Dyfi Osprey Project: Look who’s back – it's Monty!
Monty the osprey has made his annual pilgrimage to Mid Wales.
The bird of prey flew down the Dyfi estuary this week after an incredible 3,000-mile migration from Africa.
He is one of a handful of ospreys to have returned to their nesting grounds, both at the Dyfi osprey project near Machynlleth, and at the Clywedog dam.
Volunteers at the Dyfi Project are now gearing up for a flock of visitors – bird enthusiasts wanting to catch a glimpse of Monty and any females that court him.
A pair of ospreys has been nesting there for several years and a purpose-built observatory and visitor centre attracts thousands of people each year.
Emyr Evans, the project manager, said the popular male osprey was spotted on Wednesday.
“We saw an osprey flying down the Dyfi estuary earlier in the day and wondered if it was him. Then another bird landed on the Dyfi nest but was only there a few seconds and was gone. In the afternoon came the confirmation that Monty had been spotted on the nest. He didn’t hang around long. Ten minutes later he flew down to the Glandyfi bend of the river and after some serious mobbing by crows and a black-backed gull, he successfully caught a flounder.
“He took it to the grassy bank of the Dyfi to eat it on the ground.”
Now staff and volunteers are hoping female ospreys will join him and he will mate with one and move on to the nest, high above the observatory.
“We also had a phone call from John Williams from Natural Resources Wales to say he had spotted three ospreys at Clywedog,” Mr Evans said.
Special cameras are trained on the Dyfi nest that record the ospreys. arriving, nest building and hatching and caring for their young.
