The Gilestone Ospreys

Members may remember the saga of the Green Man Festival and Gilestone Farm at Talybont-on-Usk in the Brecon Beacons National Park a couple of years ago. To cut a long (a very long) story short, the plans by the festival owner were disrupted when an osprey nest was discovered on the farm in 2023. The farm had previously been purchased for £4.25 million by the Welsh Government for the purposes of the festival. To its credit, the Government took on board the conservation requirements of the birds and their nest, and the farm has since been retained for agriculture.

The pair of birds returned from their winter grounds in West Africa in 2024, but due to their young age, no eggs were laid. There was great excitement when, in April 2025, they came back again to the nest and immediately started showing mating behaviour, and on 25th April the first egg was laid. This is believed to be the first egg laid in the Usk Valley for at least 250 years. Two further eggs have been laid, and we are keeping fingers crossed for a successful hatch towards the end of May.

The important thing to know about ospreys is that they are very easily disturbed and are particularly sensitive to seeing people. Disturbing osprey or their nests is a criminal offence. There are no public rights of way or other public access on any of these farms. The Welsh Government has established an ‘exclusion zone’ on the farm of up to 750m around the nest, with only certain controlled and carefully monitored farming activities taking place within that zone. A video security system is operational.

A good viewing point is available from the bank of the Brecon canal, and full access/directions details can be found on our website. Supporters have formed the Usk Valley Osprey group (UVO), which is now a registered charity, with over 40 volunteers trained to monitor the nest both from the nest cameras and the canal bank. Important scientific data is being collected and fed back to the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, which has been providing expert advice to us.

CPRW gave its support, for which we are most grateful, to the campaign by the community to oppose the use of the farmland for festival-related activities. Ospreys are very loyal to each other and their nest site, and we look forward to many years of hosting these charismatic birds of prey in our community. There is a lot of information and camera viewing details on the website: www.uskvalleyospreys.org.

Peter Seaman MBE
CPRW member and UVO supporter