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Tuesday 14 Jul 2015

Network Rail helps Dyfi Ospreys project to welcome three new chicks

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

Three newborn osprey chicks have been busy feathering their nest following a fifth successful year of hatchings for a conservation project in mid Wales.

Network Rail has been supporting Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust's Dyfi Osprey project since it started in 2009.

The trust set-up an osprey nesting site close to the railway line in the Dyfi area, near Machynlleth, which resulted in three chicks being born in 2011 - the first successful breeding in the area in 400 years.

Network Rail sponsors an HD camera link to the remote nest so it can be monitored 24 hours a day, protecting it from thieves, and enabling footage to be streamed to a visitor centre and across the world, via a live streaming link.

Experts are escorted to the nest site by Network Rail via the railway to allow the birds to be fitted with solar-powered satellite trackers which capture their annual migration to Africa. All British-bred ospreys move south to Africa after the breeding season, with most wintering in Senegal and the Gambia.

Ian Smyth, infrastructure maintenance protection co-ordinator for Network Rail Wales, said: "Three healthy chicks being reared for mother Glesni and father Monty is a fantastic success for this project.

"Ourcontinued sponsorship of power and HD cable to the nest has made the project a worldwide phenomenon and continues to capture valuable insight on how ospreys breed, live and raise their young.

"The live stream from the nest has raised countless amounts of money for the project through people having the pleasure to enjoy this from their own homes.

"This year is the first time Glesni has raised three chicks so it's a great achievement. They're all doing well - the chicks have been identified as two females and one male. All three have been named, as were previous clutches after local rivers - the females are Merin and Celyn and the male is Bernig.

"This confirms our commitment as a business to engaging positively with our lineside communities and with local environments whenever possible. It's a fantastic project and I'm proud of our continued involvement in it."

You can find out more about the project, and view the webcam footage here: http://www.dyfiospreyproject.com/

The Dyfi Osprey Project has been shortlisted for a National Lottery award. The prize would go towards its 360 Observatory Wheelchair Lift Fund which would see a lift installed to enable wheelchair users to access the top of the observatory platform.  You can find out more and vote for the project here: http://www.dyfiospreyproject.com/blog/2015/06/national-lottery-awards-finalists