SYFADDAN SHOWS UP!
At 15.57pm on the afternoon of Easter Monday 6th April the regular male osprey Syfaddan returned to the Gilestone nest.
Mating commenced almost immediately on Syfaddan’s return
A couple of the camera Watchers undertaking their 2-hour shifts during the morning had noticed that Clogwyn was extra alert and busied herself by intense bouts of gathering sticks and then nest linings. That followed a period when she was hardly on the nest. It was as though she had a sixth sense that today would be the day for her partner’s return! She even made some brief ‘fish soliciting’ calls as preparation.
Perhaps it was that change in wind direction from north-west to south-east and the introduction of high pressure that would prompt his return – other adult ospreys had been returning to nests across the UK over the last few days. Just before 4pm Clogwyn was on the nest looking up and following the flight of a bird unseen to the cameras. She exhibited no mantling to protect her nest thereby suggesting this was a friendly approach rather than a foe. And so at 3.57pm he dropped down and landed onto Clogwyn’s back complete with a gift – a talonful of straw for nest lining – and proceeded to mate with her. This was a similar welcome to their first meeting and pairing in 2025 when in that year he had been waiting for her. Even though Clogwyn knew it was Syfaddan some subtle changes to his head and underwing markings led to a short delay in UVO confirming it was indeed Syfaddan.
His 2026 return is some eight days earlier than last year and Clogwyn’s return came twenty days earlier. Consequently she has been running the show for over a week already by building up the nest again and defending it from the occasional unwelcome osprey intruder. It will be interesting to watch over the coming days the restoration of their pair bond, and to see whether Syfaddan puts his own stamp on the part-built nest that Clogwyn has prepared for them.
Syfaddan and Clogwn enjoying the spring sunshine
There is much to this story yet to unfold…..