Here are the timings:

• 🦅 Cwellyn Fledges - 8th July at 16:12 - 51.1 days old
• 🦅 Brianne Fledges - 10th July at 11:48 - 53.8 days old
• 🦅 Honddu Fledges - 12th July at 19:37 - 52.2 days old

Cwellyn was the first to go, he landed on the camera perch and decided to stay there overnight, being fed by Telyn periodically.

Osprey parents will sometimes feed their youngsters off-nest, but only if they can see them of course (Cerist in 2013 was out of sight). He flew back successfully to the nest early the next morning.

Cwellyn has inner visions of higher ground

Cwellyn, Brianne and Honddu fledged two days apart and no more than a few hours (less than a day) deviation from the long-term averages for chicks at this nest.

Here's where the class of 2025 fit in the overall fledging ages on the Dyfi; the delta between average males and females remains at around 1.3 days (females are heavier, so need a bit more time):

Due to a near-perfect start to the season with both Idris and Telyn arriving back very early in 2025, this is our 'earliest' season on record at the Dyfi. This also follows through to the fledging dates where our first two youngsters, Cwellyn and Brianne, become the earliest chicks to fledge 8^th and 10^th July (respectively).

Not to be outdone by his two siblings, however, Honddu had to engineer his own record. He flew for the first time at 19:47 (12^th July), the latest in the day any chick at this nest has fledged.

Norris McWhirter had to open up a brand new column, just for Honddu.

Honddu takes to the skies for the first time - at nearly 8pm

Up from the Skies

Temperatures reached over 30C this weekend; to be honest I was a little worried about our chicks fledging this year, especially the last two.

Extremely high temperatures (for Wales anyway), combined with no wind, present major challenges for large birds of prey looking to take their inaugural flight. Cwellyn went missing yesterday for almost 12-hours, there was a huge sigh of relief here when he suddenly appeared from nowhere just before we closed the Dyfi Wildlife Centre.

Young birds find it more challenging to fly in high heat combined with calm conditions, especially if they have zero experience of flying. High temperatures can lead to overheating and dehydration, while the absence of any wind can make it more difficult to gain lift and maneuver. It's a bad combination.

Thankfully Darwinian Natural Selection over millions of years has given these young birds all the tools they need to overcome weather extremes like these.

The same cannot be said about this man who crashed his paraglider near to the Obs yesterday.

Playing with a parachute on a windless day at 30C within military airspace (Mach Loop)?  A poor life choice, thankfully he was okay after crash landing.

Our DOP Darwin Award this year goes to.....