Highland Foundation for Wildlife


Female Osprey 'Logie's' Migrations

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Adult Female at nest B10 near Forres, Moray. Trapped for ringing on 13/7/07.
 Ringed BTO ring and white/black colour ring AN on left leg. Radio 75609
Weight 1950 grams. Wing length: 510mm: Tail: 228 mm.
In very good condition.This female was previously unringed, so we do not know her age & history, but she has bred at this nest for three years, rearing a total of 5 young. On release she flew back to her perch tree beside nest.

Scroll down for Logie's migration journeys

Photographs copyright

Spring 2008 from top (flight data table after latest day's information); last autumn migration's lower on page.


Logie's Home

Logie arrived at her nest after her massive migration at 8 am this morning 23rd April; but not to a warm welcome from the 'new' female, nor her mate, and even a third female joined in the skirmishing - scroll down to 23rd April for first details

 

Logie's Spring Migration
Resume Logie left her nest on 4th August 2007 and arrived at Roxa island in the Guinea Bissau archipelago on 28th September. Her migration flight was 5695 kilometres south; her daily flights ranged between 65 and 756 kilometres. The longest being her first flight, after her extended stop-over on the Solway, from southern Scotland to France.  Her average daily distance flown over her 18 day migration was 298 kilometres; her average flying time was 8 to 9 hours at a speed of 33 to 37 kilometres per hour.  The shortest direct distance between her wintering site and her nest in Scotland is 5198 kilometres (3229 miles).

Throughout the winter she has remained in a very small area of this tropical island; perching mainly in one big tree in coastal woodland, not far from the sea. Once or twice a day, she made flights of up to a kilometre to catch fish in the South Atlantic Ocean.

See below for details of her autumn migration and wintering - this table will now give her return migration. The satellite radio is working well and giving hourly GPS fixes of her location, and also details of her altitude in metres above sea level, and if she is flying, the direction and speed . 

11th March Her behaviour is changing in the last couple of days. She is spending more time perched in trees along the shoreline, and yesterday made her longest recorded flight of the winter, when at midday she was 5.5 kilometres to the north, flying west at 41 km/h at 66 metres altitude, while 6 hours later she was 1.5 kilometres south of her main site, flying at 45 km/h towards her main roost tree.
12th March Logie has started her migration!!  She roosted overnight on her usual tree; at 10 am she was perched 500 metres to the south on one of her normal daytime roosts, then back at main roost at 11am. Maybe she had caught and eaten a morning fish, because at midday she was 4 kilometres to the north, very close to her position of 10th, but this time she was flying NNE, at 50 km/h at an altitude of 258 metres. She was off!

12th March An hour later she was flying NNE at 57km/h low over the sea to Bolama Island; at 2pm she was crossing from Bolama to mainland Guinea Bissau 53 kilometres from her winter quarters. She was circling and gaining height to 233 metres. Two hours later she had crossed the wide estuary of River Corubal, about 40 kilometres upstream from the capital, Bissau. By now she was flying over woodlands and villages at 564 metres altitude. At 5 pm, she had covered another 47 kilometres NNE  and was flying at 47 km/h in a NE direction at 900 metres. Half an hour later she crossed into SENEGAL and was just north of Lengueto. Her speed was recorded as 80 km/h, heading NNE, but she was probably descending fast towards woodlands 10 kilometres further north where she roosted for the night by 7pm.

The first leg of her great migration was 221 kilometres and she flew for just over 6 hours at an average of 36 km/h. The weather was ideal for starting her migration; clear conditions, rising pressure and light winds 16 km/h from the west. The temperature up to 79F.

The map shows her first day's migration - compare the more direct heading northwards for home, compared to the autumn migration (yellow line).  

13th March Stayed at her overnight roost until 0900GMT, then moved 8.5 kilometres north by 10am , when flying up a small  river valley.  Last transmission in this sequence.  A break in GPS readings until 2pm by which time she had overflown The Gambia and was 17 kilometres into northern Senegal, west of Tambacounda. The land here is relatively low woodland and scrub, yet Logie was flying at 1145 metres, and an hour later she was still at 1392 metres in the Matam region, but from there would have seen the Senegal river, which she reached at 6pm, when she was flying slowly east near Ouro Sogui. An hour later she was at her roost site on  a big oxbow lake. Her day's migration was 348 kilometres and her crossing over the river Senegal is 133 kilometres upstream from her autumn crossing.  The weather at Matam is clear skies, full sun, light 10 km/h W to NW winds, hot at 38C.  Today, 14th she should pass into Mauritania.

13th March migration - 348 kilometres

It's interesting she was flying during the day at over 3000 feet above the land - not sure why - to get a view?, avoiding harassing birds or fires, or just for a change!

 Logie's roost site  13th - 14th March on Senegal River

14th  March Logie moved late last evening to a roost 500 metres north; at 5 am she moved one kilometre, then at 7-8am she was 500 metres north in the old river lakes. At 9am she was beside a small lagoon 2 kms south probably eating a fish, because by 10 am she had started her day's migration, being nearly 5 kms NE and into MAURITANIA, flying E at 43km/h. She flew on slowly and at 1pm was approaching Mbout lake at 50 km/h and had climbed to 611 metres altitude. She was north of the lake an hour later and by 3 pm she was flying over the Massif de l'Assaba at 79km/h NNE at an altitude of 943metres.

At 4pm, she was still nearly a 1000 metres above the surrounding land, and had crossed the highway from Kiffa to Aleg, near El Ghayra. She continued flying strongly northwards at 1400 metres at 50 to 78kms/h, passing over broken ground containing villages, small lakes, date palms but mainly semi-desert. At 6pm she was heading for Matmata, and by 7pm she was roosting at 330 metres altitude in remote rocky country, 80 kilometres SW of Tidjikja.  Her total day's flight was 313 kilometres.

15th March The first transmission was at 1000GMT, suggesting her roost might have been in an obscured cliff without GPS readings.  She was then perched 4 kms north of her roost, but an hour later she was actively migrating and had corrected her heading to the NNW. Again the morning speed was modest, flying at 35 km/h but covering only 11 and 25 kilometres in succesive hours. Appeared to be quite a lot of soaring flight.

At 1pm she had climbed to over a thousand metres and had passed to the east of Ksar el Barka. At 2pm, she had crossed the plateau  and was flying over sand deserts and big dunes.  Now she started to speed up and had flown 61 kilometres north between 3pm and 4pm. At 5pm, east of Chinquetta and was flying at 79km/h north at 224 metres. At 6pm she had regained height again over the next plateau of rocks and for the next two hours was at 1830 metres. Between 7pm and 8pm she had passed over a series of cliffs to roost in sandy deserts to the north at just 278 metres. Her roost site was 47 km west of Ouadane and 66 kms west of the amazing Richat Structure in the Mauritanian deserts. Her day's migration was 339 kilometres.

Roost site on 15th -16th March - how very different to Isla Roxa and her nest site in Scotland

16th March Logie has now travelled 1442 kilometres (900 miles) in three and a half days. The map shows this part of the migration (white line) and compares it to the autumn passage (yellow line). It is further east into the Sahara Desert and in autumn she took six days to fly the same distance.

 

16th March Logie stayed at her roost until 9am - she was either tired or there were dust storms.  At 10am she was perched 800 metres NE. At 11am she was 7 kilometres NNE, flying N at 43km/h and had gained height from 273 metres to 1178 metres - could this be to escape dust. Over the next two hours she was flying over sand deserts but only making 20 and 22 kilometres. The wind is given as a headwind of 19 km/h over the desert.

There was  a break in the sequence of transmissions, and at 5 pm she was 157 kilometres further north, flying NNE at 70km/h at an altitude of 1594 metres; she had passed 50 kilometres east of the huge iron ore mine at Zouerat. At 6pm, she was continuing to fly fast at 69km/h and heading NNE. She was not far from Western Sahara and had crossed her southwards track. A GPS fix for 8pm (received next morning) showed she had flown 23 kilometres north and was roosting in a vast open stony desert (and was still in the same place at 0600GMT next morning).   Her day's journey was 258 kilometres. 

 

How do we get such accurate locations?

Several people have asked how we get our data so quickly

Tiny satellite radios, called PTTs, have been designed and manufactured in recent decades for carrying out research on wildlife. We use radios, made by Microwave Telemetry in Columbia, USA ( http://www.microwavetelemetry.com/ ). Each PTT has a unique identification number supplied under our conservation agreement with Argos CLS, the French Satellite Tracking company based in Toulouse, France ( www.cls.fr/welcome_en.html ). The newest radios have GPS technology so that the positions of the bird are extremely accurate (within 18 metres), and they also record speed, altitude and course. A solar panel keeps the battery charged.  

The radio is attached to the bird’s back by a lightweight harness, like a tiny rucsac, and is programmed to take GPS readings at hourly intervals and then at intervals of between 1 and 10 days to transmit data. CLS Argos have satellites which circle the earth, mainly collecting information from ocean weather buoys, and they pick up the signals. We can connect to their website and database, and extract our data using dedicated passwords. It’s possible to open my laptop on my desk and receive information transmitted an hour earlier from Africa. Then I load the data into various different files and download one set of coordinates into the fantastic GoogleEarth mapping system ( www.GoogleEarth.com ) – it’s all very amazing.

The radios are expensive (Logie's radio was funded by Talisman Energy in Aberdeen) and for each day's data we pay a monthly charge to CLS Argos.  Donations to our conservation studies would be very welcome for this and future projects. 

17th March Logie stayed at her roost site until 9am, then moved 2 kilometres NNE, and at 1100 was starting her migration again, being 5 kilometres to the NE and flying at 41km/h and gaining height over the desert. No further GPS signals until 3pm when she was 120 kilometres further north, flying N at 78km/h at an altitude of 1214 metres. Soon she flying over the Rich Mountains and about 4.40pm she passed the remote town of Bir Moghrein in northern Mauritania. This is a remote mountainous country of black rocks and enormous crater-like depressions along the border - some travellers say it likes the moon!

At 6pm she was flying at 53km/h at an altitude of 1964 metres, way above the land surface, and within half an hour or so she was descending to a roosting area just 8 kilometres short of the Moroccan border. Here the land slopes into Morocco and there are a scattering of bushes - on one of which she probably roosted. Her day's flight was 305 kilometres and she had light tail winds, clear skies and hot sun.

18th March Signals came in late. Logie stayed at roost until 9am, and by 10am, had moved to perch about 7kilometres north and just one kilometre south of the Western Sahara/Moroccan border.  At 11am, she was 22 kilometres further on her migration, flying at 35 km/h NNE, and an hour later had speeded up and  was flying NE at 57km/h; then she started to climb and crossed her southward autumn track over the Hammada desert.

