Tag Archives: Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust

Bird World 15 November 2021

In the first chapter of her book, Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder, Julia Zarankin talks about the rather spartan apartment she had as a graduate student. She talked about the compromises with her husband’s collection of 300 stone elephants only to realize what happened when she discovered birds. She said: “Within a year, the barometric pressure in my apartment shifted. Stuffed-animal squeaky hooded warblers learned to coexist with tigers; bird-shaped vases stood next to the elephant-shaped salt shaker; sculpted owls flirted with the faux-malachite elephant’s plastic tusks…more frightening: a pile of bird-themed stationary of every persuasion and a shelf dedicated to field guides…Not to mention the nondescript felt bird, the two paintings of birds, and the stained glass owl..” Later she adds the parrot notebooks, bird-themed t-shirts and all the bird magazine subscriptions. How many of us see ourselves in those same words?

I was, despite all of the warnings by Zarankin, delighted to see Emry Evans’s book, Monty, in the post along with some pins. The Dyfi online shop is now open. All of the nature centres will ship overseas. Roy Dennis’s Wildlife Fund has his three books and shipping internationally is calculated at check out. Lots of good things at all the on line shops for Osprey fans.

Emyr Evans writing is exceptional as are the images in Monty. Written with a deep, abiding love and respect for a bird – 50 stories from the pen of Emyr Evans.

It is a horribly grey day on the Canadian prairies. Will it snow or will it rain? Do birds get arthritis? Would they like a heated area to warm their little feet? Those are the silly thoughts that have gone through my head today.

Dyson decided it was best to just be off the snow altogether and sit in the tray feeder filling his cute little face.

Dyson doesn’t share. He is like Ervie, the Port Lincoln super star fledgling who grabbed the first fish of the morning from dad at 6:50:24. Oh, I love this image of Ervie in front of Dad grabbing that fish with his leg just like Mum does. Ervie watched and learned. Sorry, Bazza.

Falky just loves to fly and he was much more interested in checking out the area than the first fish. He flew in just a little too late.

Falky’s landings are actually really good. Ervie did a few spins yesterday and wound up landing on Bazza – Ervie needs landing training. That is great form that Falky has on this landing. Ah, the lads will all improve. This flying thing is just new. What fun it must be to whip around the bay!

Now Bazza – it is your turn!

Diamond brought prey in for Yurruga at 07:09. Yurruga was ready!

I thought Diamond would drop the prey and leave like Xavier but she had a different idea.

Diamond who incubated the two eggs during the night decided she was also going to feed her nestling.

Look carefully. Yurruga is changing. The white down is really coming off those wings and the head. She looks like a bird, not a fluffy column with a sort of bird head. Even, the fur boa is disappearing.

You can see the pin stripes on Yurruga’s chest and her head now looks like that of a falcon. Amazing. Equally impressive is the length of Yurruga’s tail. What a gorgeous Peregrine Falcon she is going to be.

Ah, and if you are watching the dates, Izzi fludged a year ago today. Izzi is the 2020 hatch of Diamond and Xavier and quite the character.

Oh, such delight. There is no news – at least not yet today – on Grinnell. I hope he is ready to be released shortly. And no news on WBSE 27 but there was a gorgeous Galah in the nest this morning poking about.

One of the Aussie chatters always said that if someone called you a ‘galah’ it meant that you were rather ‘slow, dim witted’. Ah, terrible. They are such incredibly beautiful pink and grey cockatoos. A few minutes of a cute bird that loves to have ‘tickle tickle’.

Bazza still has plenty of time to fly today but I don’t. Thank you for joining me — and if you loved Monty, you seriously need to get to the Dyfi store and get a signed copy of Emry’s book. I promise you will not be sorry but you will need a box of tissues. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: the Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, and Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross.

Excitement in Osprey Land

There is a lot of excitement today in Wales. First up it is the tenth anniversary of the very first hatch at Dyfi in almost 400 years. At the time people were getting in their cars and driving as fast as they could to get there to see the historic birth.

