THANK YOU PARTY for the 2025 trained Osprey Watchers
The Trustees and Committee threw their annual Tea Party on the afternoon of Sunday, 28th September to express thanks to the hard-working Watcher volunteers. They have monitored and protected the ospreys this summer via the livestream cameras or directly off the towpath. By doing so a large volume of behavioural data has been logged in a thorough and professional manner.
Over half of the 2025 cohort of Watchers attended to hear a Review of the osprey season delivered in six short sessions by the Watchers themselves. On the cameras, 56 Watchers (of 70 initially trained) took up an average of 16 daylight watch shifts each lasting for 2 hours. This monumental effort on the part of all contributed a grand total of 1854 hours of daytime viewing! Separate arrangements for night-time camera cover involved the review of 850 hours of infra-red aided coverage. The massive amount of 2025 data collected will take some time to analyse, and ultimately it is hoped to relate that to the activity of the same pair in 2024, a non-breeding year.
Viewpoint trained Watcher, Louise Milne, delivers her “whole new experience” talk
Additional data provided by a smaller team of Viewpoint Watchers from the towpath at Cross Oak amounted to a further 963 hours of recording which will be fed into the mix. Part of their remit, of course, was to engage with the passing public which was a highly successful element to their volunteering and appreciated by locals and tourists alike.
After the Review, teas, coffees, biscuits and cake were provided amongst a hubbub of osprey tales being told. The appreciation shown by the Watchers to UVO from their hands-on enjoyment of watching this osprey family develop was plain to see and hear. It was a two-way exchange as Committee members confirmed that the high quality Weekly News blogs on these web-pages could not be presented without the Watchers’ input.
After the break a two-way Q and A was an opportunity to review the summer of osprey volunteering and how UVO might adapt it for 2026 and beyond. The Committee now have six months to develop proposals and an appropriate training package for 2026. One thing is for sure – UVO will continue to need Watchers for 2026, so please put your name forward to join us when the opportunity arises early next year. You do not need to be an osprey expert but simply have the interest and capability to observe.
Finally, two notices were relayed:
Details of the ongoing Art Exhibition at The Found Gallery, The Bulwark, Brecon at which the Kath Littler woodcut depicting the Gilestone Ospreys will be on show until 18th October
Gilestone ospreys, Kath Littler woodcut
and….
2. ‘Save the Date’ notice of our next UVO Winter Members/Public meeting at Henderson Hall, Talybont on Friday, November 14th , 7-9pm. We will be delighted to host a talk by Emyr Evans (Dyfi Osprey Project) on ‘The Story of Ospreys in Wales’ and their re-colonisation this century. As usual, the meeting is FREE and is expected to be very popular so will be by Ticket Only (priority for registered UVO members) issued via ‘Eventbrite’. Arrangements will be set up after mid-October and notified to membership via our email notices.