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 2004 the Forestry Commission erected an osprey platform; responsibility for this was taken over by Natural Resources Wales and it was eventually occupied in 2014, and has been used every season since then.
In 2023 the unringed osprey known as Dylan returned to the the original nest (Nest 1) for his eighth 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, in 2022 one female and 2 males fledged. In 2023 2 males hatched but one (8B1) was predated by a goshawk before fledging. 5F Seren has regularly been seen in Africa in winter for many years - she was last seen in the Gambia on 8 February 2024.
In 2023 5F Seren returned to the nest on 25 March; Dylan arrived on 27 March. Both birds returned to the nest on 28 March 2024.
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.
In 2023 a natural nest (Nest 2) was found towards the southern end of the reservoir. From this nest Blue Z5, a 2020 bird from private nest in North Wales and an unringed male produced a single female chick who was ringed 7B9. Z5's father was blue Z1, a 2016 chick from the Dyfi, whose parents were Blue 12 (Glesni) and the unringed Monty. Nest 2 can be seen (with good optics) from the viewpoint at Bwlch y Gle.
The nests 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. John is planning that nest 1 will have one fixed and one PTZ camera this season - the live feeds are on a new link every 12 hours, which is accesible from https://www.youtube.com/user/CarnyxWild . Nest 2 will not have any streaming camera coverage. All images are copyright Natural Resources Wales.
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.
Fabulous opener for this season AG, so much information, thanks. Here’s hoping for another successful year.
Thank you for a comprehensive and very readable opener, AG, and I would like to add my appreciation for John Williams' hard work
Here's to another successful season with Seren and Dylan.
IMAGICAT
I'me very pleased to see this now. I wrote it yesterday and it was rejected as Spam. Fortunately my appeal has been accepted - but I did not know until I just looked.
What can I add - its all been said by Glider and Scylla AG but THANK you. Your opening is very much appreciated.
This is one of the two nests that we have been fortunate to view on both of the last two years. Thanks so much for this year's intro, AG. Fingers crossed that both pairs return and breed successfully this year.
Nice write up, but,Z1/16 is Tegid, a male.
ColinA
His partner, therefore Z5's mother, was an unringed female.
A Facebook faithful follower, who does not wish to be credited, has given me permission to post any of his photos here. Thank you, Anonymous.
The nest tree - see the lampshade on the trunk, an obstacle to predatory prowlers!
(I've had to edit this for typos THREE - no, make that FOUR times !!!
Thanks, corrected.
John Williams has been at work - there are sample shots from both the nest camera and new PTZ camera on the Clywedog FB page.