At 1pm, she as flying at 62 km/h, heading just east of north at an altitude of 1543 metres. An hour later, she was 63 kilometres further north, flying at 47 km/h at 1391 metres, so she was continuing a fast high altitude migration (for an osprey). At this time she would have seen the Anti Atlas mountains ahead of her, sunny skies were clear with light westerly tail winds drifting her to NNE.

At  3pm she was 59 kilometres further north in MOROCCO, flying 64 km/h just east of north at 1464 metres; an hour later she was heading for ranges of hills called Jebel Bani, south of Assa. At 5pm turned along the southern ridges and was travelling at 86km/h, NNE at 704 metres. Soon she  crossed into ALGERIA. By 6pm she was roosting on the south-east slopes of the ridge, facing the desert. Her day's flight was 344 kilometres (215 miles) over the deserts, but nowhere to catch fish.

Logie's track leaving Mauritania, crossing into Western Samara & Morocco, and finally before dusk into Algeria. During the day she crossed her autumn track (yellow line).

19th March At 8am, this morning Logie was perched on lower slopes of the Jebel, then moved 3 kilometres by 9am; and by 10 am had set off on migration and was 34 kilometres further on. Map of roost site shows Algerian border in yellow on left.

 

19th March Logie crossed from Algeria back into Morocco and at 11am was flying N at 59km/h at 628 metres; she continued north and two hours later was flying at 87km/h at 1102 metres. By 2pm she had dropped down into a valley before climbing again to 1294 metres by 3pm and was heading north for Ouarzazate with its large freshwater reservoir lake. At 4pm she was flying over the lake, presumably desperate to catch and eat a fish, the first since leaving the Senegal river 5 days earlier on the morning of the 14th March. At 5pm, she was perched on the north shore of the big reservoir, probably eating a fish and then she back south to roost two kilometres out into big dunes in the desert.  She has successfully crossed the great Sahara Desert again and now heads into the Atlas Mountains. Her migration continues and today's flight was 308 kilometres.

Ouarzazate is an important Moroccan town to the west of the lake; a busy place for travellers and known as the 'door of the desert'. It's close to the Atlas mountains and the Draa valley; and lies at 1160 metres above sea level. Last night high clouds had extended over the mountains; and today the weather at the lake is partly cloudy, clearing to sun later, with light west winds 16km/h and temperature of 68F/20C.

19th March At dusk she moved 6 kilometres SW to roost along the side of a small river with scattered trees and bushes. Interestingly, this was within 50 metres of where the Finnish male osprey Pete roosted overnight on 11th/12th October 2007. He wintered in the Senegal but has not yet started his return migration.

See Pertti Saurola's website for details at   www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/english/zoology/satelliteospreys/index.htm

20th March  Logie stayed at her roost until 8am, then at 10am she was perched 5.4 kilometres north, just south of the lake at Ouarzazate. Possibly she had fished by then. At 11am, she was 26 kilometres north flying north up over the High Atlas mountains, she was flying NW at 69 km/h and was at 1708 metres. She was heading for lower passes west of the highest mountains which rise to 4000 metres. An hour later she had passed a high level lake and was flying at 59km/h at 1027 metres. At 1pm she had descended to 294 metres altitude and flying over green valleys near Abaddou, but still keeping up a fast speed of 60 km/h.

At 2pm, she was 42 kilometres further north, flying over farming lands near Oulad Ougal and was again gaining height to 1050 metres. Over the next two hours she travelled 102 kilometres N and was flying between 1793 and 1115 metres. She then dropped down to roost about 15 kilometres SE of the city of Khouriba, the centre of phosphate mining.

Her day's migration, see map, was a dog leg to avoid the highest mountains of the High Atlas, but she still covered 243 kilometres. The weather was cloudy in places and the wind light. The forecast for 21st is cloudy with showers, with light variable winds, temperature 12C. 

She is about 370 kilometres from the Straits of Gibraltar so she might cross there on 22nd March if the weather is good. Fernando Gavilan emailed last night to say that it was very rainy today at the Tarifa raptor migration watch centre and just one osprey and some other raptors crossed the Straits into Spain, but on 19th there were several thousand black kites and 4 ospreys. It would be exciting if some of the migration observers identify Logie migrating in Spain.

 

21st March Logie still at roost 6am but no further signals until 11am. Weather cloudy with showers, light west winds. Overcast might result in solar battery not charging fully.  By 11am she had flown 82 kilometres north and was near Sidi Legchiche. GPS signals started again at 1pm when she was a further 74 kilometres north, flying NNW at 39km/h, about 20 kilometres east of Rabat. An hour later, she was near Sid ali el Moudene, flying NW at 26 km/h, suggesting she was flying into the wind. At this stage she was close to her autumn track, but by 3pm she had veered more to the NE and was flying E near Sidi Azzouz at 60km/h at 549 metres - over the cultivated lands of northern Morocco. At 7pm she was near Ouezzane and was 16 kilomteres from the large reservoir lake Qued-el-Makhazine. She roosted in wooded hills 15 kilometres east. Her day's flight was 281 kilometres.

She is now 125 kilometres from the Straits of Gibraltar.  

 

22nd March The weather in northern Morocco and the Straits is cloudy, with rain showers and a fresh to strong west wind of 50km/h.  Logie was at the tree rost from 4 to 7 am, and then at 8am, Logie was 200 metres north of the roost, flying NNE at 66 km/h over wooded mountains between Arhtites and Assara. An hour later she was 27 kms north, flying at 50 km/h NNW near Menorka, and at 10am she was crossing wooded hills between Jebel  Kereha and Jebel Bohassin and flying N at 58 km/h, at 1832 metres. She had gained a lot of height and looked determined to cross the Straits. A report this morning from John Cortes on Gibraltar said the wind was strong westerly.

At 11am she was over the sea just north of Cabo Negor heading parallel to the coast towards Ceuta; she was flying at 42km/h NNW at 56 metres over the sea. The wind drifted her east and an hour later she was out in sea 36 kilometres east of Gibraltar and had travelled another 58 kilometres. She was flying at 63 km/h to the NNE at just 17 kilometres over the sea. This was a hard crossing of the Straits and thank goodness there were no yellow-legged gulls to harass her. At 1pm she had reached the Spanish coast just north of Fuengirola and had changed heading to north and was flying at 82 km/h and gaining height into the hills.

Later note:  John Cortes of The Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society writes" The 22nd saw relatively low passage - as it was so windy we suspect that, like Logie, quite a lot of birds passed well to the east of Gibraltar.  We did have about 200 Black kites, and a variety of other species, including 5 Marsh Harriers, 7 Egyptian Vultures and some Black Storks and White Storks - and 2 Ospreys."  While Luis Barrios, Director of Fundacion Migres, which monitors raptor and stork migration across the Straits to Tarifa and Cazalla, reports "a very poor day for passage - just 3 black kites, 2 short-toed eagles and an Egyptian vulture. This compares to 1220 migrants on 20th, 321 on 21st and 173 on 23rd, mainly black kites. Single ospreys on 20th and 23rd."          So Logie crossed on a very poor day for raptor migration from Africa to Europe.

At 2pm she was in the hills of SPAIN,  north of Marbella.  She was over Cerralba,just south of Pizarro flying N at 40km/h at 404 metres. By 4 pm she was flying over the waters of the reservoir lake, Embalse de Conde de Guadlahorce. One of three lovely lakes in the mountains about 25 kilometres SW of Antequerra. She was probably fishing over the lake, because at 5pm she was perched on a hillside of olive trees on the south side of the reservoir and may be was eating a fish. She roosted about 500 metres north in woods above a bay inlet.

The day's migration was 281 kilometres.  The weather at Marbella was light rain, cloudy with light SW winds; temperature 47F/8C; (the winds at Gibraltar were 50km/h). The forecast for her location tomorrow is clear skies and sun.

It's great that she has got back to Europe after another successful crossing of the Sahara Desert. She has still has at least 2300 kilometres (1425 miles direct line) to go before reaching her nest here in Moray. That's about 8 - 9 days in good weather, but there is a very cold wet and windy weather system over the UK and France. Here near her nest, it's been very cold, with strong NNE winds and frequent snow showers today.

This is the reservoir lake of Embalse de Conde de Guadalhorce, where she was almost certainly fishing at 4pm, and probably eating a fish perched on hillside above the lake at 5pm, and then her roost.

23rd March Logie was roosting above the lake from 6am to 8am.  Fernando Gavilan knew she was at the lake last evening. He emailed today to say " I was at the lake at 6.30 am GMT, very near where you reported the osprey. At 7.28 am GMT we saw a bird, possibly the osprey a long way from us over the water. At 8.59am GMT, we saw an osprey leave the dam area of the reservoir and fly low over the water about 300 metres from yesterday's location, and we lost it above the edge of a swamp. I am enclosing a few photos."  Many thanks Fernando for finding Logie and sending photographs of the reservoir.

From  our later data, Logie departed from the site about 9.30GMT.  A fisherman's website reports that this reservoir is very good for barbel, carp, nase and pike - a good feeding site for ospreys.

 Fernando's photos from today - Embalse de Conde de Guadalhorce. Right photo is roosting area

23rd March Logie at roost until 8am GMT.  At 10am, she was flying north over the Flamingo Lake at Funte de Piedro and an hour later has crossed the Malag - Seville highway and was near Casariche. At 12am, she was 66 kilometres to the north, flying at 45km/h north at 699 metres near Aguilar de la Frontera. An hour later she was 28 kilometres north, gaining height to 1096 metres and had just passed over Espejo, SE of Cordoba. She flew another 27 kilometres in the next hour. At 3pm she was flying north at 56km/h over the mountains, and passed through the hills at 4pm near Fuencaliente. She was at 1298 metres and kept this height going across the plains to Puertollano.

By 6pm GMT she had passed over the Sierra Morena, and was flying NNW at 33km/h over wooded hills about 25 kilometres south of Cuidad Real. She had not yet stopped to roost. Her day's flight at this time was 217 kilometres.  She was flying over areas that I know from visits to Andalusia - I wonder if she saw an Iberian Lynx on  her travels - a beautiful animal I failed to see in the Sierra Morena.  At 1900GMT she had stopped to roost in a wooded hill top two kilometres further north.

 

24th March Only one signal in so far - she roosted on a wooded cliff above the Tajo river, above the lake Embalse Entrepenas overnight 24th/25th March. This is remote country 5 kilometres south of the Trillo Nuclear Power Plant. Juan Prieta tells me it is a favourite river valley for ospreys and cranes.

The weather forecast (today 25th) is sunny with clouds & light N winds, but cloudy and rainy with stronger N winds in North Spain.

