One of the Glaslyn chicks is fed by its parent. Image: Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife
Wildlife experts are celebrating after the appearance of two youngsters at a heavily guarded site in north Wales.
The hatching of two osprey chicks followed a scare when an intruder trampled the birds’ eggs at the Glaslyn centre.
But to the relief of volunteers at the project, the eggs were unharmed after the visit of Clarach, another osprey reared in Wales, making his first return after hatching at the Dyfi Osprey Project in Machynlleth.
Gruff Owen, project manager at the site at Pont Croesor near Porthmadog, said volunteers kept a protective watch on the osprey nest 24 hours a day for the past 43 days.
Late on Saturday, they were delighted to see the first chick of 2016 hatch, with its younger sibling appearing in the early hours of Tuesday.
Mr Owen said: “Known affectionately by some as ‘bobbleheads’, the two new chicks are being attentively cared for by their parents, Mrs G and Aran whose job it is to defend them from predators and build up their strength.
“Over the next few months they will need to provide up to three or four fish a day and prepare the chicks for their epic migration to southern Europe or western Africa at just three months old.
“Earlier in May viewers of the live-streaming nest camera were left aghast as they watched an intruding osprey trample all over the eggs.
“Many volunteers were left both shocked and delighted in equal measure as this particular intruding osprey was none other than Clarach, the first chick ever to have returned to Wales from the neighbouring Dyfi Osprey Project. Fortunately, neither of the eggs were harmed during the episode and the two Glaslyn chicks are now looking strong and healthy.”
The Glaslyn female, Mrs G, was one of a pair of ospreys who were the first to return to Wales after hundreds of years of absence due to human persecution. Mr Owen said unfortunately Mr G did not return to the nest last year, for the first time since 2004.
After a few false starts he said Mrs G finally settled with a young osprey named Aran, who helped successfully rear two chicks last year and has returned again in 2016.
Three eggs have been laid this season. It is thought that the first egg was not fertile and the osprey pair have buried it in the nest. If it is found at the end of the season it will be sent away for analysis.
The Glaslyn nest is the most successful recorded osprey site in Wales. Ospreys have returned annually to the Glaslyn Valley since 2004, attracting more than 300,000 people to the viewing site to see the birds.
In 2012, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds decided to offer the management of the venture to the local community. A community group established a not-for-profit community interest company, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife.
The viewing site at Pont Croesor is open to the public every day from 10am until 5pm.
