Returning ospreys could raise full brood at Welsh beauty spot

A returning pair of Ospreys has laid three eggs at a protected nesting site near a popular Welsh campsite.

Pencelli Castle Caravan and Camping Park shared the news via Facebook, writing that they were “super excited” the Ospreys had returned to the neighbouring Gilestone Farm.

“There is a 500 metre protection zone around the nest but a viewing area has been set up on the canal towpath which is a 20 minutes walk away from the campsite and very popular to visit,” they explained.

There are also Welsh Government-managed nest cams on the site, allowing viewers to watch a livestream of the avian couple.

Ospreys can be distinguished by their white and brown ‘mottled’ colouring – their heads are white with a brown ‘mask’ around the eyes. In flight, their slightly bent wings have a black patch on the underside.

When the chicks hatch, they will bear the same colouring as their parents but have orange rather than yellow eyes, and ‘buff tips’ to their feathers which, according to the RSPB, give them “a scaly appearance”.

Though they are most common in Scotland, where they nest near lochs, Ospreys are slowly becoming easier to see in other parts of the UK, with 400 breeding pairs returning annually.

Despite this, they remain on the Amber List due to relatively low breeding numbers and historic killings, which caused them to go extinct in the UK in the early 20th century before they returned to Scotland in the 1950s.

They can rear up to three chicks in a season, meaning the pair at Gilestone Farm could soon welcome a full brood.

The Ospreys’ nest on the farm has caused some controversy. After the Welsh Government acquired Gilestone Farm in 2022, they planned to expand the site for use as part of Green Man festival.

However, the Ospreys had other ideas, and after the nest were discovered in early 2024 ministers established a 750-metre restriction zone around the site.

An Audit Wales review in 2025 found ministers had acted with “avoidable haste” during the £4.25m purchase of the farm, and plans for the Green Man expansion have since been shelved.

Another Osprey pair nests at Llyn Clywedog in Hafren Forest near Llanidloes, with live-stream cameras managed by Natural Resources Wales now live for the 2026 season.

Llyn Clywedog’s resident female is known to spend the winter in the Tanji Marsh in Gambia, West Africa, but has returned to the reservoir for a number of years.

Their nest was built by NRW staff on a platform high up in a sitka spruce tree in 2014. It has proven highly successful over the years, with 22 chicks fledging the nest and migrating since it was built.

For a closer look at the Gilestone Farm Ospreys, visit the livestream page here.