Sunday fun

A lovely second day together, continuing to explore around Aberdovey.
In the morning we went to the Dyfi Osprey Project: a small nature reserve, with hides and with a purpose built nesting spot.  This was necessarily at a safe distance from the visitor observatory, so although there's a record shot as an extra, it's more for nice memories than for photographic quality.   There's another extra with Ruth and Luca on the boardwalk.
We were lucky enough to watch the male bird return to the nest site with a large flat fish. Mrs O and the 3 large chicks waiting patiently while he refuelled, before getting their share. We learned a lot about osprey parenting from the enthusiastic volunteers on site. It's a really well-designed place, with boardwalk trails and lots of bird -life and pond-life sights to see and find out about.  As you can see from the extra, the nest platform is surrounded by cameras. These don't seem to bother the birds at all, and the resulting live feed, in the project centre, gives a fantastic close-up view of the parent birds and their chicks. Altogether an impressive piece of work, which seems to be part of a successful programme to gradually increase the osprey population in Wales.
The main shot, though, had to be Eben's portrait, caught during a rare quiet moment on the boardwalk.  Usually he mucks about in front of the camera, so it was good to catch this view of him. At 8 years old now, he's changing very fast.
In the afternoon, Ruth and Josh headed back to a nearby beach with the boys. I set off for home about  2 p.m., wanting to get the long drive done before I got over-tired.  I've added a couple of extras to yesterday's entry, from our time on the beach at Aberdovey.