Llyn Clywedog March - May 2023

Llyn Clywedog is a reservoir situated near the B4518 road north of Llanidloes, Powys, Mid Wales. The reservoir is owned and operated by Severn Trent Water, with oversight and regulation by Natural Resources Wales. A sailing club and a very active trout fishery operate on the reservoir. The fishery stock the lake with tens of thousands of trout every year. 

In 2005 Natural Resources Wales erected an osprey platform; this was eventually occupied in 2014, and has been used every season since then.

In 2022 the unringed osprey known as Dylan returned to the nest for his seventh season as the resident male. Since 2020 the resident female has been Blue 5F(12) (known as Seren - Welsh for Star). She hatched in Rutland in 2012. Previously she had for several years been unsuccessful in attracting the sole attention of a male to a nest at Pont Croesor. The previous unringed female (Delyth) did not return in 2020, and Seren 5F replaced her.  In 2020 Dylan and 5F Seren fledged 3 male young, in 2021 (a cold and wet season) only one male fledged, and in 2022 one female and 2 males. 5F Seren has regularly been seen in Africa in winter for many years - she was last reported as seen in the Gambia on 1 February 2023.

In 2022 5F Seren returned to the nest on 26 March; Dylan arrived on 5 April, which is later than he arrived in previous years.

There is no visitor centre or facilities. The nest can be observed from a temporary hide in a layby off the minor road. There is a footpath close to the nest which is closed and blocked off during the nesting season.

The nest is looked after by the area NRW ranger John Williams; he has a blog on this link. There is a more comprehensive history of the site in his blog. John goes well beyond the call of duty to support the ospreys and ensure that the cameras are running etc.

There is an active Facebook group for the nest on this link. The group tries to record all fish deliveries which are collated for analysis. 

There are 2 streaming cameras provided by Carnyx Wild. The  links for the live stream change every 12 hours, the latest can be seen on the playlist links below.

Camera 1 is a close-up of the nest. - playlist on this link

Camera 2 gives a wider view with two perches - playlist on this link This camera is not being transmitted at the moment due to condensation obscuring the view.