Forget Kate’n’Wills and Posh’n’Becks, Montgomeryshire has its very own celebrity couple who attract far more stalkers with cameras than the world’s most famous couples!
Monty the male osprey and a female ‘friend’ have been spotted in the skies of Montgomeryshire this week and reports from their Machynlleth ‘home’ is that this summer they mean business.... if you know what I mean!
The pair is expected to be one of the area’s biggest attractions again this summer. Thousands of people visited from across the world last year and if you are wondering what to do this weekend, why not pop across the county and do some star spotting of your own?
Monty (pictured) arrived first – being spotted in Arddleen en route - and was followed three days later by the female and mating got underway immediately. The female has been identified from a ring as having fledged from a nesting site at Rutland Water in 2008.
Dyfi Osprey Project manager Emyr Evans revealed that if the ospreys do breed, it will be the first time there has been a breeding pair recorded on the Dyfi for more than 400 years.
He said: “As well as watching the ospreys live on large plasma screens at the visitor centre and from our osprey hide, we will be hosting many wildlife based events on Cors Dyfi reserve over the summer and welcoming back our water buffalo herd later this month.
“This project is not just about the birds; it’s also about the local community and people. By attracting more visitors to the area, local businesses will benefit.”
One local business couple keeping their fingers crossed for a baby osprey is Dave and Jayne Hollingworth, from Morben Isaf Holiday Home and Touring Park at Derwenlas. The caravan and camping park is located alongside the reserve where two nests have been established on artificial platforms to attract breeding ospreys. For the last two summers, Monty has used the nest but not mated.
Mrs Hollingworth said: "We are keeping everything crossed hoping that the ospreys mate this year. It’s fantastic news for all businesses in Machynlleth and surrounding area that they have returned and we encourage people from the Welshpool area to come and take a trip here.
“60,000 people have visited Dyfi Osprey Project over the past two years and just imagine how many more will come if the ospreys mate and rear young here. There are not many caravan parks in the country that can say they have ospreys next door.”
The Dyfi Osprey Project is supported by Communities and Nature (CAN), a strategic project led and managed by Countryside Council for Wales and part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Assembly Government.