Mr Osprey has arrived.

A week ago I published a post about all the effort that had gone into preparing a suitable pad for a pair of Ospreys on the lookout for a summer retreat where they could settle down and bring up a family. It was on the River Dyfi, near Machynlleth. This morning, the male bird turned up and can be seen in this photograph pondering the suitability of the accommodation. No stone is being left unturned in the efforts to make him feel at home, including painting the post in a delightful shade of birdsh** magnolia (complete with fishy streaks perhaps). The BBC have covered this story here. Now all of us are awaiting the arrival of the female. I remember a shockingly sexist old rugby colleague of mine who used to say "the trouble with birds is that they're always late and never there when you want one". I always used to reprimand his disrespectful tone when speaking of the more fragrant half of the human race - but this osprey may be thinking along exactly the same lines.