2020
With the world in the grip of the Covid 19 pandemic it was a joy to see Mrs G land on the nest on 21 March, officially the first Welsh osprey to return and for a record breaking 17th breeding season.
Aran returned on 3 April and the Glaslyn pair were once again reunited.
The Visitor Centre remained closed for the whole reason but happily the ospreys were oblivious to the traumatic times being faced in the human world and three healthy chicks were hatched.
Live streaming attracted new followers who welcomed being able to watch the joys of the osprey family during the Covid lockdowns. A new group of Glaslyn Live Chatters also flourished and many new virtual friendships were forged.
The chicks were ringed on 24 June – KC2, KC3 and KC4. KC4 was later to be sighted several times in Senegal in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
The eldest chick KC2 left first last seen on 24 August. Mrs G was last seen on 5 September. Aran stayed for a few days until 15 September after the other two chicks were last seen on 9 September.
It had been a hugely successful season for the Glaslyn pair and their three chicks.
2021
Having upgraded the nest camera, microphone and power supply over the winter months, we eagerly awaited the Glaslyn pair’s return.
Mrs G returned for her 18th season with an early morning arrival on 25 March.
Aran arrived four days later on 29 March for his seventh year at Glaslyn also arriving in the morning and on the earliest date he had ever arrived back in Wales.
The project was happy to welcome visitors back to Pont Croesor for the first time in 18 months, due to the Covid pandemic.
The season started as normal when three eggs were laid. However, things took a harrowing turn for the worse during the week when the chicks started hatching in May.
During a raging storm on the evening of 20 May, Aran left the nest to fish for his growing family. We did not see him again until the middle of the following afternoon, when the storm was finally calming down. Aran did not have a fish and it was clear from his demeanour that something was not right. Mrs G had fed the remaining scraps of the previous days fish to the chicks during the morning and the very young chicks needed feeding urgently. We realised that Aran had sustained an injury to his right wing and he was clearly fatigued.
After seeking expert advice, we decided to provide supplementary fish near to the nest, in an attempt to give the young family a chance of survival. Sadly, our efforts were not successful and the three chicks died over the course of the following few days. However, the fish we provided gave Aran the opportunity to rest and recover and within two weeks he was catching small fish and another two weeks later he was able to catch reasonably sized fish once again. It was too late in the season for a second breeding attempt, but Aran and Mrs G remained together defending their nest from intruding ospreys.
It was the first time since 2004 that no chicks had fledged from the Glaslyn nest. It was a tremendous blow for the project, but thankfully, gradually over the summer Aran went on to make a full recovery, fishing and re-enforcing his bonds to Mrs G and the nest.
Mrs G was last seen on 29 August. Aran did not visit the nest again once she had left, but was seen most days eating his fish on the ‘A498’ tree.’ He was last seen on the ‘River Bend’ tree on 14 September before he headed south on his migration.
During the course of the season over 19 different ospreys, which included Mrs G and Aran were seen on the Glaslyn nest or in the valley.
The other good news was the successful first year of breeding on the Friends of the Ospreys Pont Croesor nest by Dyfi hatched Z2/Aeron (2017) and Poole Harbour hatched Blue 014 (2018). They produced one chick Blue 494, who was re-sighted on his migration in Brittany in September.