I was already feeling pretty euphoric on the day in
question, having already been crowned Machynlleth Comedy Festival Volunteer
Lawn Bowls Champion and presented a trophy by the Mayor of Mach, having a
celebratory beer with the old boys at the Bowling club.
I
decided my prior glory and the fact that I had split my only pair of trousers
the previous day, so was forced to wear shorts; of course forcing the sun to
come blazing out, needed further excellence. I decided it was the ideal day to
walk to the nearby Dyfi Osprey Project, somewhere I had dreamed about visiting
ever since my first visit to Mach.
I set out with a packed lunch and
my binoculars and my ever so trusty Google mobile app GPS. I obviously got lost
up a mountain and had to be given a lift by a farmer in a truck full of howling,
drooling hounds. When I arrived at the project I looked at the board, which
stated both birds had been off the nest, fishing for over an hour. The kind of
luck I was having today surely couldn’t continue, could it… Yes, as soon as I
got in the hide both birds, the Male Monty and a Female ringed Blue 12 (later
named Glesni of the nearby Rutland project) returned to the nest with a grey
mullet, which they then fought over/shared for the next 15mins.
Excellent
images of the birds on the screens and through the scopes provided. I was
absolutely awestruck with the birds having wanted to see them for so long,
walked 3 miles to get there and got lost on the way. Other notable sightings
for me were Lesser Redpoll, which although not rare I had never seen before and
I also saw my first Nuthatch on way too.
Since my visit the pair mated,
she has laid two eggs which they are now incubating, but Glesni is a first time
breeder so she has much to learn.
