The 2026 osprey season at Llyn Brenig had a good start, as Sophia wrote a few weeks ago, and I’m very glad to say that has continued.
On 21 April 372 produced the first egg of the season, and followed that up with two more on 24 and 27 April. It is great to have the audio back on the nest camera this year, but some of my female colleagues and other observers did feel for 372 as the effort of laying made her quite loud on the live feed.
After laying eggs, the female osprey does not normally fish for herself; the males do the fishing and take over incubating while the female is eating, or having a rest. As in previous years, 372 is doing things her own way. LJ2 is quite happy to take a turn at incubating and we have seen her take the opportunity to catch a fish, have a feed, and then bring the rest of the fish to the nest for LJ2 to have his share. This was unique behaviour to our knowledge, but there has been a similar instance in May where the unringed female at Usk Valley ospreys near Talybont has done the same thing. Maybe it is a Welsh trait for independent females.
The books on ospreys in UK describe May as being a quiet time while the eggs are being incubated, but it in one way it can be very exciting. May is when we start seeing the young ospreys who fledged 2 years ago returning from their first migration. We have yet to hear of any sightings of 8B8 Emrys, or 8B9 Bethan, the project’s 2024 chicks, but remain optimistic.
Talking of returning ospreys we have heard that KA5 Roli and X6 Owain have both returned to the nests where they bred successfully in 2025. KA9 Gelert has been seen a couple of times, but does not seem to have a settled on a nest yet. 7B5 Dylis who was seen last year has not been reported this season, but females tend to range much further from the nests they fledge from to find a home, so she could be anywhere.
Sightings of ringed ospreys are collated in UK by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. If you identify a ringed osprey (with an image if possible) please report it to https://roydennis.org/osprey-sightings/ .The foundation will feed back the sighting to the person who did the ringing and the project where the bird was ringed.
The egg dates above led us to expect a hatching period from the 28 May. As I write on 2 June, the first chick hatched on the evening of the 28th, and is doing very well. The second egg hatched very early this morning and is already making its presence felt on the nest. We hope to see the third egg hatch soon. LJ2 is going to be busy – he will be bringing in up to 8 fish per day by the end of June.
The Brenig Volunteer team are planning to create some video diaries for broadcast through social media and the NWWT website. I have recorded one on the fish in the reservoir, talking to Jack who looks after the fishery. Fish identification is even more complicated than I thought! I hope everyone finds it interesting. Other subjects include the ospreys (of course), our work with willow tits, work to encourage wild flowers and planting for bird food, and the fascinating moths we have found around Brenig.