Not cricket, but Ospreys.
May 2004 was memorable, for that was when Ospreys were found
to be nesting in the Glaslyn valley, in Snowdonia. As I was the local police
wildlife crime officer, and the coordinator of the local raptor workers, there
followed for me an initial period of elation, followed by exhaustion, and ultimately
depression, when the nest collapsed following an unseasonably heavy hour of
rain. At this point, we found that there had been two chicks in the nest, but
10 day old birds could not survive an 80 foot fall through a pine tree.
The male “Ochre 11/98” was a part of the Rutland
reintroduction programme; the female was un-ringed, but quite distinctively marked,
and has since been christened “Mrs G” .
In 2005, both birds came back and three eggs were laid. Two
of these hatched and were subsequently ringed before fledging. So began a
dynasty.
The un-ringed female has returned every year since. To date,
28 chicks have fledged from this nest, the latest being ringed on July 3rd.
When they fledge they will bring the total up to 30.
Currently two of her siblings – “YA” and “37” - are nesting
in the Kielder Forest, with “Black 80” nesting at Threave in south west
Scotland.. At the time of writing, these offspring have produced 41 fledged
young, with 11 of this year’s chicks waiting to fledge.
“Black 80” is currently rearing four chicks - a very unusual
occurrence.
None of this information would have been available were it not
for the efforts of the ringers, and all the dedicated Osprey followers and
supporters who have spent so much time watching, and reading the colour rings
on these wonderful birds.
Modern technology has told us so much about bird migration,
but, for population dynamics like this, colour ringing is still producing the
goods, allowing a legion of people to be involved and to contribute to this
project. As I say to all our volunteers, you may not think your little bit of
data is important, but when we pool it all together we can make meaningful
science out of it.
Thanks to Heather Corfield for diligently recording all the
ring sightings across Wales and those of the siblings of the original Welsh
birds.
For more information about the Glaslyn Ospreys, see http://www.glaslynwildlife.co.uk/
Kelvin
BTO Cymru
