It might have started out like any other day on the Dyfi nest in Wales but it wasn’t long until Blue 3J Telyn was telling unringed Idris that the first egg had arrived. That was at 9:55 on 12 April. Isn’t that a beautiful egg?
Idris is ready to take over some incubating duties while Telyn has a break.
Telyn arrived on the 26th of March from her migration with Idris following on 29 March. While we know of Telyn’s origins, little is known about Idris.
Telyn was a Rutland Osprey. She hatched in 2013 and is the daughter of male Green 5R (2004) and mother, Maya. She first tried breeding with a male at Rutland in 2016 but that was unsuccessful. She shows up in Wales in 2017 as an intruder on the Dyfi Nest. The following year she is bonded with Monty. That very first season, 2018, Telyn laid three eggs and raised three very successful and strong chicks. The following year, 2019, was the same – three eggs and three strong chicks to fledge. What an incredible record! Monty did not return in 2020 and a new male shows up at the nest on 5 April. It is Idris. The couple raised two healthy chicks to fledge. In total, in three years, Telyn has raised to fledge 5 male Osprey and 3 female Osprey. Oh, we are looking forward to all the excitement of 2021!
The nest of Idris and Telyn is at the Cors Dyfi Reserve near Machynlleth on the west coast of Wales, pretty much right in the centre.
I am inspired by the United Kingdom Ospreys. Look at this record of raising three chicks to fledge by a young female. And I am remembering Louis and Aila last year with the three. There were other successful couples that raised three to fledge. A good example is in 2011 when Monty and his mate, Nora, raised three who were fitted with satellite trackers.
One day I am going to begin the effort to locate every Osprey nest in the United Kingdom that had three eggs hatch and three fledge. While I might be dwelling on the tragedy that could be happening at the Achieva Osprey nest with Tiny Tot, I am reminded of the deaths of the third born in other nests and I must beg the question: why are the Ospreys in the United States more aggressive? or is this an incorrect perception? This aggression – the high level of it – was also seen in Solly at the Port Lincoln Osprey Nest. Articles on siblicide indicate that it occurs not just when food is in short supply but also when it isn’t. So what is the motivator and why do the UK nests seem not to have this problem? Is it contaminants in the fish? pharmaceuticals in the water? heavy metals? other toxins? Or am I just stabbing at straws? The problem is this. I have been trained to ask questions and when I see successful fledglings of three across the board in Wales, in England, and in Scotland (there are no Osprey nests in Ireland), it just makes me wonder.
Thank you for joining me today. For now the snow has stopped on the Canadian prairies and the song birds are busy trying to find seed in my garden. Seven Grackles are on the large suet cylinder. It is a hilarious site. One day there will be a camera!
Thank you to Dyfi Osprey Project and Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust for the streaming cam at the Dyfi Osprey Nest where I took my screen shots.
