MALE HATCHED AT GLASLYN OSPREY PROJECT IN 2006.
One of a brood of three chicks raised that year, his female sibling perished on the nest before fledging and his male sibling Black 5Y has a reported last sighting of 06/09/2006. His parents are Unringed Mrs G and Orange 11(98), this pair can be accredited with the start of Ospreys recolonising Wales. Mrs G was the Breeding Female from 2004 until 2022 and Orange 11(98) from 2004 until 2015, Orange 11(98) was a bird Translocated to Rutland Water in 1998, he was never seen back at Rutland
BLACK 80
He hatched on the 20th May and Fledged at 52 days of age on the 11th of July
Returned as a two year old in 2008, was seen on a eyrie at Loch Ken, Dumfries delivering fish to a female. This was Threave Castle.
Black 80 didn’t breed in 2008, but he did manage to attract a female. Both birds returned back from Africa the following year and bred successfully – they raised two chicks. The same osprey pair returned in 2010 and 2011 and successfully raised five more chicks, three and two respectively.
From 2009 until 2011 this pair raised 7 young, Blue BB and BC in 2009, Blue BK,BL and BM in 2010 and in their last year together Blue JE and JF.
2012
The female didn’t return this year and all hope was lost by May that Black 80, who had returned as usual at the end of March, would breed in 2012. But he did.
Black 80 returned at the end of March, the female from previous years failed to return, so by early May all hope of a successful season had all but been given up.
On May 11th May a blue-ringed female who arrived at the nest showed an interest in Black 80. The pair laid eggs in June (unheard of in the UK) and two chicks, a male and a female, survived the summer weather and successfully fledged at the end of August, the time when most UK ospreys are starting to migrate. They bred so late this season that hatching at Threave Castle coincided with the Fledging of their Welsh relatives at Glaslyn Osprey Project.
From 2012 until 2024 Black 80 has paired with Blue KC, together raising some 32 chicks that were ringed and 4 which due to Covid Restrictions were left Unringed.
2025
The Female from the previous 13 Seasons, arrived back around her usual time, However, following some competition for Black 80 attention and the nest, an new unidentified Female Bred with him this year
2026
As of the end of the 2026 season, his 18th breeding season, Black 80 has fathered/reared 44 chicks to Fledging, which is the same as his mother Unringed Mrs G achieved in 19 years.
He has had three partners an unringed female and Blue KC, and a yet to be Identified Female in 2025 and 2026. He is on his third tree as the previous two nest trees have both died.
Below are Black 80’s return dates since 2016
Black 80 on the nest.
Black 80 on his favorite tree.
A HISTORY OF WALES
A Welsh-born Osprey, leg ringed and named ‘Black 80’ on the 28th June 2006, was to become the first Welsh-born osprey known to have returned to Britain to breed.
During the middle ages, ospreys would have been widespread throughout Wales and the rest of the U.K. Due to a heavy reliance on fish in the human diet, most big houses and monastic sites would have had a fishpond. These, in turn, would have attracted birds of prey such as the osprey that were themselves hunted and killed. This led to decreasing numbers, which combined with the activities of egg collectors, and trophy hunters, resulted in the osprey becoming totally extinct in Britain by 1916.
* The Mabinogion tells the tale of “The Eagle of Gwernabwy”, described as being “the one who has wandered most”, attempting to catch a salmon from Llyn (lake) Lliw, so large that it is almost drowned. This eagle is likely to be an osprey.
* The Coat of Arms of the city of Swansea, granted in 1316, features an osprey suggesting that they once bred in the area.
* A Flemish engineer working on drainage systems in the Dyfi estuary in 1604 mentioned several “fishey hawkes” breeding close together along the River Dyfi. This is almost certainly a reference to ospreys and the earliest date that can be given to them breeding in Wales,
Ospreys had been reported as migrating over Wales for many years. Llandudno in 1828 and Caernarfon in 1937, but it wasn’t until May 2004 that a pair of ospreys was found nesting near Croesor in the Glaslyn Valley, becoming the first to be officially recorded as breeding in Wales. On 26th May 2008 Black 80 a male from the 2006 Glaslyn nest became the first Welsh-born osprey known to have returned to Britain to breed.
BLACK 80 DELIVERING A FISH IN 2012.
RINGING PHOTOS 2025. (C) NTS/SAM