The parents were the infamous Monty and White 03/08, a Rutland hatch, who was called ‘Nora’. Monty is named after the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust. Monty arrived at the newly erected platforms on the western coast of mid-Wales in 2008 but he did not breed until 2011. This historic hatch, the first of many future ones, turns out to be Einon (Blue DH), the second egg. The first egg hatched second andit was Dulas (Blue 99) followed by Leri (Blue DJ).

They were all fitted with satellite trackers and this is what they looked like at the time:

Here is an image of that historic hatch. Monty is unringed and he was incubating the eggs at the time. Nora looks on. Monty’s first hatch!

And here is the video. The camera work is a little grainy but it is a historic document and how wonderful. The reintroduction of Ospreys to Wales was on its way. Many of Monty’s chicks now have their own nest and there are, of course, Monty’s grandchildren.

Today, Monty’s last mate, Telyn, is on the Dyfi Nest with Idris. Telyn picked a good mate to try and fill Monty’s shoes. Here they are today with their two Bobs, a big fish, and a worrisome piece of netting. Idris is standing on the fish he just brought in and Telyn has the blue Darvin ring, 3J.

One of my favourites out of Monty’s and Glasni’s (before Telyn) chicks is one that my friend ‘T’ introduced me to – Z1 or Tegid of the ‘white egg’. He was a tiny scrapper who survived his migrations and has been breeding on an unmonitored nest in Wales for the past two years. He hatched in 2016. Tegid is one of the little third hatches that I am acquiring information on – you see I don’t always buy the fact that the idea of the survival of the fittest always means the big bully sibling. It is like Tiny Tot, the third hatch on the Achieva Osprey nest in 2021. He almost starved to death and today, through being clever, tenacious, persistent and having a strong urge to live, Tiny Tot has been protecting his natal nest from intruders. I hope one day it is his! (if he is really a he).

Z1 is really a handsome bird. My goodness. I wonder if his sibling, Z2 Aeron on the PC nest near Dyfi this year, is as good looking.

Just stopping in to catch up a couple of other nests. Only one egg out of the three hatched for Dylan and Seren at the Clywedog Nest this year. That Bob is really spoiled!

Everything is fine up at the Loch of the Lowes. Both of the chicks are really in the reptileian phase of their plumage. They are so dark!

I love the image below – little Bob staring Big Bog straight in the eyes like he is telling her not to mess with him!

NC0 filled both of them up and they went into food comas. She had some fish and a nap herself.

The two remaining osplets on the Urdaibai Biosphere Osprey nest appear to be fine. There is some concern about their eyes but, hopefully it will prove to be just an irritant.

Landa removed the body of sweet little Zuri from the nest where she had buried it at 17:31:03.

The three Bobs at the Foulshaw Moss nest in Cumbria had a nice big feed by mom today. It was especially nice to see the smallest Bob get its fill. Sometimes it is hard to be the smallest one but, again, look at Z1 Tegid or Tiny Tot. These little ones can do great things. Little Bob is two weeks old today and its two bigger siblings are entering their biggest growth spurt where they will gain 40g a day. That is the equivalent, Foulshaw Moss says, of a human gaining 2kg a day! Wow.

There is lots more news but one event that also got everyone cheering today was the skycalling of Poole Harbour translocated Blue 019 and her landing on the Glaslyn Nest. She was last seen in January 2020 when she was photographed in the Gunjur Quarry in The Gambia. No one knew if she survived. She put on a good show for everyone today surprising them since normally it is the males that do the skycalling. Skycalling is a high pitched peeep-peeep-peeep sound. She is gorgeous.

Maybe this Poole Harbour girl will find her a Welsh mate!

And for me, Tiny Tot has had at least two deliveries today. Diane brought him a breakfish at 8:37:17 and there was another delivery at 2:50:14. Maybe he will get an evening one, too! He certainly deserves it.

Thanks for joining me. What a fabulous day in the history of the reintroduction of Ospreys in Wales. Take care. Stay well and cool if you are in the area of the heat wave.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife, Urdaibai Biosphere Park, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Loch of the Lowes, Dyfi Osprey Project and Carnyx Wild.

First egg for Idris and Telyn!

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?

Isn’t it beautiful Idris? 9:55 am. 12 April 2021

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.