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Blue 24 is a female osprey who calls Dyfi home
| Year of Birth | 2010 |
| Place of Birth | Rutland Water (site O) |
| Parents | Father - Maroon AA (2006) (Re-ringed Blue AW after AA fell off). Mother - Scottish osprey from Argyll, no Darvic, just BTO ring |
| First seen at Dyfi | 2013 |
| Breeding Year | Breeding attempt 2016 |
| Likes | Monty |
| Dislikes | Glesni |
| Chicks Fledged | 0 |
| Distinguishing Features | Very white head and chest markings for ♀ |
| Ring Number | Blue 24 |
Blue 24 is another Rutland female that has been returning to Wales since 2013.
A firm favourite with everybody, Blue 24 is the unconfirmed underdog of the osprey world. She has been spotted at Glaslyn and other areas several times, including at her ancestral home in Rutland Water in 2013, but she is to be seen most days from the 360 Observatory on nearby perches and fishing on the Dyfi River.
Blue 24 shows off her Blue Darvic ring which has somehow got damaged sometime in 2013
Her strategy seems to be to make Dyfi her home while exploring other suitable habitats looking for suitable males holding nests. Incidentally, there are plenty of osprey platforms around, probably 25 or so, it's males we're lacking in Wales, not nests.
Blue 24 on another nest - still no males
And another nest
And another nest..
Blue 24 paired up with Dai Dot in 2014 on the Dyfi nest for almost a week in early April, before finally being ousted by Glesni upon her return. She's had brief liaisons with Dai and Monty over the years but has yet to find a suitable bachelor. Male ospreys are highly philopatric in their breeding dispersal ecology, meaning the vast majority return to their ancestral colony to breed for themselves. The problem is, we haven't had the numbers of male osprey offspring yet in the Welsh 'colony' to see many returns (just one confirmed - Blue 80, a Glaslyn 2012 male), but we're getting there. Ospreys are a recovering species and with four active nests in Wales now producing over 10 chicks per year, we're reaching that reproductive critical mass needed to sustain a philopatric species like the osprey.
Blue 24 has taken a liking to Monty - or is it his nest she's after?
Blue 24 was back early in 2016 (25th March) and valiantly defended the Dyfi nest from other female ospreys, including yet another Rutland bird, Blue 5F (2012)
Blue 24 fends off another female osprey, Blue 5F, and a red kite!
Unfortunately however, as all four breeding females successfully returned to Wales one after each other, it looks like Blue 24 could well be a spinster for yet another season with just the briefest of liaisons with her old friend, Monty.
Blue 24 showing off her extremely white head plumage
Blue 24 is a beautiful bird with extremely white head plumage, making her fairly easy to identify from distance. We're all rooting for her to find a decent male so that she can start breeding.
Watching Monty and Glesni from a favourite electricity pole perch, around 600m from the Dyfi nest..jpg)
2016 was a challenging season for Blue 24. For the first time on the Dyfi we witnessed a polygomous situation develop where both Glesni and Blue 24 laid eggs fertilised by Monty. You can read the full details here.
And on a feeding post next to the 360 Observatory - April 2016
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In March 2017 the second nest platform was removed under lisence from NRW. It was replaced at a more suitable distance from the main breeding nest. This action was taken in order to avoid another season with a polygamous breeding and the impact that could have on the main nest. Blue 24 did return to the Dyfi in 2017 but was absent for most of the summer.
Blue 24 on the new feeding perch 2017
After not seeing her for almost two month, on the 1st of September 2017, who should appear in the Dyfi nest? You guessed it, an end of season visit from Blue 24. Where had she spent the summer?
