Fears are growing for an osprey called Mrs G, which has played an incomparable role in repopulating Britain with the magnificent birds of prey, and has gone missing. In nearly two decades of returning to Snowdonia every spring, the bird has hatched 52 eggs and become a "grandmother" to at least 130 chicks.
The white and brown bird is thought to spend the winter in west Africa before returning to the Glaslyn nesting site near Porthmadog in the spring to breed. It was known for being one of the first ospreys to return each year but as yet there is no sign of Mrs G.
Before this year, the latest the osprey had arrived was April 1. In 2015, it returned on March 19 and was usually on the nest by March 26. Mrs G has a regular mate, called Aran, which usually returns shortly after the bird. But Aran arrived on Monday, April 3, and so far has been alone.
“We’ve not given up hope,” said Glaslyn visitor centre manager Heather Corfield. “But as each days passes, it’s looks a little less optimistic."
“A lot of people are wondering where she is. Mrs G is usually an early bird, she’s never been this late before. We’ve always known there would come a time when she would no longer return and it’s possible we’ve now reached that point. It’s very sad, and it will upset a lot of people, but we have to be realistic.”
North Wales Live reported that Mrs G is thought to have first arrived at Glaslyn as a three-year old bird in April 2004, though it’s possible it may have checked out the site the previous summer. The creature has never missed a spring in Wales since.
Mrs G's breeding record has been prolific. At first producing just two or three eggs each season, in more recent years it provided at least 60 eggs, 52 of which are known to have hatched. The bird, if alive, is thought now to be 22 or 23 years old.
Many chicks delivered by the bird have survived. Some 44 have succeeded in flying the nest, although some succumbed one year when mate Aran, which provides the food for the chicks, was injured. Some 23 eggs, yielding 18 fledglings were with Aran, Mrs G's second and, probably, final partner.
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“She is a quite remarkable bird,” said Heather. “To think how long she has been coming here and what’s she’s done for the osprey breeding programme in the UK.”
The reasons why the bird is late returning include that it may have been blown off course by storms during the 3,000-mile migration from west Africa or that it may have died. Possible causes include poisoning or being caught in fishing nets, as happened to a young Welsh osprey in West Gambia a few years ago.
Like Aran, the bird is not ringed or tracked, so until it nests, its location is usually a mystery. Aran touched down at 2.57pm on Monday, April 3, and, if Mrs G fails to appear, it is hoped Aran will pair up with one of Glaslyn’s unattached females.
Live, online images from Mrs G's nest are being broadcast 24 hours-a-day. Live high-definition nest and feeding images are also beamed to the Pont Croesor visitor centre by the site's manager, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife.
“If she does appear, it will be absolutely marvellous,” said Heather. “If she doesn’t, it would be nice to think she is enjoying a well-earned retirement in Africa, but unfortunately we know this rarely happens.”
Another breeding osprey pair at Pont Croesor have already been reunited this spring. A week ago, the female Blue 014 joined its mate Z2/Aeron at a nest site managed by the Friends of the Ospreys.
Glaslyn Ospreys near Prenteg, Porthmadog, is open every day of the week, 10.30am-4.30pm, until the birds migrate in September. Entry is free, but the charity that runs the site, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife, welcomes donations.
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