25th March Logie still at roost at 0800GMT, moved 300 metres beside river at 9am.  At 10am was 16.8 kilometres N flying NW at 31km/h at 1197metres north of Cifuentes. At 1103GMT, Logie was migrating north 42 kilometres north of the Tajo roost; she had just crossed the Madrid - Barcelona motorway and was 8 kilometres SE of Siguenza. At 1300GMT she at 1195metres near Medinaceli and an hour later was flying NNE at 56 km/h at 1584 metres SE of Soria. By 4pm eas flying at 14km/h N near Valdeperillo and an hour later was roosting beside a small river 25 kilometres ENE of Logrono.  Day's flight was 188 kilometres.
26th March Logie was at roost at 0400-0500GMT, at 9am she was 14 kilometres north past Los Arcos; at 10am she was flying N at 41km/h at 933 metres. At 1200 GMT she was flying west at 21km/h over Zumala on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. An hour later she was perched for several hours at the bottom of the cliffs about 3 kilometres to the SW. At  1634GMT she was a further SW inland from Lekeitio. The day's flight was 113 Kilometres. The weather was rain and clouds, with 13mph west winds, which was not suitable for setting off across the sea. The forecast for tomorrow in heavy rain and west winds, so she may be delayed on north coast of Spain.

Logie's migration to Bay of Biscay on 25th 26th March

30th March Just home from helping to host a 3 day beaver conservation study tour in Bavaria and neither of our rural hotels had wireless internet connections and two other possibilities, in our hectic (and very interesting) tour of beaver sites, had wireless internet but did not know their passwords - so this evening a rapid look at Logie's position. My sincere apologies for the break in updating Logie's webpage, and especially sorry to those who were worried she was lost at sea.

After reaching the Bay of Biscay coast, there has been a series of cloudy, rainy days with westerly winds, and she has decided to wait for better weather before heading north. Logie has been on the coasts north and east of Bilbao in northern Spain. Most days she has been around the estuary of the River Mundaka which runs into the Bay of Biscay, from Guernica. It looks a very good place for fishing ospreys. As soon as the weather improves she should head north and I'm pleased that I can now update regularly the rest of her migration.

Either later this evening or tomorrow morning I will fill out the details of her sojourn on the Basque coast.  The weather there this evening is still rainy, with heavy showers, overcast and light west winds.

30th March Logie spent all of Sunday 30th March around the Mundaka estuary. She was roosting in trees on the eastern shore at 0400-0500GMT; then moved east in to the forest for a couple of hours. At 0800GMT she was in mid estuary, and then spent the rest of the day in trees at the north end of the forest. At dusk, she was roosting in the south of the forest, two kilometres from the estuary.
31st March Logie has spent another day around the Mindaka estuary, which is called the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve. At 0400GMT she was roosting in the hill forest north of Kanala, an hour later closer to the estuary; then back in the hills 0600-0700. She moved a kilometre north for three hours, then back near roost, before flying our into the estuary, north of Isla,at 1600GMT; finally she moved SE in to the forest again. It was rainy most of the day. Tomorrow's forecast is similar with showers and light west winds in northern Spain and SW France; clearer sunny weather is forecast for Wednesday - may be she will move on soon.

Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve - Logie's movements on 31st March

The Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve is located in the Euro Siberian region, on the Bay of Biscay coast, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Urdaibai covers an area of 220 km2 with around 45.000 inhabitants, the 80% of them concentrated in the towns of Gernika and Bermeo. The territory is characterized by a hydrographic basin that ends creating a great salt marsh and a coastal landscape with high sheer cliffs and capes. The craggy inside countryside is occupied by meadow land, oak groves, leafy woods and specially by fast-growing conifers. The coastal landscape is covered with cantabrian woods of holm oak and strawberry trees, along the edges of the Mundaka estuary. In Urdaibai have been described 615 species of vascular plants, 318 species of vertebrates, 245 of this species are birds. Along with the rich Basque culture, the site has a particular interest, since it contains various remnants of the prehistoric, roman and Middle ages. The economy leans heavily on metallurgy, fishing/ maritime activities and forestry, and on the exploitation of local resources (arable and cattle farming). There is also a tourist trade, centred mainly on the local beaches, the historical towns (Gernika) and the natural environment. The area is implementing a management and land use plan and a development plan including socio-economic aspects and promoting sustainable activities such as quality tourism, agriculture and forestry.

 

Big news at home is that a male osprey was on Logie's nest at 11.30am and was almost certainly her mate from last year, although I did not identify his colour ring before he flew off, almost certainly to fish.  It looked as though he had just arrived from migration - in excellent bright plumage but looking very empty and hungry. The male in the next nest also arrived today. 

1st April Logie stayed at Urdaibai estuary area all day - she was at her southern roost on east side of estuary, north of Isla, until 0500GMT, and then again from 1800 to 2000GMT; no transmissions in early morning when probably hunting; then from 0900 to 1400GMT she was at her northern perching area in forests north of Kanala. The weather was wet and cloudy, so she was still waiting, but forecast for 2nd April is clearing with sun and showers, and rain showers ceasing in afternoon, with very light north winds. This is for the Basque coast and the SW French coast. So at last she might continue her migration. Several people emailed telling me about the area - the outer estuary is a great surfing beach.

Today, there was a 'pair' of ospreys on Logie's nest - the female, green ring 5B, was from the next door nest and the male, red 7J, was a bird I ringed as a chick about 20 miles away in 2001.  Another male was displaying with a fish over nearby forest.

2nd April Logie was at the south roost early morning and at 12.30pm was one mile east of the estuary.  Richard Gallagher emailed to say he looked for Logie on Monday 1st April without luck - he has regularly seen ospreys in the estuary on spring and autumn migration, with 5 in a day being his highest count. He said grey mullet was the favourite food.  Later in the day, the warden of the reserve, Aitor Galarza emailed to say he looked for Logie while on the reserve between 1030am and 1.30pm, but did not see her. He sent the following photograph of the estuary, that Logie has frequented; taken at 11am.

Urdaibai Biosphere reserve  - photo by Aitor Galarza

3rd April Logie was in the usual southern roost in the early morning; but at 10am local time was 14 kilometres to the west near Mungia. An hour later she was back on the estuary, and in mid afternoon was about a mile west. The weather has improved so she should restart her migration.

Jose Mari Unamuno of the Elaia Bird Migration Centre watched Logie fishing in the estuary on 1st April. He said she was shy and harassed by yellow-legged gulls, but in the end landed on the mud and ate the fish. He sent several photographs and I enlarged one , which is shown below, of Logie eating a fish in the estuary at low tide.

There were no ospreys on Logie's nest yesterday or today.

4th April At northern roost in forests 5 to 6am local time; on shore of estuary close by 7am to 9am; then moved to south end of estuary  in two locations to 2pm.  Forecast is for sun tomorrow so may be she will move.
5th April She was in the western side of estuary near Busturia at 7pm last evening local time; and on the north-east shore opposite Txatxarramendi at dawn. Weather now perfect for onward passage - bright sun, clear skies and light or nil wind. She has had a ten day stop-over in poor weather but should have caught plenty of fish. Next transmissions due this evening.

She actually stayed put - may be she sensed how bad the weather was further north. In the morning she was in the north roost, and during the afternoon and evening was in woodlands at the SW side of the estuary, inland from Mureata.

6th April The signals showed she was still at Urdaibai estuary reserve this morning. Today in northern Scotland, there are strong north winds with snow blizzards, and many osprey nests will be covered in snow - there were no ospreys at Logie's nest.

Then at 6pm, I received the following email from  Aitor Galarza, warden of the reserve, along with the enclosed photograph of Logie eating a fish.

Hi: Great and beautiful! Logie was eating at 12:00 on the muds of the right part of the estuary (Kanala). She begins shouting when I approach to her although she couldn´t see me because I was inside the wood. I could see the transmitter and the white ring with AN. I have taken some  pictures that I send you. When I left her, at 12:30 she continued eating. She seems to be comfortable in our small estuary. I dream with ospreys nesting here one day.
Yours   Aitor Galarza

Aitor: Thanks very much for the photograph and the red-hot news of Logie. 

After looking at the photograph, she looks quite hungry to me, obviously the migration journey has already been long and arduous; but the heavy rains last week would have made it more difficult to catch fish in the estuary. Richard Gallagher mentioned the problem of murky water when rivers run high, in his email, and we see the same in Scotland when heavy rains turn the rivers Spey and Findhorn brown and the fish are hidden.  So she needs to feed up now, ready for the next stretch home once the weather improves.

7th April Signal at 7am local time showed Logie in mid estuary - presumably getting the morning fish. Weather forecast for north Spain is partly cloudy; then rain for tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday, which is not good migration weather. But Logie got through before the change in the weather ahead of the clouds!

At 5-6am local time she was at the south roost, then at 7am in the estuary (presumably fishing); at 9 am she was at the north roost in the forest. An hour later she was several kilometres NW of the estuary flying SW at 39km/h at 450 metres, presumably gaining height. Because an hour later she was 24 kilometres SE near Madalena and at midday was skirting the western slopes of the Pyrenees, flying at 35 k,m/h at 634 metres near Altzola. An hour later she had flown into FRANCE, and was flying NE at 58 km/h near Monte Aldura.

By now she had cut the corner and was turning northwards; at 3pm she was near Saint Jean-de-Luz flying NNE at 33km/h and had levelled out at an altitude of 52metres following the coast. She was 22 kilometres further on an hour later inland of Penon. At 5pm local time she was flying NNE at 33km/h near Vielle-Saint-Girons and the last signal at 6pm was at Mimizan, when she was flying N at 40 km/h at 123 metres altitude. She still had at least an hours flight before dusk.

After 11 days at Urdaibai, her day's flight was at least 196 kilometres and she made a perfect circuit of the Bay of Biscay coast, with no attempt to fly across the sea. The weather in Spain was getting cloudier with rain in the Pyrenees, while ahead of her France was in clear skies. Now to see how quickly she gets back home. Still dreadful cold snowy weather in Scotland and an afternoon check of six local nests found no ospreys.

8th April On the evening of 7th April, Logie moved another 4.5 kilometres north to roost beside a forest track in a coastal pine plantation. Next morning, she was at the roost at 5am and 6 am local time. At 7am she was between Biscarrose-Plage and Lac de Cazaux, flying north at 38 km/h at 76 metres altitude.

The next signal was at 11am and she 55 kilometres further north and had passed Cap Ferret, and was flying north at 53km/h into a light NE wind. An hour later she was perched at the south end of a coastal freshwater lagoon called Etang de Carcaus, and at 1pm was flying at 36km/h NNE at the top end of the lake. An hour later she was perched overlooking coastal dunes, and then she was north of Montalivet-les-Bains, before heading north over the sea between Cordonan Lighthouse and the mouth of the river Gironde.

She reached the north shore at 4pm and turned NW to follow the coast north. At 5pm she was perched in a coast forest plantation, and an hour later had moved a further 1.5 kilometres north to a night roost in a conifer plantation beside a track about one kilometre from the sea. She was on the peninsula west of Tremblade, and south of Ile d'Oleron. During the day she had flown 170 kilometres north in poor conditions with a light to fresh NE wind - poor conditions for migration.

