2025 Watchers Training Day
Usk Valley Ospreys held a successful Watcher Training Day at Henderson Hall on Sunday 23rd March. 55 trainees attended across two sessions, in the morning 35 new trainees attended and in the afternoon 20 returned from 2024 for ‘refresher training’ to be informed of a few new elements this year.
Both groups showed great enthusiasm for the data recording and a keenness to start from the arrival of the first osprey. The use of an adapted observations chart with dropdown boxes was explained to all. They are now ready to participate by either attending the canal towpath viewpoint or by studying the livestream camera footage from home. Some are keen to do both as they offer very different experiences and enjoyment. As you may have already noticed via the new page on our website entitled ‘Live Video from the Nest’, there are two options for camera viewing in 2025. Both are available from the website via You Tube for the benefit of all. Several additional security cameras, some equipped with infra-red for night vision, are also in place with recording 24/7 that will run for the complete osprey breeding season.
Analysis of the 2024 data has also been completed and the main findings were provided to attendees on the Training Day. Usk Valley Ospreys are very grateful to Megan Abram, a qualified raptor specialist from Cardiff University, for her analysis. Her finalised Activity Report (2024) can now be found on the “About Us” page of this website. A summary of the bird’s activity in 2024 is given here:
Total nest visits (2024)
1520 male
708 female
Visits bringing sticks
401 male
36 female
Visits bringing soft linings
142 male
7 female
Tidying/adjustments to nest
589 male
108 female
Mating attempts
203
A separate analysis of the hours worked by the 2024 cohort of Watchers is truly astounding – and we thank that batch of volunteers for their application to the task:
Nestcam watching 1034 hours
‘Field observations’ 829 observations made (hours not recorded)
Keen Watcher Rachel Milne explains some of the details of correct watching protocols