Tag Archives: Blue 5F

Little fledged…late Thursday in Bird World

4 June 2026

Hello Everyone,

Life never happens as you plan it. It has been such a bittersweet 24 hours at the Llyn Clywedog nest in the Hafren Forest in Wales. Seren blue 5F is alive – she returned to her nest nearly 24 hours after something spooked her off. I know that people said they did not hear anything or see anything but, believe me, the hearing sensitivity of animals, including my Toby, is far superior to my own.

Seren is alive and home but Dylan seems bewildered. I got angry at someone who said he did not try to save his chicks. He did. As soon as the reservoir waters were calm (they had been very choppy and muddy), he brought a fish to the nest. His babies were crying. He tried. He is used to travelling great distances to get Brown Trout for his family as a treat but not for brooding and feeding. But he tried. They were already too weak and cold. The rescuers tried but a cherry picker could not get there in the dark. Everyone tried to save the babies. In the end, while it is so very sad, we have to thank everyone for their efforts.

Now the family has to heal. Dylan has been on and off the nest. He shared a trout with Seren earlier. Meanwhile she has stayed on the cam 2 perch. She has to be wondering what happened.

A close-up of an eagle perched on a branch in a forested area, with a winding road in the background and a scenic landscape of hills and trees.
A close-up of an osprey standing on its nest made of twigs and branches, surrounded by a green forest landscape in the background.

The forest around the nest:

A lush forest scene featuring tall, green trees with a mix of foliage types and a vibrant natural environment.

Send them positive wishes. It is still a very teary and tragic moment. I am not criticising the removal of the chicks’ bodies. They had hoped to rescue them, and no one knew Seren would return. But sometimes we need to see the dead and say goodbye to understand what happened.

However, there are good things happening and I want to point out a couple of them.

The first one is congratulations to Jill, who has fledged two chicks from the Achieva Osprey platform in St Petersburg, Florida. More than a month ago, we wondered if Little would survive. Jack was not bringing in fish, and Jill started fishing herself, bringing in catfish around 1800 every evening. Then she upped that to two fishing trips, then three. She kept her babies alive, and Little thrived. Then Jack started helping. Between the two of them, those two chicks grew big and strong and today, Little fledged. What a wonderful, happy event – and she returned to the nest. The parents should continue to bring fish to the nest for Big and Little until they disperse.

Time of fledge 08:31:47 with a return at 11:02:30. Thank you ‘PB’ and Heidi.

Little did a lot of flapping and hovering before the flight. Look at those long legs. I always thought Little might be a female but now I wonder.

Two ospreys in a nest made of twigs, with one osprey standing and flapping its wings while the other sits in the nest. Surrounding trees and a street are visible in the background.
A pair of osprey chicks in a nest made of twigs, with one adult osprey nearby, surrounded by trees and a view of a street in the background.

Congratulations. This is cause for a celebration! Perfect flight.

At the seaside nest of Bruce and Naha, Naha has not been well. Bruce – oh, this is amazing – took over the brooding and the feeding of their chicks while Naha recovered. Oh, if only all the males knew how to switch from just fishing to caregiving. Naha is improving. This is great news.

An osprey flying over its nest made of branches, with a view of trees and a playground in the background.

Iris almost pulled Clark off the nest. It has been difficult fishing and even Clark was missing for a time and we were worried but he is OK and came with a fish – which Iris grabbed (along with her mate)!

Here is the video from Cornell Bird Lab of the event: https://youtu.be/N5p4hAdyKgM?

Everything is going well at the Loch Arkaig 2 nest.

Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Wednesday 3rd June 2026

Another day, another chick! Louis and Dorcha’s second chick hatched this morning around 06.21. It was difficult to give an exact time as Dorcha unhelpfully kept pushing the shell back over the chick, but eventually it was fully free and looking strong. The first chick showed its enterprising spirit by popping out from under mum’s shelter, begging for food loud and long, and then tucking itself back under Dorcha next to its hours-old sibling. Fish kept arriving, some bigger than others – Garry LV0 brought four fish for Aurora 536, including a mystery fish, taking the Nest One tally to ninety seven, and Louis brought three fish for Dorcha and the chicks, taking the Nest Two tally to one hundred and six. Dorcha fed both chicks, sometimes the morsels were too large and at one stage the chicks were trying to eat the pieces sticking out of each other’s mouths. But both were fed and kept warm despite the wet weather. It rained on and off today and more rain is forecast – light rain showers with an overnight low of 10°C, and thundery showers with a high of 15°C tomorrow.

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/FMnpIeDqGss N2 Welcome little Bob2 – second chick for Louis & Dorcha 06.21.54 

https://youtu.be/pN16ODcMxEM N1 Garry lands with a large second breakfast 08.41.01 

https://youtu.be/SE3r-lQxlrE N2 Dorcha blocks the view when feeding fish one 10.50.04 

https://youtu.be/HtGwdEC3zBM N2 Fish number two arrives 40 minutes after the first but Dorcha rejects it 11.42.49

https://youtu.be/XxLjuw6frPY N2 Dorcha goes flyabout leaving the bobs home alone 11.54.08

https://youtu.be/6FIZDF7mQfc N1 Aurora accepts the tiny fish remnant Garry brings 15.39.55

https://youtu.be/GrqehkcoXaw N1 Garry’s fourth fish is a decent size 18.45.49

https://youtu.be/XjFr1Wu965Y N2 Extended feeding session but Dorcha gives the chicks too large morsels 18.50.54

And for today, Louis has delivered his second fish of the day as I write this. https://youtu.be/wn2_3INajsY?

Geemeff will have more news for us but I will have this sent out before she posts so enjoy that last video addition.