9th April She was still at her roost at 5am local time - the last signal of this batch of transmissions. Weather for today is again poor, with rain showers and fresh north to north-east winds; fairer conditions in Brittany. Another difficult day for migrating.

Last evening, after the rain cleared for a while, we checked Logie's nest and found the new male red/white 7J eating a big fish on a branch above the nest. The nest showed signs of building so he seems to be in occupation, because Logie's mate has also not yet returned to Scotland. This male was first seen at this nest on 1st April, with a female green/white 5B but she is now at her last year's nest with her regular mate. So another osprey season starts - but rather slowly in the cold wet snowy weather.

Logie's migration route through Spain and France to 8th April

9th April A difficult day's migration in poor weather conditions. Rain, north-easterly winds and poor visibility on the French coast. Logie was at her roost until 8am local time, and an hour later was perched close to the shore at the north end of the peninsula. At 10am she was on Ile d'Oleron flying west at 51km/h just 24 metres along the shore. At 11am she was perched beside fish farms west of La Bree-la-Bains. At midday Logie was flying N at 30km/h at 17 metres over the sea. At 1pm she was perched on the shore of Ile d'Re and then moved up the island to the north end. At 4 - 5pm local time she was perched near fish ponds, and then roosted overnight in scrubby woodland close to the coast. Her day's journey was 42 kilometres.

 

10th April Logie still at roost at dawn on last signals of this batch. Today's forecast is again poor for the French coast, with light rain, partly cloudy and early morning fog at her location; heavy rain to the south and better conditions to the north in Brittany. These are hard conditions for migrating birds, whether ospreys or swallows, returning to northern Europe. 

A signal at midday local time gave a position 2 kilometres east of the island suggesting Logie was migrating to the mainland coast. The weather has improved in France and several contacts reported by email that she should find better  conditions into Brittany.

Here in Scotland, Logie's mate from last year, colour ring black 6R, arrived at their eyrie today. At 7pm I found him on the old nest, presumably after getting rid of the intruding male - red 7J.   BUT there was a female beside him soliciting for food - and after watching for fifteen minutes I could see that it was an old female with just a metal ring on the right leg. This appears to be the old female, from another local eyrie, which lost its long time mate in the winter 2006/2007.  She is definitely over 15 years old, and possibly an ancient bird approaching 30 years of age. It would be really interesting to know her ring number, because she lost her colour ring a long time ago. 6R was too busy renovating the nest to bother about fish. It's about time Logie got home!

11th April Big worries this morning as no signals came in before I had go out. But good news when I got back - Logie was flying north in the afternoon.

She stayed on Ile de Re all day yesterday, visiting several parts of the island before roosting for the night about 1 kilometre SW of the previous evening's night time roost. This was just north of the shellfish farms. Viv Leigh emailed in to say the weather wasn't too bad though cold 9C; and that the fish pens are mainly for oysters and mussels. I was worried she might have got into trouble in a fish farm, but she would not bother shellfish!

She left the island just before 10am local time, when she was flying NE towards the mainland at 54km/h, just 26 metres above the waves. The wind being fresh westerly.  An hour later she was perched on oyster poles on the low tide shore at Sainte-Anne. At midday Logie was 15 kilometres north, flying NW over Revroc at 41km/h and had gained height to 305 metres. At 1pm local time, she was 23 kilometres nearer home, flying due north at 65 km/h and was at an altitude of a thousand feet. Another correspondent, Elaine Clark , emailed to say it was a fine sunny morning but had turned windier with some hail showers. At this stage, Logie was 330 kilometres south of the tip of the Cherbourg Peninsula.

At 2pm, she was 35 kms NNE flying north at 69km/h; an hour later she was near Beaupreau, flying NNW at 37km/h at 590 metres altitude. Just before 4pm she passed low over the river Loire near Saint Florent-le-Vieil. She reached her roost before 6pm and had flown 211 kilometres during the day. She roosted in a line of trees in farm land just 2 kilometres SE of Segre.

12th April Logie was still at her roost at 6am local time. An hour later she was 7 kilometres north, flying NNW at 35 km/h, and at 8am she was perched in a large field in open ground 14 kilometres to the north - there were small ponds in the area so she may have been eating a fish. At 9am she was flying NNW at 36 km/h near Laval, and an hour later flying NNE at 58km/h heading for Lassay-les-Chateaux.

I received an email at this time from Steve Nuttall, with a photo of Logie's roost area on Ile de Re; he said it was a glum cool day with rain forecast in La Mayenne. He had seen an osprey once near his home - at a lake at Fontaine-Daniel - Logie passed 6 kilometres to the east of this lake at 9.45am.

She was near Sainte Andre-de-Massei at 11am flying NNW at 62km/h; and an hour later near Campandre-Valcongrain circling over a ridge of hills. At 1pm, Logie was 3 kilometres south of Bayeux  flying NE at 84 km/h at 108 metres altitude. She cossed  the French coast just east of Port-en-Besin on the Normandy coast and at 2pm (3pmBST) she was kilometres over the English Channel flying N at 61 km/h at 930 metres (again she crossed a coast at high altitude - to avoid gulls?). An hour later she was 66 kilometres further on in mid Channel flying NNE at 52 km/h just above the waves. At 5pm, she was 62 kilometres further on and was flying at 75 km/h just 13 metres above the water. The SW winds were pushing her on but also drifting her north-eastwards.

Logie finally arrived in ENGLAND at 5.45pm, arriving just about over Brighton west pier, at 6pm she was flying N at 40km/h above Keymer, south of Burgess Hill. At 7pm Logie arrived at Ardingly reservoir, and at 8 pm was perched in trees on the west side of the North Arm of the reservoir. Her day's flight was 360 kilometres.  The weather had been grey and partly cloudy, 10 kilometres visibility and fresh SW winds of 24km/h. She had done well to cover such a distance in gloomy conditions and the wind had drifted her east of her northwards track.

David Plunton saw two ospreys near Winchester at 10.15 am today and Nick Bond posted a sighting of an osprey over Littlehampton, so it appears other ospreys were crossing the channel.

Logie now has 780 kilometres to fly to reach her nest and it appears she will travel up the eastern side of the country. With luck she'll reach home on Monday - but it's fresh north winds, rain and snow showers up here - but at least the intruding female was not at her nest today.

 Logie's track across France and the English Channel  12th April

13th April Logie roosted overnight on Ardingly Reservoir north of Haywards Heath in Sussex, this was 16 kilometres further north. She was in the nature reserve section, where ospreys are sometimes seen on migration. The map shows her position in the lake - hope bird-watchers there see her fishing this morning before she heads north.

It looks reasonable weather for migration, light winds, some rain showers, but gloomier in the north. If she leaves after fishing she might reach Yorkshire by dusk, passing west of London, and near Rutland water about 1pm.

13th April Just been to her nest; and all is ready there. Her mate 6R (from the black colour ring 6R on his left leg) was perched in the  dead pine above their nest eating the final tail bit of a small trout at 0837am. A lovely  quiet morning, a nip in the air, early morning gloom starting to clear to blue patches. A mistle thrush singing loudly near the eyrie and pheasants calling below. No sign of the intruder females.

Logie's mate - Black 6R - eating a fish above nest at  0837am

There will be no more updates of Logie's position until late evening transmissions from the satellite

My monitoring of osprey nests today found 10 adults back at 11 nests so it is a slow start to nesting.

13th April She was still at Ardingly Reservoir at 9am. An hour later she was flying at 52km/h NW at 622 metres altitude just south of the M25 motorway, north of Leatherhead. She turned NW and at 11am was perched on the SW side of the Queen Mary reservoir near Staines. She was still there at midday although slightly different place so she may have fished. Then she flew one kilometre west to perch in trees on farmland near Laleham at 1pm and 2pm. She then flew 5 kilometres west, passing over the M25 again just north of Junction 12 to perch in big trees on edge of field close to the main rail line, north of Virgina Water. She stayed here from 3pm to 5pm, and then moved 600 metres to roost in big trees in the main wood. She was still there at 9pm.

The weather yesterday was variable, rain showers, cloudy at times, which may be why she did not head north. Further north there was more rain, and even snow in Scotland. 

Logie's travels around Staines and roost near Virginia Water

14th April Today's forecast gives early morning fog clearing to partly cloudy with sunny spells and rain showers, getting less sunny further north, with fresh cold NW winds. Hopefully, Logie will head north but it's difficult to predict how far she will travel. At least one female osprey called by at Rutland Water yesterday, and she may pass that way today. May be someone will sight or photograph  Logie on her way north. Thanks to those who looked yesterday.

An email just in this morning from Sue Halket, explains Logie's delay yesterday. "I am not surprised that Logie didn't fly far yesterday. We had horrible conditions with thunder, lightening and hail storms. I wondered during the day if she would fly in such conditions and vaguely looked for her flying through as we are to the west of Heathrow".

Logie was still at her roost at 8 am and then, at 9 am, was perched on the south bank of Virginia Water, presumably fishing. At 10 am, she was flying NNW at 32 km/h, north of Englefield Green and at 11 am, she was as below!

Oops!  A GPS position at 11am gave Logie's position as flying NW at 22km/h at 500 feet over Terminal 4 at Heathrow airport - hope she got clearance to cross the runways safely! She must have been fishing in the reservoirs to the south and is now heading north.

 

Google picture of Logie's position at 11am - remember Google pictures are not today's images so this may not be exactly what she saw as she headed across the airport!

At midday, she was flying WNW over the northern outskirts of Maidenhead, and then crossed the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames.  At 1pm, she was flying SW over Sonning Common, at 439 m altitude. An hour later, she was perched on a wooded island beside the Thames, just below the road bridge between Goring and Streetley.  At 3pm, she was flying SE near Lower Basildon, and then at 4pm was flying back NW, back and forth along the river.  At 5pm, she was perched in woods besides the Thames, south of Goring, and an hour later had flown south, perched, again by the river, near Beale Park.  She roosted overnight in woods on the eastern side of the river.

15th April Logie spent last night beside the Thames north of Pangbourne;  she was still at the roost at 4am, but by 5am was downriver, just NW of Whitchurch-on-Thames, and spent the next few hours around the river, up until 9am.

At 10am, she was on her migration once more, and was flying west at 33 km/h, near West Hagbourne, before passing over Didcot power station.  At 11am, she was flying west near Eynsham, and then went over Chipping Norton to be near Little Rollright at midday, when she was circling at 245 m.  She then turned west, and at 1pm was perched in a field just south of Barton-on-the-Heath.  At 2pm, she was flying west at 62 km/h, east of Evesham, and had climbed to 1334 m altitude.  With rain showers during the day, she was probably finding the flight difficult, and at 3pm, was perched in a wood beside the A441, north of Redditch, a little south-east of Rowley Green.  Awaiting further signals!  The forecast at the moment for the Midlands is rain showers with south-easterly winds.  During the last two days, Logie has covered a distance of 188 kms.

Latest news: see below.

