Dyfi Osprey Project
[1] The Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust, in partnership with the BBC (since featuring the Dyfi Osprey Project on Springwatch in 2011) successfully fitted all three of the osprey chicks with GPS satellite trackers as they were ringed on 19 July 2011 to feed back positional information on their 3,500 miles (5,600 km) migration to Africa.
[4] In 2012, the same two adult ospreys (Monty and Nora) returned from migration to the nest site at Cors Dyfi.
However, a persistent period of torrential rain and cold weather then hit west Wales, flooding the marsh area where the nest is located.
The first eggs were laid on 22 and 25 May, and were to hatch successfully on 28 and 30 June, despite fears that one would not after it was pecked by a crow and appeared to have a tiny chip.
In 2014, the first bird to visit Dyfi was on 24 March, when a four-year-old female from Rutland Water ringed Blue24 arrived.
On 2 April, a local unringed male bird known as Dai Dot (because of his two white eyebrow feathers) arrived on the nest, but Blue24 had been seen the day before back in her natal site in Rutland.
The resident male osprey arrived on 8 April, chasing Dai Dot down the Dyfi Estuary.
Blue 24 was to return several times over the next weeks, including landing on a nearby unused nest platform.
On 18 April 2014, Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust opened a brand new, three floor £1.4m observatory on the Cors Dyfi Reserve.
[8] From the upper viewing level, 10 m (33 ft) above the bog below, the building provides a full 360 degree panoramic view of the Cors Dyfi Reserve and Dyfi Valley with the Plynlimon Mountains and Snowdonia National Park beyond, enhancing the visitor experience to the full range of flora and fauna on the reserve.
In-kind volunteering support and a grant from the Countryside Council for Wales also contributed to its successful construction.
In February 2015, it was announced that the Cors Dyfi 360 Observatory had been shortlisted in the RICS Wales Awards, which recognise inspirational developments in land management, property, & construction.
[10] The Cors Dyfi 360 Observatory was the winner of the 2015 National Lottery Environment Award, voted for by the public.
[11] The first osprey to land on the Dyfi nest in 2015 was an unringed male, known locally as Dai Dot, who spent the day of 6 April on site, before departing again.
the resident female osprey, Blue 12(10), known as Glesni, returned to Cors Dyfi just before 9am and chased Blue24 away, and Monty brought in fish for her.
The female Blue 24 was seen all throughout the 2015 season on the reserve, and the breeding pair became increasingly tolerant of her presence as the chicks grew.
On Wednesday 30 March, a second female Blue 5F(12), also a Rutland bred bird, appeared on the Dyfi, challenging 24 for the nest on that day and the next, when a red kite also joined the fracas.
On Sunday 3 April, the resident breeding male known as Monty arrived on the Dyfi nest at 1.07pm, and the female Blue 12(10), Glesni, just over two hours later at 3.35pm.
Blue 24 did not retreat entirely, but only to an empty nest platform on the Cors Dyfi nature reserve, and Monty was observed mating with both females on a regular basis - an interesting case of polygyny.
On Sunday 17 April, Blue 24 was observed incubating on the spare nest platform, indicating an egg had been laid.
The adult male Monty remained at Cors Dyfi until 1 September before commencing migration.
The single female osprey from Rutland Water, Blue 24(2010) was once again first to arrive back from her wintering grounds, landing on the nest at Cors Dyfi on 24 March 2017.
However, the nesting platform she had laid eggs on in 2016 was removed under licence from Natural Resources Wales on 28 March 2017, so as to prevent the polygamous situation that had occurred in 2016.
The resident adult breeding ospreys arrived back on the nest at Cors Dyfi on the same day, 1 April 2017.
Monty remained just over a week longer, finally departing on 2 September, his timing in keeping with previous seasons.
28 April 2018 - Blue 3R (14), named Gwynant, returned to Wales, landing on the Pont Croesor nest near the Glaslyn Osprey Project.
[16] The book offers a detailed photographic record and personal history of osprey re-establishment in the country.
[17] In 2011, the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust teamed up with BBC Springwatch and Autumnwatch to feature the Dyfi ospreys.
[18] The first show was broadcast on 7 October 2011 and a series of clips followed the birds on migration, presented by leading conservationist Roy Dennis, who travelled to West Africa where they finally tracked down the satellite tagged chick Einion (BlueDH).
In 2016, BBC Springwatch sent a cameraman to Cors Dyfi to record the polygynous antics of Monty with the two females.
