Trout and about
It was T-shirt weather up here yesterday and (in between lots and lots more mating) the Glaslyn male found time for a spot of fishing. At around midday he brought back a huge trout - it must have been over a foot long. His normal routine is to take the fish to one of the feeding trees and chomp off the head, gobbling it down to maintain his energy and get plenty of nutrients. With our new camera systems in place, we are now able to show images from the feeding tree in the vistor centre, which means we can see what they get up to even when they are not on the nest - it's compulsive viewing, and our visitors so far have been very impressed with the new footage.
After eating the head of the big trout yesterday, the male took it on a couple of victory laps, circling round the nest - most probably showing off to his missus! Less than impressed, she took it from him and went back to the feeding tree with it for a bite of lunch herself. They generally prefer to eat on a tree away from the nest, as it allows all the waste - bones etc - to be depoisted away from the nest, they are a houseproud pair. Of course, once the chicks arrive, all that will go out of the window as the female will need to stay on the nest and rip pieces of the fish to feed to her chicks.
Last night we held a volunteer evening locally, to meet any volunteers interested in helping out with the Glaslyn Osprey Project this year and talk about the season ahead. There were some old faces (in the nicest possible way!) and some new ones. It's great to all get together like this and we had a good evening. If you missed it but would still like to volunteer with us, it's not too late, just contact Lucia Ruffino (01492) 562168 lucia.ruffino@rspb.org.uk
It's not just ospreys that are attracted to the Glaslyn - we have seen a water rail over the last couple of days, and a few whooper swans are still hanging around before making their journey to their summer breeding grounds. Plus our well-stocked feeders have attracted great tits, blue tits and a siskin so far. Last year we had a great spotted woodpecker too but he has yet to make an appearance.