want.

The person on the other end of the phone subjected me to half an hour's increasingly aggressive "chugging" until I hung up on them. I've had nothing to do with the RSPB ever since.
 
OSPREYS

For those of you who might be interested two of the Welsh osprey nests have two eggs each, at Dyfi Osprey Project and Llyn Clywedog. Egg expected by the weekend at Llyn Brenig.

Mrs G, the elderly matriarch at Glaslyn sadly didn't return this year but her mate Aran seems to have found himself a new lady and things are looking good there. She is probably three years old, no rings so we can't be sure. Her nickname at the moment is "Doti" because she has a small dot on her face and a larger one lower down on her breast. I expect that the Glaslyn team will give a good Welsh name once she has laid her first egg.

There have been all sorts of milestones in their courtship/relationship. Doti has remained at the nest, sleeping on the perch as Mrs G used to do for four nights. She is much more amenable to mating and has also "fish shared" with Aran. He catches the fish and often eats what he needs before handing it to her. On one occasion , when she had had enough she let him take the fish back from her. There was some debate on the live chat about whether she was trying to hold him off as she was flapping her wings but it was actually to keep her balance while he tugged the fish from her talons. The talons are designed to hold on to the fish and releasing one is difficult.

Being young apparently her hormones won't be up to level just yet so the first egg is expected about the beginning of May.

I didn't get anything done yesterday as I was watching three live streams as the second egg was expected at Dyfi and Clywedog and the Glaslyn pair were restoring the nest, mating an eating. I missed the egg at Clywedog but saw it live at Dyfi - the camera work was superb.

All three live streams are on Youtube as Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife, Dyfi Osprey Project and under Carnyxwild. I have all three open again but the most action is on BGGW which I'll watch while I get the ironing done!
 
Very sad news, the end of an era, but she lives on with her children, and grandchildren breeding, especially at Kielder, Threave and Roudsea, plus Yorkshire. Her son Black 80 returned to Threave for his 14th year, good genes being passed on.

Looking at the live streaming I am finding it tricky separating Aran and his new lady at times. It is nice for her to have a seasoned Osprey to learn from

Quite exciting at Kielder to with pairs swapping "house" as it was, bit of a shock for returnees finding squatters in situ.
 
Sussed the trick of ID with them. Aran's dark feathering on his forehead is the same arrow shape logo that features on some American airfield memorials in East Anglia, her dark feathering is broader.

I think we need to send Aran a supply of earplugs, and possibly the Pont Croeser pair may need some, boy, is she noisy
 
bigyetiman said:
Sussed the trick of ID with them. Aran's dark feathering on his forehead is the same arrow shape logo that features on some American airfield memorials in East Anglia, her dark feathering is broader.

I think we need to send Aran a supply of earplugs, and possibly the Pont Croeser pair may need some, boy, is she noisy
Click to expand...
She is yelling practically all the time. What was wonderful was to see Aran's "happy dance" when she came back to the nest after an overnight absence. He's done it several times since. She seems to be more settled today and getting used to the disturbances from the farmer's vehicles. Low flying jets and trains don't seem to bother her.
There's an egg at the Pont Croesor nest apparently but the camera there is some way off. Both Seren (5F) at Llyn Clywedog and Telyn at Dyfi Opsprey Project have laid their third eggs. There was some doubt initially as to whether Telyn would lay three as it seems her first egg was reabsorbed, possibly becuase of the atrocious weather at the time.

Aran's lady (not ringed and yet to be named) has a faint dot below her right eye, her "eyebrows" are much more pronounced and she has a dot low donw on the RHS of her breast. That doesn't help much if you're looking from behind! She has more markings on the back of her head than Aran but the feathers are often blown up in the wind. If she's yelling though there's no doubt!
 
It is all looking good, and they are looking very comfortable with each other. I did see her today bring back what looked like half a cricket pitch to line the nest.

Perhaps we should christen her Dame Nellie, as her vocal range could match any soprano at the Royal Opera House. A nice Welsh name would be good for her

She is certainly getting used to things around her and realising they are no direct threat. She is lucky to have Aran, a seasoned campaigner to help her along.

I am liking her a lot.

The second pair that were at the 2nd Pont Croeser nest are back, but using a different nest this year, and the Welsh 4 nest as it is called has it's pair back.
 
Well our lady at Glaslyn has a name Elen named after a nearby mountain, and she has celebrated by surprising everyone by laying her 1st egg at 10.37
 
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