Nora was the first breeding female at the Dyfi between 2011 and 2012


 

Year of Birth 2008
Place of Birth Rutland (site B)
Parents Father - White 03 (1997), Mother - Green 05 (2000)
First seen at Dyfi 9th April, 2011
Breeding years 2011 and 2012
Chicks fledged 4 (three ♂, one ♀)
Chick names Einion (♂ 2011), Dulas (♂ 2011), Leri (♀ 2011), Ceulan (♂ 2012)
Likes Arriving early
Dislikes Flounders
Distinguishing Features Devoted mother, resilience, determination, battler
Ring Number White 03

 

 
 
 

 

After waiting for many years for a female to join (and stay with) him at his nest, Monty finally struck gold on 9th April, 2011. That year the pair went on to produce three chicks, and remarkably for two first-time breeders, all three chicks hatched, survived, migrated and made it all the way to Africa.

 

 By 1st May, Nora had laid three eggs, all of which would hatch

 

Nora was a daughter of White 03 at Rutland Water - one of the original birds that was part of the highly successful Translocation Project in the late 1990s undertaken by Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.

She arrived at the Dyfi at (almost) three years old - it was the first time she had been spotted since leaving Rutland as a three month old fledgling in 2008. She appeared very early on the morning of 9th April 2011 and by 8am, White 03 and Monty were mating; soon after she got her name, 'Nora'...

 

 Monty (left) and the new missus in 2011, 'Nora'

 

We didn't have High Definition cameras in 2011 and the two 'economy' cameras we had had broken down the day before Nora arrived, so we didn't know her ring number, and therefore her provenance, until a few days later.

Note: Nora had the same ring number as her father. Long story, but this is pure coincidence, there's no other connection and Nora's ring was put on her right leg, her father's ring was on the left leg which ultimately fell off in around 2005 (the ring, not his leg!).

Nora will be forever remembered for her heroic efforts of 2012 in trying to raise her three chicks. In early June, mid Wales suffered its worst summer storm in over 100 years, it was unprecedented weather. Winds of over 80mph pounded the nest for three days and at one stage it rained continuously for almost 40hrs.

 Nora & Monty struggle to keep their chicks dry and warm in the worst summer storm for over a century

Nora did not return in 2013, she had died sometime between leaving the Dyfi in August 2012 and March 2013. We'll never know what happened to her, but did battling through that horrific weather in 2012, the worst summer on record, have an effect? Possibly.

 Nora leaves the Dyfi on 7th August 2012, sadly for the last time.