Shropshire Star

Baby ospreys could hatch at Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust this half term

Half term visitors to an osprey centre in mid Wales could be in for a treat, with the prospect of eggs hatching.

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Telyn cares for her three eggs

The Dyfi Ospreys, Monty and his new flame, Telyn, have three eggs in the nest at the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust osprey project near Machynlleth.

With the mum and dad carefully guarding the eggs project officers say they are expecting them to hatch on or around May 29 – the day after the next bank holiday Monday.

Special cameras stream photos of the nest to the popular visitor centre.

The arrival of the ospreys in mid Wales each year from their winter migration to Africa is always a thrill for the thousands of people who either visit the centre or watch the goings on on its website or facebook page.

This year it was tinged with sadness when the usual female, Glesni, did not arrive at the Dyfi nest. Instead a young female, known by her foot ring, Blue 3J, born at the Rutland osprey site, paired up with the resident male, Monty.

An online competition led to the bird being named, Telyn, Welsh for harp.

Emyr Evans from the centre said: "We recently held a Dyfi Osprey Project benefit concert which took place last week at the 360 Observatory. Catrin Finch, a world-renowned Welsh harpist and Seckou Keita, an eminent Senegalese harpist performed for us and launched their new album "SOAR" on the same day.

"The album is based on osprey migration between Wales and Senegal, the flights our birds take twice a year, free from country borders, immigration, visas, passports and all the other obstacles our species have put in place to restrict travel between one place to another. Just as she was laying her clutch of eggs last week, Blue 3J would have heard the beautiful harp music emanating from the 360 Observatory on the still Friday evening breeze. Telyn seemed an ideal name."

"The concert raised £2,000 specifically for our Dyfi Wildlife Centre project, our vision for a great new centre at Cors Dyfi."

More information and photos and videos of Monty and Telyn can be found on dyfiospreyproject.com, and facebook.com/dyfiospreyproject.