Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve, located near Machynlleth in the UNESCO Dyfi Biosphere, is home to the Dyfi Osprey Project and a family of beavers, alongside a café serving homemade cakes. The reserve, managed by the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust, offers visitors a chance to see ospreys in their natural habitat without cages, with live feeds from the nest.
Osprey Conservation Success
The Dyfi Osprey Project began in 2009, and in 2011, for the first time in over 400 years, ospreys bred in the Dyfi valley. Ospreys had disappeared from the UK in 1916 due to persecution, habitat loss, and egg collecting. A pair returned to Scotland in 1954, leading to conservation efforts. Today, there are approximately 300 to 400 breeding pairs in the UK, with the largest population in Scotland.
Visitors can use high-powered telescopes and a 360-degree observatory, opened in 2014, located just 190 meters from the nest. Live 4K images are beamed onto a large screen. The nest cam on YouTube has over 20,000 subscribers worldwide.
Beaver Enclosure and Habitat Restoration
In 2021, a small family of beavers was released into a seven-acre enclosure at Cors Dyfi as part of a habitat restoration project coordinated by the Welsh Beaver Project. Beavers were once widespread in Wales but became extinct after the Middle Ages due to over-hunting. The beavers help manage dense willow and birch scrub that is drying out the wetland. The enclosure has a perimeter of around 700 meters with interlinked pools and ditches.
Dyfi Wildlife Centre and Café
The wood-panelled Dyfi Wildlife Centre, opened in spring 2021, houses the Osprey room with live feeds, beaver cameras, and an interactive map. The on-site café, Caffi Tŷ Maenan, serves homemade cakes, soups, toasties, and salads, with ingredients sourced locally and sustainably. Typical menu items include Welsh Rarebit, bacon and cranberry toastie, and Welsh Cheddar with Dyfi Chutney. Drinks are served in recyclable cans, takeaway packaging is biodegradable, and the café runs a Dyfi Cup Scheme to reduce single-use waste.
There is also a shop with osprey-related gifts and a 'Wildlife Watching Window' painted by local artist Rachel Booth.
Visitor Information
For the 2026 Spring/Summer Season (18th March - 7th September), admission is £8 per adult and £4 per child, free for Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust members. The reserve features a 600-meter flat boardwalk to an observatory and a loop trail for closer nature encounters.
