Glaslyn Osprey centre is celebrating the 50th chick to fledge from the famous nest.

At 8.02pm on Friday, 17 July, the eldest of three chicks, Blue 2T5, made a short two-minute flight from the nest atop the 80-foot Silver Fir in the Glaslyn Valley.

Since the first ospreys bred on the nest in 2004 there has been four different pairings. 11(98) and Mrs G were the first pair, followed by Mrs G and Aran, Aran and Elen and this year, new duo Elen and KC6/Teifi. Many of the offspring have over the years gone on to successfully breed across the UK creating an ever increasing Glaslyn dynasty.

Visitors to the centre at Pont Croesor near Porthmadog can now enjoy unprecedented views of three breeding pairs of ospreys thanks to an ongoing collaboration between two local conservation groups.

Since 2004 successful conservation efforts in the Glaslyn Valley by Glaslyn Ospreys and the Friends of the Ospreys group has made the Centre one of the key osprey viewing locations in the UK.

Unringed Elen and KC6/Teifi (Dyfi hatched chick in 2020) have three chicks on the Glaslyn nest. On the Friends of the Ospreys’ Pont Croesor nest, Blue 014 (Poole Harbour Translocation 2018) and her partner Z2/Aeron (Dyfi 2017), now in their sixth year together, also have three chicks. Activities on both nests can be viewed in stunning detail at the Centre and more widely on YouTube thanks to live high-definition cameras.

A third pair of ospreys has also taken up residence on the new Friends of the Ospreys’ Ty’n Llwyn nest, which can be viewed from the John Parry Hide at the Centre. The pair Blue KS6 (Dyfi 2018) and Blue 019 (Poole Harbour translocation 2019), have relocated from another nest in the Glaslyn Valley where they have been breeding since 2022. This year they have one chick.

Former Glaslyn male Aran, ousted from his nest of ten years by KC6/Teifi, is breeding on another local Friends of the Ospreys’ private nest with Blue 7C1 (Cumbria 2022). They have one chick. 7C1 is a daughter of Blue 9C (Glaslyn 2014) and therefore a granddaughter of the original Glaslyn pairing of Mrs G and 11(98).

The centre is open every day of the week between 10.30am and 4.30pm until the birds migrate in September.