The eldest chick is five weeks old today and all three are now just about strong enough to stand and walk around the nest on their own two feet. As the calorie requirements of the five ospreys increase, so therefore does the amount of fish brought back to the nest. This graph shows the increase of individual fish brought back on a weekly basis - notice elevated numbers during the courtship period at the start of the season, and the expected rise as soon as the chicks hatched.
When the chicks are over six weeks old they will be fitted with radio satellite tracking devices - Roy Dennis is coming down from Scotland to do this along with Tony Cross who will also ring the birds. The BBC are paying for two trackers and the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust need to find £3,000 to pay for the third. If you would like to donate, you can do so at the Dyfi Osprey Project or on MWT's website. It should be fascinating to monitor the three juveniles down to Africa - these trackers run on solar energy and only weigh around 1.5% of the bird's weight and are accurate to 18 meters. They also give altitude and speed information - these will be the first Welsh ospreys to be fitted with satellite tracking devices and the signals obtained can be transmitted for five years or more.
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