Ospreys to get new nest after chainsaw attack in Llyn Brenig

Conservationists are hopeful ospreys will return to a nest site chopped down by vandals with chainsaws last April.

Work to replace the nest was hampered by Storm Arwen, which flattened trees near where it had stood.

The damage left by gales made it impossible to get machinery where it had to go to rebuild the birds' home.

So far staff at Llyn Brenig, which borders Conwy and Denbighshire, have erected the pole on which the new nest will sit.

Work to replace an osprey nest felled by a chainsaw at Llyn Brenig was hampered by Storm Arwen

Another nest had been built after the original one was cut down but a goose moved in.

The chainsaw attack at the Welsh Water-owned reservoir, on the Denbigh moors, came just days after an osprey pair laid their first egg of the season.

The birds survived the nest's toppling but didn't breed afterwards.

Welsh Water's Nick Kite said: "They survived the nest felling and they hung around most of the year.

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"We have them on the camera nearby to here throughout 2021. And that gives us reasonable confidence that they are going to be back again in 2022.

"If we give them a nest at the spot where their nest was, I think we can be optimistic."

The birds initially declined the offer of new nests after theirs was destroyed.

"They just decided 'no'," Mr Kite said. "They want that nest there so that's what we are going to give them."

Last November Storm Arwen caused "considerable" damage in the area.

"It's brought a lot of trees down, particularly near the osprey nest," Mr Kite said.

One tree narrowly missed the pole on which the nest will sit.

"Another tree has come down right next to the camera tower that we use," Mr Kite said.

"It's blocked off the access right the way down to the nest, which is going to make it tricky for us to get any sort of heavy plant down there to access the top of the pole.

"We have a plan. We're going to be ready."

Because trees were felled by the storm, the site will now be more open.

The ospreys survived the attack but did not breed afterwards

This should make it more appealing to the ospreys.

"They quite like to be able to see all around and so the fact that we are most probably going to have to take down some of these trees to make it safe, and to clear a space through for them is better," Mr Kite said.

Ospreys migrate from as far south as Senegal and Gambia. The pair left homeless last year had not been to the lake before as a breeding pair.

Mr Kite believes the area could become home to more than one breeding pair each season.

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"We've got to be careful that we don't put nests too close together," he said.

"So for now I think it's unlikely that we would offer them another nest around Llyn Brenig.

"But there are other nests in the area that are currently vacant."

In the summer, Llyn Brenig turns into an osprey dinner plate, with a thousand fish released into it every week.

"They're more than capable of catching those trout and feeding their family," said Mr Kite.

A new nest was built after the first was chopped down but a goose moved in

The vandals who wrecked the site last year were never caught.

But security has been improved to stop the same thing happening again.

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