Chicks hatch out as ospreys breed again at Dyfi reserve

Conservationists are celebrating two eggs hatching at the Dyfi Osprey Project in mid Wales.

The first egg hatched at 09:38 BST on 28 May with the second egg following closely behind at 06:30 BST the following day.

Both chicks have been feeding well on a ready supply of fresh sea trout and the third osprey chick is expected to hatch out shortly.

By early evening, video of the new arrivals was being broadcast live to the nation on the first episode of BBC Springwatch 2012 and just 15 hours later, both chicks were feeding on their first ever meal.

Earlier this month, osprey chicks hatched out at the RSPB Glaslyn site in north Wales and it is hoped that these recent arrivals will further strengthen the UK population of these rare birds of prey.

By the time the Olympic torch had passed outside our Cors Dyfi reserve, the crack had become a little hole with bits of fragmented shell forming the rim. After that everything went bonkers”

You can follow the chicks progress via a live web stream on the Dyfi Osprey Project website.

On incubation day 40, warden Emyr Evans noticed small cracks developing in the first egg laid all the way back in mid April.

In his blog warden Emyr Evans wrote: "By the time the Olympic torch had passed outside our Cors Dyfi reserve, the crack had become a little hole with bits of fragmented shell forming the rim. After that everything went bonkers!"

This is almost exactly the same pattern of events that unfolded a year earlier when the ospreys, Monty and Nora, bred at the Cors Dyfi reserve near Machynlleth for the first time in more than 400 years.

The team are planning to name the chicks in a few weeks time once the chicks have been ringed and their sexes confirmed.