A close-up of a bird in a nest surrounded by sticks and branches, featuring blurred wings and a natural forest background.

Glacier Gardens is not suffering from a lack of fish – just a very deep egg cup. Hard to see but there is at least one little bobblehead there.

A bald eagle sitting on its nest at Glacier Gardens in Juneau, AK, with visible eggs and surrounding branches.
A bald eagle is seen near its nest, peering down at the ground, surrounded by twigs and greenery.

It has been a very emotional day and I have a headache. I am going to stop and enjoy the rest of the day with my family. I want to thank my daughter Jaine for being with us for lunch and to my dear friend Geemeff who phoned from London to give me the good news about Seren. Life goes on. Sometimes we just have to breathe and take the bittersweet with the wonderful and that is what today has been. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to everyone for their notes and their messages including Heidi, PB, and Geemeff today. I appreciate all of the posts on FB and the owners of the streaming cams that allow us to watch the challenging lives of our raptor families.

Dylan tried but it was too late…

4 June 2026

What a terrible morning. John Williams and the Forestry England team went with the cherry picker to help the little osplets on the Llyn Clywedog nest but when they got there at first light, it was too late.

Dylan had come in with a fish and tried to feed his babies. Only C1 was responsive.

There is no sign of Seren Blue 5F, Dylan’s mate and the chick’s Mum. She flew off the nest suddenly and did not return. She appeared to hear or see something that caused her to leave. Seren was a loving and caring Mum who always had her spot in The Gambia in the winter.

Soar high, Seren and babies.

An osprey chick is resting in its nest made of twigs and branches, surrounded by a lush green landscape with trees and hills in the background.

Dismayed Dylan. He has lost his entire family.

An osprey sitting in its nest, holding a fish, surrounded by sticks and greenery.

Message from John Williams who has loved and looked after this family beyond his role with Forestry England.

Message from John this morning :

“Its with great sadness that I write this. Sadly the chick’s had already passed when we recovered them this morning, I know people may of been asking why we couldn’t do something sooner, and I wish that it was that easy. You have to weigh up all the outcomes with any decision of intervention you take. Knowing that what ever you do could end the same way with them passing away.

Interventions have been done before, like at the Dyfi but they did have the benefit of both parent birds being there, so that any surviving chick could be returned. We don’t know what has happened to 5F I looked for her but its like looking for a needle in a hay stack, thanks to the Clywedog fishermen for also searching the lakeside too.

It was late last night when it started, at first you have to hope that 5F would come back. As there is no reason for her not to unless she came into harms way, and there would of been no way to know this. Then there is the question how would I get to the nest, id need to hire a cherry picker, after 10pm that wasn’t going to happen, and also id need a skilled operator to come at short notice, out of hours. Then there was the issue of the weather with gusts of over 40mph. You cannot use a cherry picker with winds that strong, and the tree itself isnt safe to climb in the daylight let alone the total darkness.

Best thing I could do was mobilize guys first thing in the morning whilst also seeking advice from experts. No one can doubt my commitment to these birds, I’ve dedicated so much of my life and time to them, here put lots of things on the line for them. It is heartbreaking for me and I know it is for many of you too. 5F is a much loved osprey by us all, I’ve got my fingers crossed that she is safe and well somewhere.

Im not the best with words, but I hope I’ve demonstrated to you all that we couldn’t of done much more than we have already for them, as hard as I know it is. Its been a very stressfull time for me, and im really sorry”

Is a tragedy unfolding at Llyn Clywedog? Late Wednesday in Bird World

3 June 2026

Good Evening Everyone,

Dylan and Seren Blue 5F are the adult ospreys at the Llyn Clywedog nest in the Hafren Forest in Wales. They have successfully raised chicks together for years. They have had troubles with a goshawk in the past that took one of their chicks.

This season the pair had all three of their eggs hatch.

The weather earlier today had been rainy.

A bird of prey sitting on a nest surrounded by twigs and branches, with green rolling hills and trees in the background.
A mother bird sitting on a nest with her chick, surrounded by a natural landscape of greenery.

Fish on the nest above. At times during the afternoon, I thought Seren appeared to be distracted.

An eagle resting in its nest made of twigs and branches, surrounded by a green landscape with trees in the background.
An osprey standing over a nest with three chicks surrounded by twigs and branches, set against a backdrop of green fields and trees.

Seren flies off the nest leaving her babies at 20:58:44.

A close-up view of an osprey nest made of branches and twigs, with young ospreys lying inside. The background features a blurred landscape of trees and grassy hills.

She has not returned.

A close-up view of an osprey nest made of twigs and branches, with visible chicks resting inside.

Dylan came to the nest about an hour after Seren flew off. He has not brooded the chicks. They were chirping and huddling together.

I have a really bad feeling about this. Seren is too good a mother to leave her chicks for this long unless she is injured or dead. My heart is aching for those little babies who want the warmth of their Mum.

It has been a really rough week in Bird World. We lost Rosie and Richmond’s only osplet, Scout died, Snow was taken into care, and we count every fish that goes to Little Dewey at Dewey Beach. Storks in part of Europe are hungry. They need rain along with frogs and little fish. This year promised to be challenging and it is turning out to be more than anticipated.

Please send your wishes to the Llyn Clywedog nest of Dylan and Seren that Mum will return, and the babies will not succumb to hypothermia.

Remember to be grateful for all the little souls in other nests that are fine – anything can happen. Keep them safe!

I am taking the day off tomorrow. June 4 is our late son’s birthday and we always celebrate by eating New York cheesecake, his favourite. It will also give me a chance to take a deep breath after all these tragedies. Take care everyone. We will see you again on Friday.

Thank you to CarnyX Wild for their streaming cam to the Llyn Clywedog nest where I took my screen captures.