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.