Logie's journey on 14th and 15th April

7.30pm Logie is still at the wood near Rowley Green, south of Junction 2 on the ring road below Birmingham. I telephoned a friend in Birmigham and he told me it was pouring with rain at 7pm so I can understand why she has stayed put. The forecast for tomorrow is better. The nearest places for Logie to fish early tomorrow are the Bittell reservoirs, 2 miles NNW,  or possibly Earlswood Lakes 5 miles ENE. Hope she is seen on her way north tomorrow. 

Logie's roost site evening 15th April

 

15th April Logie's progress over the last few days has been slow, almost certainly due to poor weather conditions. It is interesting that she has moved to the north west, where she will pick up the direct line from Cherbourg back to Scotland.  It's interesting that , having been blown eastwards by bad weather in France and the English Channel, she did not redirect from Sussex straight up the east side of England, but went back to what was probably her planned track.  The map below shows her probable flight line if she had not been drifted east via Brighton.

16th April This morning, Edwood Walker emailed to say he had looked for Logie:

"I went up there for a look around this morning between 6.15 and 8.00. If the fix from yesterday was correct she was on a ridge in a patch of oak bluebell wood which belongs to the Methodist Church. The Weather got progressively foggier the longer I was there and I didn't see her, if indeed she was still there. Still damp, overcast and misty here (10.45am) but visibility is gradually improving". 

The first data came in at 5pm and showed that Logie did indeed move position late last evening and roosted beside a small lake with trees about a kilometre SW of the last position. At 11am she was perched at the south end of Lower Bittell reservoir, and then spent the afternoon on farmland and trees about a kilometre to the SW, between the railway line and the motorway.

Just after I got this data, an exciting email came in from Mary & Jack Lindsey, with news that they had seen and photographed her at Bittell reservoir in the morning:

"Thanks to your itinerary, we were able to take a chance and get to Lower Bittell reservoir at 7.30 this morning - just in case! We didn't expect much to happen as it was even foggier there than at home. Our delight was worth everything when, at 10.25ish Logie appeared!!!!!! We only saw her intermittently for about 10 minutes, then presumed she had either caught something or moved out of sight, so we left to get warm!

Have attached a couple of pics Jack took. She was a long way off, and it was very poor photo weather! At least the aerial is visible in one. After all her trials, the gulls wouldn't leave her alone. I took a bit of (very amateur!) film, but it's too long to e-mail, I'm afraid. It was marvellous to see the bird we've been following for so long". Their two photos are shown below.

 Thanks to Jack & Mary for the great photos -  being mobbed by gull on right

A signal at 6pm showed that Logie had moved south, to the west of Alvechurch. After fog in the morning; the weather is partly cloudy with a 9mph NE wind. Hopefully, she'll fish in the morning then head north!

17th April At 5am Logie was roosting in a wood beside the M42 north of Alvechurch. Weather this morning near Birmingham is clear. Still there at 6am, then just NW of lower Bittell reservoir at 7am. This was confirmed by Rob who saw Logie fly over Lower Bittell reservoir at 6.10am but she did not fish there; then at 8.20am he saw her perched in at tree to the NW, so she may have fished at the other lake, then at 8.30am she flew off north in clear weather. Craig Round saw her circling the Clent Hills ten minutes later being mobbed by crows, and she then went off NNW avoiding Birmingham. A fresh east wind. How far will she go today?

At 9am, she was 17 kilometres NW of Bittell reservoirs flying WNW at 59km/h between Stourton and Wollaston; an hour later she was 31 kilometres further NW flying at 74km/h WNW at 519 metres just NW of Iron bridge, near Telford. She passed Shrewsbury and at11am was 41 kilometres further NW flying at 48 kms/h about 5 kilometre NW of Oswestry. By midday Logie had passed into North Wales and was now flying north at 51km/h at 270 metres two kilometres SW of Mold in Flintshire. She was flying strongly to the NW through the morning with a fresh east wind, up to 30km/h.

At 1pm Logie was flying over the centre of the Dee estuary at 638 metres above sea level, flying N at 85km/h about 2.5 kilometre from Caldy.  She then flew up over Liverpool Bay, being 17 kilometres west of Southport at 2pm, flying strongly N at sea level; and hour later still at sea level she was flying at 39km/h N 7.5 kilometres SW of Walney Island. She then came ashore and at 4pm was flying N at 35km/h near Hallthwaites in the southern Lake District. She now turned NE and an hour later had flown a further 21 kilometres and was just S of Little Langdale flying SSE at 57km/h. At 6pm Logie was perched beside a small river and pools east of Skellwith Bridge just south of the road to Ambleside. Then she flew 6 kilometres SE to perch on the west shore of Lake Windermere. An hour later she was 400 metres further south along the shore where she roosted, due west of Hawkshead.

Her day's flight was 280 kilometres, the first part coping with a strong easterly wind, may be it was the wind which drifted her NW or she may have wanted to pick up the track of her autumn flight over the sea to the Lake District. No more data until tonight.

Logie's flight 17th April

18th April Logie was was still at her Windermere roost at 6am, but by 7 am she was 16 kilometres to the NW, suggesting she started her migration at 6.30am. She was one kilometre SW of the south end of Thirlmere, flying NW at 66km/h over the Lakeland hills at 653 metres altitude. She left the Cumbrian coast, just north of Maryport, and at 8am was 8 kilometres out in the Solway Firth, flying NW at 42km/h towards the Dumfries-shire coast 20 metres above the sea. She carried on across the Firth, being drifted west and landed on the southern shore where she rested for an hour. At 2pm and 3pm she was at her autumn fishing site at Loch Kinder (see last autumn's first stop-over). She spent the night in woods to the NW, not far from where she spent 5 weeks on a stop-over last August. But she does not have time to stop this time!  190 miles to home.

Just in case she flew extremely fast northwards I checked her nest at 5pm, when her mate was eating a fish and an intruder female was sitting in a tree near the nest. But no sign of Logie. We returned at 8pm and stayed until dusk, still the intruder female was near the nest and landed on it on one occasion. Logie's mate flew off to roost on a dead tree some distance away at 8.50pm, and the intruder roosted near the nest tree. Logie will have to oust this female as soon as she arrives home.

Intruder female at Logie's nest

Long distance digi-pic using Nikon Coolpix and Swarowski scope

 

19th April Logie spent the day up until at least 5pm in the same area - it was thick cloud, with drizzle and a north-east wind and this prevented her moving on north.

Logie's movements on 18th and 19th April

20th April Logie spent another day SW of Dumfries - mainly perched in woodlands, which she used on her southward migration. In the early morning she was fishing at  Lochaber Loch near Lochanhead. The weather was better than yesterday but still overcast with a fresh NE wind. Larry Griffin of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust  told me that two ospreys arrived on the other side of the estuary, one at Caerlaverock WWT reserve and the other feeding on a dead tree out on the mudflats. He wondered if the one out on the mudflats might have been Logie, but her signals all came from the west side of the estuary.  Fascinating that Caerlaverock and the Nith Estuary is home to another species, Barnacle Geese, which is also being tracked by 'World on the Move' and the WWT.

Up in Moray, it was a sunny day but with a cold easterly wind; the male and the ringed female were at the nesting site, although the intruder female was mainly perched on a high tree rather than the nest. Attempted matings were taking place but they are still not acting like a settled pair. Not far away is another nest which at present only has a single male, so when Logie gets home, the intruder female could move there, or may oust Logie if she doesn't arrive soon. Logie could then move there to find a new mate.   

21st April Still near Dumfries - perched around Lochaber Loch midday to 4pm, otherwise in woods nearby - wind still fresh to strong NE.
22ndApril Logie was still at her roost near Dumfries at 5am - last signal of that transmission. Today the weather is improving, Scandinavian high pressure giving a better day, clearer after early morning fog, and, importantly, winds becoming SE rather than NE or E. Today looks like giving Logie a better chance to fly on north - with following or light winds she could just about make the whole flight to her nest in a day, but we'll see. Today is the 42nd day of her mammoth migration - much delayed by running into bad weather, like other ospreys which have arrived over the last couple of days or are still to arrive. So much is down to chance, if she had started a few days earlier from her island in West Africa she could have missed the weather delays.  She had not arrived by 9pm and I will have to wait for overnight signals to see if she moved north part of the way.

Actually data came in this morning to show that Logie had left after midday as the weather improved at last and the wind turned to south-east. At 1pm she was NW of Dumfries, heading for Fourmerkland Tower, flying north at 68km/h. An hour later she was 38 kilometres further on near Leadhills flying N at 85km/h at 1211 metres altitude, and at 3pm she was just east of Airdrie flying NNW at 55km/h. At 4pm she was flying north at 30km/h just west of Airdrie and an hour later was circling and gaining height just west of Comrie, in Perthshire. At 6pm to 8pm she was perched by the river Tay, two kilometres downstream from Loch Tay. An hour later she was roosting 5 kilometres away just 400 metres NW of Castle Menzies, near Aberfeldy. She had covered 186 kilometres.

23rd April Logie was still at her overnight roost at 5am but an hour later was circling over the Pass of Killiecrankie in Perthshire, which is 14 kilometres from her roost. At 7am she was over the central Cairngorms, flying downwind N at 100km/h over Beinn Chaorainn just SE of Cairngorm, at an altitude of 1484 metres. At 8am she was flying at 85km/h downwind across the Moray moors heading for her nest.

Once the signals came in early this morning, we rushed to Logie's nest and found four ospreys circling and skirmishing over the site - she had arrived just as we did. After checking the birds with my binoculars, I suddenly saw the distinctive short radio aerial and identified Logie positively - here she was back home after her epic journey - to the exact tree she left on 4th August last year.

Logie's flight 22nd -23rd April

There then followed a period of continual skirmishing - Logie, the 'new' female and the male tried landing on the nest - and sometimes talons flashed between the two females. Logie looked fit (although her plumage was quite faded from the glare of the African sun) - just as well, because there was no way the male was going to feed her in this excitement. Sometimes even a third female joined in at aerial circling - often all three birds would drift away high in the sky and then return. Logie did show real ownership several times when she landed in the nest, crouching down with spread wings and trying to frighten off the intruder female, but once or twice even her mate dive-bombed her and sent her packing. Other than the fighting ospreys, it was a lovely calm morning and three sand martins flew by - a sign of spring at last. We watched the excitement until 10 am and then had to leave. I will be back during the day and it may take several days to sort out the hierarchy at the nest - will Logie regain her nest and mate, or will she have to find new ones?  More news late this evening and tomorrow. On the way home, we called in at Logie primary school, who have been following her travels and from where Logie gets her name, to tell the children of her safe return.

This evening Logie was perched on the nest, the male on a perch in the next door tree - otherwise all quiet as the sun went down at 9pm - will check nest site to see if Logie is in control of her old nest and do a complete update in the morning.

