FAREWELL TO THE 2024 GILESTONE OSPREYS
Bearing in mind that ‘our’ pair of ospreys did not breed in 2024 – but they went through all the motions and expected behaviours - it proved to be a rather late departure. Indifferent weather conditions may have prompted them to leave from Sunday 8th September – on that date both were on the nest during late-morning, the female at 11:30 and the male at 11:51. There were some ‘field’ sightings in the valley after those timings, and the female was certainly keeping up her begging calls late into the day.
On the 9th, no calling was heard but a distant osprey believed to be the resident male was stationed on a regular perch eating a fish at 11:05. It appears then that they left separately and will journey south alone, and probably will not meet over the winter before, we hope, they return to Talybont-on-Usk from late-March 2025. In the meantime, migrant ospreys continue to be seen locally but these will be from northern breeding sites as they head south.
Thanks to all parties involved – principally Welsh Government and Wildlife Windows with specialist advice from Dr Tim Mackrill – members of Usk Valley Ospreys and our Facebook Group have been able to appreciate these special birds re-colonising the Usk valley. A special message must go to our 50 or so trained ‘Watcher’ volunteers: you have been enthralled by monitoring the live nestcam images of this pair all season, and your meticulous data gathered (as well as those by ‘field’ observers off the towpath) represents a valuable dataset to compare with future years. UVO hope that you, and many more next season, will wish to volunteer again in 2025.
The live nestcam feed made available over the last few weeks of the birds’ summer occupation has been especially welcomed by the wider public. It is the intention that live-screening will resume as soon as ospreys return in March.
All the specialist advisers involved this season will be visiting the nest in the next few weeks to review the health of the tree, the stability of the nest and suitable camera positions for 2025. It is hoped that little will change and we can build on the successes of 2024 but contingency plans exist should the need occur. Depending on the advice received, Usk Valley Ospreys will work with Welsh Government and the specialists in providing more superb viewing next year – but in the meantime, keep looking in to www.uskvalleyospreys.org for the latest news, and to enjoy short recorded clips of action from 2024.