The timeline of Dai dots ousting.

I’ve been thinking about the events which led to Dai dot being ousted from his nest. I’ve created a timeline of events. This might answer the question about what happened to him, but I’m affraid I wont be able to answer where he is now.

It all started on Tuesday 12 April 2016. At 5.45pm an intruding male osprey landed on the nest with a fish, while Dai and Delyth were on the nest. He then made lengthy and persistent attacks on the nest. Possibly where Dai picked up his injury from.

Dai and Delyth on the nest, Dylan the attacking osprey. Photo credit Mary Hyde Brown

Monday 18th April 2016.

1.30pm Another intruder recorded making attacks on the nest, each time it was chased away by Dai.

Thursday 21st April 2016.

Delyth had been alone incubating for most of the day till Dai turned up at 4.15pm with no fish. She had left the nest once in the morning for over two hours after she had caught her own fish.
Since Tuesday Dai had not been visible for most of the day sometimes showing up for short periods of time and then going away again, but every time he did come back he never had any fish with him.

So potentially his injury could be affecting his ability to catch fish. Carrying this injury could also explain why he had not been around much, the attack could of damaged his confidence.

Sunday 24th April 2016.

Two osprey seen having a serious fight. Identity of the birds unknown, but believed to be Dai and the new male.

Monday 25th April 2016.

7.30am A new male is on the nest with Delyth. He had brought her a fish. At this point the eggs could of still been on the nest. But she made no attempt at incubating all day.

Wednesday 27th April 2016.

New male still around, from my observations it looked like the male was scraping an egg cup or probably pushing the old eggs out of the nest. I seen plenty of breeding behaviour shown and also regular fish deliveries.

Dai dot was seen at the Dyfi at 7.31pm, and from the photo taken by Emyr he did appear to have an injury on his wing.

Dai dot showing a bloody wing – photo by Emyr Evans

Thursday 28th April.

Delyth on the nest. At 3.45pm the new Male was seen chasing an intruder, was back on the nest by 3.55pm. So could of been Dai again here.

The last confirmed sighting of Dai dot was the 27th of April 2016. There had been many unconfirmed sightings of other male ospreys around, but unfortunately we can’t be sure any of them were actually Dai.

Check this Blog from Emyr Evans about Dai Dot and his ousting.

http://www.dyfiospreyproject.com/blog/emyr-mwt/2016/04/28/dai-dot-what-has-happened-him

Deryn

The Rule breaker?

When an osprey does something that was not expected we often hear people say “thats not in the rule book” But lets make things a bit clearer. The phrases associated with this rule book have phrases like “juvenile osprey don’t usually learn to hunt until they migrate”. The key word here though is “usually” it allows us that bit of wriggle room. Let’s face it, if everything did what a book said, it would be boring right?! In life there is always going to be that exception to the rule. Well that’s my opinion and not a fact as we can all be proven wrong at some stage.

So this is on the most parts true, but not every situation is the same is it? There could be lots of reasons why some juvenile osprey don’t hunt until migration. One could be that there simply is no need to and they are kept satisfied by their parents. Another reason could be the proximity to a water course, for example the further away they are from water maybe they are less likely to do it. Although its more probable they are less likely to be seen doing it, and that bit is important. But as in life there is always an exception to the rule.

Now i’m not an osprey expert. I don’t have a degree in osprey ecology. I would love to have one though. I’m not saying I have all the answers to this but I do know what I have seen from our ospreys.

I have seen Deryn make several attempts at fishing on various days. Practicing that technique needed to become an expert fisher. Diving into the water talons first. Then emerging out of the water to do that signature shake off in mid air. Then to see her do this another 20 times in a row is breath taking!

The icing on the cake had to be her bringing her very own fish (which she caught) back to the nest. Now she was not alone this year in doing this. Eitha the youngest chick from the Dyfi managed catching not one but two fish, which is outstanding really. Its great to see them succeed like this and gives us great hope that they will return in a few years time.

So all in all it has been a very interesting year watching these birds. We learn something new about them every year. A daft thing I learnt which is obvious when you think about it. Was how soft the skin on a juvenile ospreys leg is! Also that their talons are very delicate. Obviously their skin hardens with age and their talons will also strengthen. But at the time I held Deryn I never thought about that and was completely living in the moment.

From watching Deryn grow into a full size osprey has been a pleasure beyond imagination for me. She will always be a special bird to me, hopefully she will be seen on a nest (with a camera) in a few years time. This year I managed to film her doing one of her fishing attempts. It was good timing on my part. I had seen her a day or two before doing this. I also seen last years brood doing this too. So I knew what I wanted to do this year. Which was to get a good video of her doing this. They say pictures speak a thousand words, well how many words does a video speak? 😊

Blue 24

Blue 24 Facts

From – Rutland water

Hatched – 2010

First seen on the Dyfi in 2013

Blue is very familiar to me at our nest. Every year without fail she has been here. She usually arrives here at the end of March. She would hop between here and the Dyfi waiting to see which male would arrive back first.

When I say hop I simply mean that for her to fly over the hills between us and the Dyfi only takes her between 20-30 minutes. Thats around 12 miles as the osprey flies. In the beginning we were in denial about whether it was possible but it must be as she cant be physically in two places at once, even if it felt like it at times.

I know every one has wondered why ’24 would just hang around these nests causing a nuisance of her self but she was just doing what comes natural to her and was hedging her bets between all the nests known to her and not just us and the Dyfi she would be quite often up at Glaslyn too.

She knows at some point there will be an opportunity at one of these nests, so she is willing to bide her time, unless she discovers a male somewhere with a desirable nest and territory. The news that she may have just found exactly that in North Wales, is great news indeed and hopefully both will be back up there again next year. I am not ruling out seeing her again in March though. As I think she will continue to be an early bird and probably her habit of checking the other nests out first may be a hard one to shake off.

Me and Blue..

I once had a really magical experience with blue. I was in a part of the forest to the south of the Clywedog and as the land lies I was high above the lake too. I was going to walk on one of my restock sites, when I seen what I thought was Dylan flying over head with a fish. I slowed down and tried to see which direction he was heading. As I approached a clearing in the trees I seen a large bird flying towards me so I pulled over and looked, it was an osprey!

It then landed on a dead tree in front of me. Probably about 150 meters away. I couldnt believe my eyes. I was the closest i’ve ever been to an osprey. I wasn’t sure how long it would stay or even who it was at that time.

I set my spotting scope up and could see a blue darvic ring so that ruled Dylan out. At first glance I thought it was a male, a ringed male! Could this be one our young returning I thought. But as I watched closely I could then make out the numbers on it. It read 24! Initially I was disappointed but that didn’t last long. With disappointment turned to excitement I was watching blue 24 eating a fish from less than 150 meters away! She stayed on this tree for nearly an hour. I didnt want to move because I didnt want to startle her. Plus the fact I was loving every minute of it!

I first thought she caught this fish on the lake as it was still alive and completely intact when she landed. But after she left I went over to the tree, where she left the half eaten fish and noticed round disc like lice attached to the flanks and tail of the fish. Now im no expert but these lice can only live in sea water. So that means not only did she fly the 12/13 miles up hill to here, she brought a fish with her! That’s some endurance right there!

That was not the first time I’ve seen 24 in a strange place in Hafren. A year or two ago I seen here not too far from the most recent time but this time it was down in the valley on a really tall spruce tree near the road. She had a fish with her. Unfortunately I didnt have a good camera back then and only got a poor photo of her.