Later the signals came in and showed that Logie was in continuous flight all morning until at least midday - usually within 600 metres of her nest. Finally at 1pm the signals showed she was perched on her nest, and this was also the situation at 2pm, 3pm and 4pm, so she had won back her nest. But what an extra effort after flying back all that way; it shows the advantages for adults to be back early. Now she needs to build up condition to lay eggs, and at 9pm she looked well fed (her crop was full), so her mate must have caught an evening fish.

23rd April

Photographs taken at Logie's nest site on 23rd April

top left - first view of Logie at 08.10am     top right - first landing on eyrie

middle left - two females aerial chasing        middle right - male displaying

bottom left - Logie attacking other female at nest        bottom right - Logie on nest mid afternoon

24th April At 8.25am, Logie was standing firmly in her nest, scanning the skies for her mate. His job is to catch fish and bring them to the nest; her task is to protect the nest and, once she has laid eggs in a week or so, to carry out the bulk of incubation, while the male catches fish. It will take another day or two to be certain all is normal. The intruder female has been seen off but she has spent a week hoping to claim this nest and mate, and now she has to go off and find a new place - a metal ring (and no colour ring) suggests to me she is an older osprey who may have lost a mate, or who may have been waiting for her mate to return. Hopefully the latter, as yesterday saw more ospreys arriving in Scotland in what is a very late spring arrival. If I find her nesting, I will include that news in this log.

Now that Logie is home, I will update this page occasionally with key happenings - when she lays eggs, when her eggs hatch, how many young there are, etc etc - and then in mid August, assuming everything goes as planned in osprey lives, we will follow her migration back to Africa on a daily basis - she will probably leave later than last year because of her delay, but will she stop over in the Solway?  Will she follow the same route back as she did last year? What pitfalls will she encounter on the way back, and will she winter on the same island?  We may even try to follow her by land and air on that journey back!!   but either way, we'll definitely follow her progress here.

Her migration from West Africa lasted 43 days and she flew at least 3619 miles (5803 kilometres) in 27 days of active migration; she also spent 16 days waiting out the bad weather. Her best day's flight was 215 miles, and her shortest just 26 miles.

We have been amazed by the incredible interest in Logie and her migration via this Highland Foundation for Wildlife website, the BBC World on the Move programme and the media in general.  We have really enjoyed reading the incoming emails and been very moved by some of the stories you have submitted - we've also been grateful to those people who have sent in sightings, information and sometimes photographs all the way from the Straits of Gibraltar to Scotland. Thanks so much for the emails - we have tried to answer them all and still have some to catch up on.

Logie's story has been so interesting, and incorporates so many aspects of ospreys' lives and migrations to and from West Africa, that following her return to Africa next autumn, we are planning to publish a book on Logie. It will also include comments, stories and information sent in from observers and followers of Logie. If anyone has any special comments or feelings about her and her migration, please email me.   We would love to share your thoughts on this bird.

Finally, a very big thanks is due to Talisman Energy Ltd in Aberdeen for their funding of the GPS transmitters (and the good news is that we will have new transmitters on several more Moray ospreys this autumn); also to Logie Primary School, to the local landowners who have helped with the project and to the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol for including Logie in the World on the Move series, which continues right into next autumn's migration. And a big thanks for the GoogleEarth programme which allows us to illustrate bird migration in such a graphic manner,

Donations to this project. Thanks very much to those who have sent in donations to help our osprey tracking project - if you have enjoyed Logie's migration and would like to help fund this project and further studies, we would be very grateful for any donations to help with the costs of transmissions from the satellite tracking stations, associated osprey fieldwork and maintaining the website.  We are also looking for additional larger funders for satellite radio equipment.  To all those who asked, we're sorry that we don't have facilities for credit or debt card donations, but see our donations webpage for how you can help.  Donations

24th April Several people have asked if there are hides or facilities to view Logie at her nest - I'm sorry, but there are none. The great bulk of the ospreys in Scotland breed quietly at nests on private land, farms and crofts, or in private or national forests, where local people keep an eye on their protection and maintain the confidentiality of the nests to prevent nest robberies or disturbance.  This allows the ospreys to breed successfully in peace. There are now an exciting range of visitor centres for watching ospreys and viewing close up video of their nests, including the long famous Loch Garten site in Strathspey, Rothiemurchus fishery near Aviemore, the SWT reserve at Loch of the Lowes, Dunkeld, sites in England at Rutland Water and Bassenthwaite Lake, also near Portmadog in North Wales, and sites at Forestry Commission forests near Peebles, Aberfoyle and Huntly.  So there are plenty of locations to view ospreys and learn about their lives, and even more places where ospreys can be watched fishing. And if you happen to find a nest, click on Reporting Osprey Nest Sites

NEW OSPREY BOOK DUE OUT EARLY JUNE.  Roy Dennis has written a new book on Ospreys - called 'A Life of Ospreys' which is being published by Whittles Publishing, Caithness. It's a comprehensive study of the lives of ospreys and osprey watchers, of their history (recent and ancient), their ecology, migrations, reintroductions and wintering of ospreys in the British Isles and abroad, with many photographs, illustrations, maps, line drawings and scientific data. Full details will appear as publication approaches - it will be available countrywide but specially signed individual copies will be available for purchase from Roy Dennis - email roydennis at aol.com if you would like notice of when they will be available and would like to order an inscribed copy.

29th April Logie has been within 400 metres of her nest ever since she pushed out the other female; all seems settled, there has been more nest building and today at 8.30 am Logie was standing in the nest, and  at 10.45am, she was eating a trout on a perch near the nest; the male was standing in the nest with a full crop (he would have eaten the front half of the fish). Later, she flew to nest with tail end which the male took to a branch to eat, and Logie perched beside him. She needs to feed up in order to produce her clutch of eggs.

 

Logie's flight details during her spring migration

Her autumn flight was 5667 kilometres (3542 miles).

The shortest distance between her nest and Ilha Roxa is 5198 kms (3229 miles)

 

Date

Day's flying Distance kilometres Total Distance (Kms) Place Distance miles Total Distance (miles)
12th March 1 221 221 Senegal 138 138
13th March 2 218 439 Senegal 136 274
14th March 3 313 753 Mauritania 196 470
15th March 4 339 1091 Mauritania 212 682
16th March 5 258 1349 Mauritania 161 843
17th March 6 304 1653 Mauritania 190 1033
18th March 7 344 1997 Algeria 215 1248
19th March 8 308 2305 Morocco 193 1441
20th March 9 243 2548 Morocco 152 1593
21st March 10 282 2830 Morocco 176 1769
22nd March 11 281 3111 Spain 176 1945
23rd March 12 224 3335 Spain 140 2085
24th March 13 239 3574 Spain 148 2233
25th March 14 188 3762 Spain 117 2350
26th March 15 113 3875 Spain 71 2421
stop -over 16-26 local flights   Spain    
7th April 27 201 4076 France 125 2546
8th April 28 170 4246 France 106 2652
9th April 29 42 4288 France 26 2678
10th April 30 0 4288 France 0 2678
11th April 31 211 4499 France 132 2810
12th April 32 376 4875 England 230 3040
13th April 33 55 4930 England 34 3074
14th April 34 with 15th - England - -
15th April 35 188 5118 England 118 3191
16th April 36 local - England - -
17th April 37 280 5398 England 175 3366
18th April 38 95 5493 Scotland 59 3425
19th-21st 39-41 stop-over   Scotland    
22nd April 42 186 5679 Scotland 116 3541
23rd April 43 124 5803 HOME 78 3619

Return to BBC website

www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/worldonthemove/

AUTUMN MIGRATION

From 13th July to her departure on migration on 4th August; her hourly positions recorded by the GPS radio were all within 50 metres of the nest except on two occasions - once 2.5 kms and once 1.2 kms away; rhe female's task is to remain near the nest to protect and feed the young. The male catches all the fish.

4th August was a beautiful sunny day in a very wet overcast summer, and by mid morning she started migration. She was still at the nest at 9am but gone by 1pm.

 

 
Adult female, having been
trapped for ringing.

 

Logie's Autumn Migration

  BIRD Adult Female

DATE

 NOTES

4th August at 1pm, flying at 46 kms/hour through the Lecht into Aberdeenshire
4th August 5pm: flying SSW at 29 kms/hour past Alyth, Angus
4th August 9pm: roosting in a wood near Kinfauns, Perth. Day's journey 136 kms
5th August 5am: still at roost; 9am perched by a loop in the river Earn, possibly eating a fish or fishing.
5th August 1pm: just west of Cowdenbeath.
5th August 4pm: onwards - roosted in a wood N of Cobbinshaw Loch, to the SW of Edinburgh. Day's journey 65 kms
6th August 5am: at roost; 9am: 13 kms to SE flying at 53 kms/hour, just north of Dunsyre
6th August 1pm: flying SW along Tweed Valley, near Glenbreck
6th August 5pm: in middle of Nith estuary, south of Dumfries, presumably fishing
6th August 9pm: perched on post in estuary near Caerlaverock shore: day's journey 99 kms
7th August 5am: roosted overnight in Shambellie wood near New Abbey
4th-6th August

migration

7th -22nd August The female has made an extended stop-over on the Nith Estuary and surrounds; roosting in a favourite woodland site and fishing regularly across the Nith estuary and the Solway Firth, as well as at Loch Kinder. She has also used day time roosts in Kirkconnel Flow NNR nearer Dumfries
15th August

her movements from dawn to dusk

27th Aug She is still stopping-over in the same area on the Solway

On 22nd August, Edmund Fellowes went and checked out her favourite localities and sent these photos. Top left Kirkconnell Flow NNR; top right Loch Kinder with favourite perch tree; and two views of the Nith Estuary and the Solway Firth.   Thanks Edmund. 

 
2nd Sep She is still on 'stop over' on the Nith estuary - although moving more widely to forests NW of New Abbey and fishing along the Caerlaverock merse. This is now a 27 day feeding rest on migration, which seems quite long, but females have plenty of time because they leave the nest site early. This allows the young to get all the fish brought in by the male. I saw both chicks on the eyrie yesterday - one eating a big trout - the other waiting for its meal.  
6th Sep She's still there - but spending more time along the shores of the Caerlaverock Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust reserve. Yesterday morning, Larry Griffin, WWT scientist at Caerlaverock, checked her positions and found her eating a fish on a washed up dead tree on the mudflats. Attached is a photo from his mobile phone!  Both young still at the nesting site yesterday - one perched in an oak tree watching the antics of a red squirrel.

Interesting that she is there, because Larry and the WWT are using similar satellite transmitters to track barnacle geese and they are just starting their journey back from Spitzbergen to winter at Caerlaverock, while the osprey will head to Africa.   See www.wwt.org.uk/barnacle

7th - 9th Still living in same area
10th Sept

 

ENGLAND

WALES

FRANCE

At 6am she was still at a new roost on farmland south of Kirkconnell but an hour later she was 33 kilometres away on the Cumbria coast near Flimby. This was the start of a 756 kilometre flight to the north coast of France!  Hourly fixes showed us her journey in detail.

