An exciting photograph

Over the last few years Llangorse ringing group have been heavily involved in monitoring and protecting Ospreys as they have returned as a breeding species to the local area. This has involved monitoring the Ospreys as they first summered, then built nests and started to breed, which of course included ringing the chicks once they started to produce young. Most of this is detailed in previous blogs such as here (Usk Valley Osprey site) and here (Confidential site).  

Today we were delighted to receive a photograph of one of the chicks we ringed this summer at one of these nests taken in the Gambia, the ring is clearly identifiable as 9K7. 

9K7, photographed by Andy Young on 22/01/26 at Kartong in Gambia

9K7 (Centre) with it's siblings during ringing on 18/07/2025.

9K7 was ringed in 2025 at a nest in the north of the Breconshire bird recording area with its two siblings, as previously reported in our blog linked to above. It was sexed as a Male using a combination of its weight/wing length and age. Its parents, male Blue KA7 and female Blue 469 previously raised two chicks in 2024 which were also ringed by Llangorse ringing group. Blue KA7 had lost his darvic ring by the time he returned in 2025, we had noted that it was damaged in 2024. He was ringed in 2019 at the Clywedog nest site to the north of this site, this is the nearest known established nest to his nest. Some readers of this blog might have watched KA7 hatch on the Clywedog nest camera on youtube. Blue 469 was ringed at a private site in northern England in 2021. 

We are absolutely delighted with this record and hope this is the first of many sightings of 9K7 as well as his siblings, plus sightings of chicks from the Usk Valley Ospreys nest and from any future nests that might become established over the next few years.