Update on plight of Llyn Brenig ospreys after nest felling

Earlier this month, a nesting platform being used by a breeding pare of the bird prey - one of only five pairs in Wales - was deliberately felled in what was described as a "horrific act of vandalism".

The pair had just laid their first egg on the day their nest was felled, leaving naturalists and members of the public horrified.

The ospreys at their nest before it was felled.

And in an attempt to lure the ospreys to another nest at the reservoir on the Denbighshire-Conwy border, the North Wales Wildlife Trust set up a new nesting platform.

However, a greylag goose has taken the new nesting platform for itself.

In a Facebook post, the conservationists said: "This could effectively, perhaps temporarily, displace our ospreys, who had been showing considerable interest in it."

The project said the goose's takeover over had created "something of a dilemma", as moving its clutch to another nest site would be illegal without an appropriate licence.

Source - North Wales Wildlife Trust

On Monday (May 24), the North Wales Wildlife Trust issued a further update.

A spokesperson said: "It is clear that they are still in the local area – they continue to be seen visiting Llyn Brenig and even the various nests and perches available to them here – but the general consensus now is that they are unlikely to breed at Llyn Brenig this year.

"Whilst this is obviously not what we had hoped for, the birds’ wellbeing is ultimately far more important than how/whether they choose to use our site, and we’ll be moving ahead to plan for 2022 as soon as we’re able to."

Read more: 

• Llyn Brenig ospreys look at where nest should be after it's destroyed by chainsaw
• Watch: Horrific moment Llyn Brenig osprey nest is felled