From the coast of the Lakes she flew down the Irish Sea - being 10 kms SW of Blackpool at 9am and over the South Wirral at 10am. She was travelling at a speed of 50 to 60 kph, probably taking advantage of clear skies and following wind, mostly 150 to 270 metres altitude. Flying south through Shropshire, she was just west of Monmouth in South Wales at 1pm. An hour later she was over a 1000 metres above the centre of the Bristol Channel heading for Clevedon.

She continued to migrate south or SSE over Glastonbury and Dorchester, so by 5 pm she was 39 kms SSE of Portland Bill in Dorset, out over the sea flying south at 51kph and 460 metres above the sea. An hour later she was just north of the Channel Islands, still travelling south at 50 to 65kph.

She had reached landfall on the north Brittany coast in FRANCE  by 8pm.

11th Sept

 

FRANCE

SPAIN

From 5am to 6am she was 11 kms south of last night's position, probably at her overnight roost. and then moved another 9 kilometre south and probably feeding. By 10am she was back on her migration heading south at 41kph. She crossed the Britanny peninsula and set out to sea heading SSW past Noirmoutier.

Her flight across the Bay of Biscay  was direct and purposeful, although probably with a wind in her face. Mainly travelling SSW at between 58 and 72 kph she was covering just over 50 kilometres per hour over the sea at altitudes from 100 to 300 metres above sea level. At 8pm when fixes ceased she was just 40 kilometres from the Spanish coast in eastern Astorias. She had covered 628 kilometres to reach SPAIN.

Migration track over Bay of Biscay (from GoogleEarth)

12th Sept The first GPS fix at 0400GMT was 1.2 kilometres from the coast near Villahormes.
12th Sept

Migration to date from north Scotland to north Spain

 

 

12th Sept At 0500GMT she was still at the overnight roost, then from 0600 to 0800 GMT she was perched in mountains 1.8 kms to the SSW. By 0900GMT she had restarted her migration, flying at 26kph at 1107 metres along mountain ridges. An hour later she was 23 kms further east skirting the highest mountains of Picos de Europa, before turning SE and then south over mainland Spain. Migrating slowly south at 34 to 60 kph, at altitudes of 970 to 1950 metres above sea level, she passed a large reservoir (Aguilar de campoo) at 1300GMT and passed to the east of Vallodid in the late afternoon. She was on the edge of woodlands at 1800GMT, nearly 50 kilometres to the SSE of Vallodid, after completing 275 kilometres. An hour later she moved to roost further into the woods not far from the Castillo de Coca in Castillo y Leon province.
13th Sept She stayed at her roosting site until 0700 GMT, then moved back to her first position of last evening, where she stayed on the edge of the woods until 0900 GMT. An hour later she was flying SSW at 55kph, and by 1100GMT she was moving SSW to reach the Sierra de Gredos mountains to the west of Madrid at midday. At 1200GMT, she high above Avila with its great medieval castle walls, crossing the mountains at heights of nearly 2000 metres she continued flying SSW and the last of this batch of GPS fixes was high over the river Tietar.
13th Sep At 1500GMT she was migrating south at 62kph at Talavera de la Reina, continuing over the mountains, she changed heading at 1700GMT to pass round a large mountain and then drop down into the large reservoir of Embalse del Cijara. She roosted on a wooded headland in the reservoir. Her day's journey was 213 kilometres.
14th Sep Still at roost until 0600GMT, from 0700 to 0900GMT she had moved one kilometre towards the point of the headland and was resting there - possibly having fished. At 1000GMT she was 10 kms SW on the edge of a smaller reservoir near Castilblanco. By 1100 she was flying south again at 45kph. 
14th Sep She flew steadily all day across Badajoz - mainly at 23 to 40kph, passing Monterrubio de la Serena at 1400GMT and by 1700GMT was west of Lora del Rio in Seville province.
14th Sep By 1800GMT she had reached her roost site in riverine trees beside a large river in farmland 30 kms 4 kms west of Tocina to the north of Seville. Her day's flight was 208 kilometres - a leisurely day.
15th Sep At roost beside Guadalquivir river until 0600GMT, then moved 150 metres down river until 0800GMT - query eating fish.  Aerial view of roost site.
15th Sep At 0900GMT was migrating SSW at 60kph and an hour later was just north of Dos Hermanes, SE of Seville. Carried on leisurely south, passing Lebrija before 1200GMT and passing west of Jerez at 1300GMT. Headed SSE to perch in old salt pans near Santa Maria and then moved 9 kms SSE to perch on old salt pans between road and river east of Puerta Real at 1600GMT. An hour later she was perched on edge of small wood 7 kms east and at 1800GMT had reached her overnight roost site in trees south of a small lake near Laguna del Comisario, where she stayed until 1900GMT, but at 2000GMT she was 400 metres further into the edge of the lake. 
16th Sep Still at roost until 0600GMT, then moved 140 metres north. By 1000GMT she was back in the marshes on east side of the Bay of Cadiz, a good place to fish but also with dangers for ospreys because of monafilament nylon nets which are used to protect fish ponds.  At 1100GMT she was  7 kms away, migrating SSE at 41kph; an hour later she was a further 19 kms flying east of Conil at an altitude of 519 metres.
16th Sep At 1300GMT, she was high over the Atlantic coast just south of Barbate and an hour later she was 38kilometres due south flying over the sea at 70kph just 2 kilometres from the Moroccan coast, 5kms west of Tangier. Interestingly, she started the flight at 672metres altitude but by the time she reached the African coast she was only 42 metres above the sea. Low flights over the sea at the Straits of Gibraltar can be hazardous to large raptors because of harassment by yellow-legged gulls, which can occasionally force them into the water.
16th Sep

MOROCCO

At 1500GMT she was flying south over the hills of Morocco at 58kph and an hour later she was still flying fast to the SSW near Laamarine but only covering 25 kms on thr ground, so she was either flying into strong winds or spending time soaring over the peaks.
16th Sep She reached her overnight roosting area at 1800GMT in low wooded hills south of Chkaifien. The roost site was in a scattered trees on the hill top and the degree of detail on  GoogleEarth was incredible, even showing individual trees. See below:

 

17th Sep She stayed near the roost trees until 0900GMT, then headed on south passing over agricultural lands, gradually rising from flying at 237 metres to 594 metres altitude to the east of Keniha. At 1400GMT she was flying at 40kph some 24kms east of Rabat on the Atlantic coast. The travelled distance over the ground again suggested she was soaring as well as carrying out direct flights. Over the next three hours she travelled hourly distances of 45, 40 and 40 kms, and by the last signal of the day at 1700GMT she was at 1095 metres over the mountains near Dovar el Tssouf, heading for Marrakesh.  She had flown 265 kilometres since 0900GMT.
17th Sep

Her flight over the Straits from Spain into Morocco

17th Sep At 1800GMT she was perched in woods on north side of a mountain south of Oulad Attou; an hour later she was roosting 140 metres away in the wooded slopes.
18th Sep At roost until 0800GMT; two hours later she was flying over a big lake - Barrage El Massira, 21 kms to the south.
18th Sep At 1100 she had started a strong migration,  flying SSW at 55kph. Over the next two hours she headed south, passing just 7 kilometres east of Marrakech at 1300GMT, the she headed into the High Atlas mountains. At 1400GMT she was flying SW at 69kph at 1373 metres above sea level near Amizmiz, and an hour later was cresting the summits at a height of 1994 metres and passing the hill top village of Assif El Meht.  At 1600GMT she was flying down through a big valley at 815 metres altitude, travelling at 38kph to the WSW.
 
18th Sep She continued her flight until 1800GMT when she choose a roosting site among scattered bushes and tree in semi-desert 3 kms ESE of Tamloukt. Her day's flight was 268 kilometres, including a major mountain crossing. But she must have passed this way many times before - I wonder if she uses the same fishing and roosting places on each annual migration.
19th Sep Still at her roost on latest transmission for the day at 0500GMT and stayed there until 0700; an hour later she was 4km south, flying SSW at 55kph over irrigated farms. At 0900GMT she was on same direction over Taroudant, and an hour later perched 15 km south.
19th Sep At 1100GMT she was flying up into another range of mountains and at 1300GMT had changed direction and was flying at 39kph to SSE and heading for water. At 1500GMT she was perched at the water's edge of a large lake Youssaf Dam

 

19th Sep At 1500GMT she commenced a S to SSW migration over mountains and deserts, at 1700GMT she was flying at 62kph at an altitude of 1732 metres in the mountains. Two hours later she had cleared the mountains and dropped down into valleys where she roosted the night  in stony deserts about 30 kilometres SE of Guelmin. Her day's journey was 228 kilometres.
19th Sep Roost site in desert

20th Sep 0500GMT still at roost  -  migration journey to this date

 

20th Sep Stayed at the roosting area until 0900GMT.  At 1000GMT she was 22 kilometres south, flying at 27kph and presumably soaring over a mountain ridge as her heading was NNW.
20th Sep At 1100GMT, she was heading south up into the mountain plateaux, and it looked as she was cutting the corner to fly the direct inland route over the Sahara Desert to West Africa. An hour later she was flying at 69kph in a SSW direction. The weather was clear with 15 to 20km/h northerly winds. At 1300GMT she was continuing the fast migration as she was 44 kilometres further south, flying at 64kph at 1800 metres above sea level over the western Hammada.
20th Sep

Western Sahara

At 1400GMT she was over Western Sahara heading south and an hour later she was 56 kilometres south migrating at 81 kph over very remote and inhospitable deserts; and a further hour later she was 50 kilometres further south near Tfariti. I wonder if she is travelling by herself or with another osprey; generally ospreys are loners and do not migrate in flocks like honey buzzards or black kites.
20th Sep At 1700GMT she had passed into northern Mauritania between Bir Mogrein and Ain Ben Til, outposts on trans Saharan trails. An hour later she had stopped to roost in a large expnase of stony desert, with rock outcrops, boulder and occasional bushes. She is now 3585 kilometres from her nest site in Moray - shortest distance.

The weather forecast is clear skies, hot sun, temperatures up to 44C and NE winds of 17-22kph, at least she will have a tail wind south.

21st Sep During the night she moved her roosting site by one kilometre, presumably she was disturbed by an animal or a bird, and with a bright half moon in open desert it was easy to change position.
21st Sep At 1000GMT she was 45 kilometres to the SSW, flying over the desert at 75kph, with presumably a strong tail wind! She continued on this SSW course through the northern Mauritanian deserts through the rest of the morning and the whole afternoon in baking heat and cloudless skies.
21st Sep Between 1500 and 1600GMT, she veered her track to avoid passing over one of the largest iron mines in the world at Zouerat, and Fderik, where the whole mountain is iron ore. The freight trains carrying the ore to the Atlantic coast are 3 kilometres long. The encroaching sand dunes of the Sahara on bottom right of picture.

