Blue 24 is still with us today - Saturday, 29th August 2015.

This year she arrived on the Dyfi at 07:29 on 7th April - Monty arrived just a few hours later at 14:19. By that evening they were both mating on the nest.

Two days later Glesni returned and quickly saw Blue 24 off the nest. She retreated to a favourite perch around a mile away and spent much of the following summer months there, or on an electricity pole half way between this perch and the nest.

Fast forward to late August and she is making a comeback - in a big way.

Have a look at this video taken over the last two days:

In May, I wrote a blog about Glesni's cousin (Blue 24: Stick or Twist) and her decision making, preferring to stay at the Dyfi rather than making her base at her ancestral Rutland, or anywhere else for that matter. The behaviours we have seen over the last few days tend to corroborate her decision to 'stick' rather than 'twist'.

So, why does Blue 24 defend this nest as if it were hers and invest so much time in it?

Ospreys in Wales - A very unnatural population

Here's the thing. Ospreys are unlike most other birds of prey - they 'like' to be near other ospreys. They nest in close proximity to each other (relative to other birds of prey) and they 'socialise'. Well, to a certain extent anyway.

Think of ospreys as living in a colony, albeit a loose one. We have a recovering population of ospreys in Wales so the colony is small, as it is in Rutland, Cumbria, Northumberland, etc. All have just a handful of nests. Much better than just a decade ago, but small nonetheless.

Blue 24 gets a bit too close in June

So millions of years of evolution have formed an osprey into what it is today - the behaviours are programmed into those that are conducive to living in a 'normalised' population, one with many dozens or even hundreds of pairs in a 'colony', not just a meagre three or four or five.

Now think of Blue 24 again. She doesn't have the benefit of all these other osprey nests to try and infiltrate into and find a mate. She has what she has - not very much.

We last saw Glesni (and Merin) last Monday. I think it's fair to say now that she has started her migration. Since then, Blue 24 has muscled in again to a nest she has coveted since 2013, and almost laid eggs in as recently as last year with Dai Dot. She has an investment in this nest.

It's sad to hear people demonising Blue 24 on social media and on the Live Chat. She is doing what any other female in her predicament would be doing. She doesn't want to kill Monty's chicks or even steal their fish - she's plenty capable of catching her own; she's done so very successfully for the last five years. She doesn't even want Monty specifically, it's his nest she wants, simply because there aren't that many other 'nest & male' combinations around. There are plenty of other nests by the way - over 20 platforms within one hour's flying time, they just don't have any males on them.

Blue 24 on another nest platform in mid Wales - a 'male-less' one

At five years old, Blue 24 is an expert fish catcher

Remember, female ospreys rarely build nests to start breeding, they travel around until they find a male holding one and a small 'territory'. Just like the Dyfi nest.

Boys, boys, we want more boys

Male ospreys tend to return to their ancestral colony to breed once they are old enough (females tend not to be so 'philopatric'). Enter another unfortunate repercussion of having an unnaturally small (and young) osprey population in Wales: there simply hasn't been enough time for the four nests that we have to produce enough males so that they can come back to breed. Yes, four Glaslyn male offspring came back in the late 2000s, but they came back to a colony of one - their own parents' nest! They had little choice but to travel further afield to find another colony.

But here's the good news.

We are (hopefully) now at a tipping point of osprey population dynamics in Wales. Ten fledglings last year and 11 this year, so that's 21 young birds in all. Around 10 of these will be male and three or four will survive and should return in future years. And when these birds come back, they will find other osprey nests, successful ones, and start building a nest (or inherit one) for themselves - there is now an active 'colony' of ospreys in mid/north Wales. There will be no need to travel another 300 miles to find another osprey colony.

Providing she stays fit and well, the future looks rosy for Blue 24. It could be next year, the year after, but it will happen for her.

Monty on his own - will he have Blue 24 as part of his Fan Club in 2016?

Glaslyn have their own version of Blue 24 - in fact they have two!  And these are Rutland females too: Blue 5F (2012) and Blue 3J (2013). Don't worry ladies, the boys are coming, they're just spending a bit of time in the sun first before the hard work starts. We've seen in other small osprey populations that around 10 fledglings per season seems to be a critical mass of youngsters that is the pivotal benchmark in terms of future population growth.

A Glaslyn male offspring, Blue 80 (2012), has been around north Wales all summer, but he's been conspicuous by the absence of other young Welsh male returnees. The early-life mortality of ospreys is quite high, but with 10 (potentially) fledglings from 2014 sitting in Africa right now waiting to return to their homeland in another eight months or so, 2016 could turn out to be a productive year for ospreys. It could well be Blue 24's year.

And it will be great to see Gwynant again, won't it?

Blue 24 watching us, watching her. Hang on in there girl, they're coming.