Dyfi Osprey Project’s mating pair of birds just laid a new clutch of eggs in their seventh year in the area.

Telyn and Idris, the two birds currently residing in the Dyi Osprey Project and its longest breeding pair, have once again filled the nest as Telyn laid three eggs just weeks after returning from their winter migration.

The first egg arrived on April 12, with Telyn laying another egg on April 15 and the third on April 18. While some Ospreys have been known to lay clutches of four, Dyfi Osprey Project has stated that such an event seems unlikely with Telyn.

Dyfi Projects Manager Emyr Evans said: “No osprey that we know of has laid four eggs in a normal clutch in Wales since the species recolonised here 20 years ago.

"If Telyn was going to emulate her mother, Maya, and plop out a fourth, it would have been laid early this morning.”

OTHER NEWS:

Having laid three eggs for every year she has been at the project, this latest clutch puts Telyn’s total number of eggs at 21, hatching all but two of them as one did not hatch in 2020 as well as one in 2023.

While the number of eggs laid and general time frame fits into the birds regular pattern, the project has noted that there have been some changes to Telyn’s method of incubating the eggs after laying them.

In a blog post in the 2024 clutch, Mr Evans added: “Telyn usually employs a delayed incubation strategy. This involves not incubating the first and second egg much until all three of the eggs are laid. Then, incubation happens as normal.

“This delays the clock starting on chick one and two development, ensuring that the three chicks hatch closer in time five weeks down the road.

“The thing is, we think that Telyn has not adopted the same strategy in 2024. She seemed to incubate the first egg immediately - and the second. She's not done this before.

“Does this mean we'll get chicks hatching over a longer time span this year? Furthermore, does this mean that individual female ospreys can flip between both reproductive strategies year-to-year based on experience, environment, or something else?

“Will be interesting to see. Time will tell.”