 

21st Sep At 1700GMT she was migrating over the desert at 68kph, heading SSW. In the 8 hour flight between 0900GMT and 1700GMT, she had travelled 494 kilometres, at an average speed of 62 kilometres/hour. Clearly there was a strong tail wind but this is impressive flying and helps get her out the inhospitable deserts, where there is no chance to catch fish, as quickly as possible. It's at these times she needs the fat she put on at excellent stop-over feeding places such as the Dumfriesshire coast.
21st Sep at 1800GMT she was just south of Choum, still fast at 72kph, but 7 kms further SW she stopped at her roosting before 1900GMT. she roosted overnight in open desert west of a large dry river bed. Her day's journey was 572 kms.
22nd Sep At nightime roost at 0600GMT but an hour later she had moved 3 kms SW where she stayed until at least 0900GMT. At 1000GMT she was 23 kms on her flight, travelling at 40kph SSW.  Her migration continued in this direction and at 1200GMT she was 39kms west of Atar, flying at 66kph to the south. The Adrar mountain plateaux is a remote region of gorges and shifting sands, with a very small human population.

Stuart Benn, who travelled in the Atar region of Mauritania a few years ago, has sent me the following two photos showing the type of country the osprey was flying over today.

 

 

22nd Sep At 1500GMT she was now flying at an altitude of 1977 metres above sea level over the high plateau, at a speed of 37kph; the tail winds of yesterday were clearly less. She continued at this altitude for the next 3 hours in a generally SSW direction at speeds of 33 to 40kph.
22nd Sep She stopped to roost in sandy desert, a few kilometres from a rocky ridge, 28 kms further on and much lower altitude,  before 1900GMT.  Her flight today was 323 kilometres over extremely rugged desert terrain, but she is now less than 300 kilometres to the Senegal river and hopefully her first fish for 3 days.

The map shows her flight over the Mauritanian mountains - to the top right is the incredible circular outline of the Richat geological structure.

 

23rd Sep She stayed at the roost site in the desert at the southern foot of the Adrar highlands until 0900GMT, then set off on a new track SSE, and an hour later at 100GMT was 14kms away flying at 37kph. Over the next three hours she covered hourly flights of 15, 17 and 25 kilometres in a SSE then S direction.
23rd Sep At 1400GMT she was a futher 30 kms south, flying south at 54kph, and an hour later had reached sparsely vegetated deserts. She continued the southerly track to reach her roost site before 1700GMT
23rd Sep After a day's flight of 161 kilometres, she was perched 4 kilometres north of the shores of Lac d'Aleg, an important inland wetland. Being so close to the water it is possible that she went and fished at the lake between the hourly signals. A change of direction from last night's roost suggests she knew the location of this lake.

Interestingly, the young marsh harrier from Scotland visited this lake on 3rd October 2004, and a male osprey from Strathspey was located, using the old style satellite transmitter, near this lake on its northward migration on 19th March 2001.

Below is the description of this wetland included in the Marsh Harrier pages; I do not have any more recent data although the wetland is thought to be the northern most wintering site of Aquatic Warblers from Europe. Does anyone have a photograph of Lac d'Aeg?

 


Description of Lac d'Aleg from Birdlife International website

BirdLife IBA Factsheet for MR013 Lac d'Aleg, Mauritania (Edited down version).

Area: 4275 ha; Altitude 30m. Lac d' Aleg is situated 5 km to the north-west of the town of Aleg in the south-west of the country. The lake is a closed depression in an old course of the Senegal river fed by rainwater run-off from Oued Katchi, which drains a catchment of 3,420 sq km. The Katchi is a seasonal watercourse which was formerly a tributary of the Senegal river, but now cut off from it by dunes. The lake is endorheic and semi-permanent and typically varies in depth from 1 to 2 m at the end of the dry season to a maximum of 3 to 4 m at the end of the rains. At its maximum size, usually attained in October, it is 22 km long and 4 km wide. The area of the lake varies considerably from year to year depending on rainfall. The vegetetation of the lake forms concentric rings. The banks are characterized by woody species and grasses. The southern edge of the lake is bounded by the Nouakchott to Aleg road. There are various conservation problems.

More than 116,000 waterbirds were recorded here in September 1987. Peak counts are Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) 2380; Fulvous Whistling-duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) 9000; Spur-winged Goose (Plectropterus gambensis) 5000; Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 33000; Garganey (Anas querquedula) 50350; Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) 760; Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) 1613 and Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia) 2000.
 

 

24th Sep She appeared to fish in Lake d'Aleg being close to the north and south shores, but by 1000GMT she had restarted migration to the south, flying at 28kph. An hour later she was 14 kilometres SE, flying at 62kph.
24th Sep

SENEGAL

The next fix was three hours later when she was 84 kilometres SSW, having flown from Mauritania into SENEGAL. During this flight she had passed over the River Senegal and its extensive riverine marshes. This is an area rich in fishing opportunities, but she was obviously heading for her own wintering quarters.

24th Sep She continued SSW and by 1800GMT was roosting in open dry scrub about 85 kilometres south of the Senegal river.
25th Sep She remained at her roost until 0900GMT; an hour later she flying SSW at 48kph. By 1200GMT she was climbing altitude and was flying fast at 60kph, probably into an easterly wind, as her track was south.
25th Sep By 1400GMT she was turning more to the SSW, flying at 51kph at 969 metres above sea level. At 1500GMT she was 26 kilometres further south  and two hours later she had reached her overnight roosting area in an area of woods, fields and cleared areas. The roost was in a cleared area near a small wood.; south of east of Wore. 
26th Sep During the night, she had moved 3.3 kms south; presumably she was disturbed during the night but with a full moon it would have been easier for her to choose a new perch tree.
26th Sep By 1000GMT she was migrating SW near Boulel, and an hour ler just north of Kaffrine. She continued south and then after midday she turned south west towards the Gambia river. At 1400GMT, she reached a tributary of the river and followed it SW.
26th Sep

GAMBIA

At 1600GMT, she reached River Gambia, and stayed near big marshes on the north side of the river near Tendaba. This is about 100 kilometres up river from Banjul, the capital of The Gambia. Her latest track is shown below.

 

27th Sep

Senegal

The River Gambia was clearly not her chosen destination because she set off south after apparently fishing over the marshes between 0900 and 1000GMT. At 1100GMT she was near Kwinella about 11kms south. She continued south and flew into southern Senegal, being over the large river in Casamanche at 1500GMT.
27th Sep By 1600GMT, she had passed into Guinea-Bissau over the river Cachea, and an hour later was flying south at 57kph, just north of the capital Bissau. She then headed out over the broad estuary of the River Gaba and at 1900GMT was perched over shallow water. She then flew a kilometres north to roost on the island of Bolama. 
27th Sep

Guinea-Bissau

The complex series of islands, shallow seas, mangroves swamps and marshes, as well as the south Atlantic Ocean, on the coast of Guinea-Bissau might be her wintering site - it is a favourite wintering area for European ospreys.
  Since her migration started she has flown 5667 kilometres south; her daily flights have ranged between 65 and 756 kilometres. The longest being her first flight, after her extended stop-over on the Solway, from southern Scotland to France.  Her average daily distance flown over this 18 day migration was 298 kilometres; her average flying time was 8 to 9 hours at a speed of 33 to 37 kilometres per hour.  The shortest direct distance between her wintering site and her nest in Scotland is 5198 kilometres (3229 miles)

 

28th Sep She stayed at her roost until 1000GMT, but her journey was not finished. At 1100GMT, she was 27 kilometres SSW over the shallow seas flying at 65kph towards the Ilha Roxa. In the afternoon she had settled at the south end of the island, near the coast. On two occasions she was perched out in the shallow sea, and she roosted that evening in scattered trees.
28th Sep The island of Roxa is one of the outer islands of the Bijagos archipelaga; it is about 20 kilometres long by 10 kilometres at its widest. It is part of a UNESCO Biosphere reserave (see below).

A description of the reserve is given below. In 1999, in the first year of our studies of osprey migration using the old style satelitte transmitters, a breeding female from a nest near Glenferness wintered just 18 kilometres west on the island of Bubaque.

29th Sep The early fixes this morning came from her roosting site.
  Description of the UNESCO  Biosphere reserve

Boloma Bijagós Biosphere Reserve is an archipelago of 88 islands located on the coast of Guinea-Bissau in western Africa. It was formed from the ancient delta of the Rio Geba and the Rio Grande. There is a high diversity of ecosystems: mangroves with intertidal zones, palm forests, dry and semi-dry forests, secondary and degraded forests, coastal savanna, sand banks and aquatic zones. Many rivers discharge nutrient rich freshwater into the sea with resulting in very high productivity. The archipelago, therefore provides an important feeding and reproduction ground for many species. Fish, crustaceans and molluscs are especially abundant. Among the mammal species are the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) and the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius).


In 1996, the Biosphere Reserve had about 27,000 inhabitants living mostly in the cities of Bubaque and Bolama. Because of the colonial history, there is a large ethnic diversity. Depending on their culture, people make their living from rice cultivation stock raising, wild palm tree exploitation, fishing and the collection of molluscs, orchards and horticulture. Several research and education programmes are taking place.

1st  Oct It looks as though she is back at her winter quarters, she has settled down to a routine, fishing in the sea within a half a kilometre of the shore, and ranging within 2.6 kilometres of her main roosts on the wooded island. We will follow her movements during the autumn and bring regular updates, and try to find out more about her wintering home.
2nd-5th Oct She is now well settled - it is about 600 metres between her main roost and her main fishing site; and her range is only 1.4 by 1.5 kilometres. I wonder how many years she has wintered at this spot in the tropical seas.
12th Oct Her movements are now very settled, between resting on favourite trees and hunting once or twice a day in the coastal waters.  The following map shows the complete migration from nesting grounds in Moray to her winter quarters.

 

20th Oct There has been very little movement, most of the time she sits in the same roost tree, and when hungry flies about 400 to 600 metres to the sea to catch fish. The night time roost is about 350 metres further inland in the island woodland. Today, she travelled the furthest distance record since arrival; 3.5 kilometres to the NE, flying SE at 48kph just 26 metres above the sea at midday. Presumably making a longer trip to catch fish or flying with wintering local ospreys.
11th Nov - 10th Dec She is still at exactly the same location. The fishing locations are mainly 500 metres from the main roost tree, with one as far out to sea as 800 metres from the roost. She has a favourite morning roost on the shoreline , possibly a fallen tree in water, 400 metres to the north, and the only other movement was 300 metres south. Her wintering home range is all within one square kilometre. She has a very settled winter home range.
22nd Dec Still in exactly same location, nearly all of her time spent perched in the same large tree a few hundred metres from the ocean, while day time signals are often from a position about 150 metres offshore, where there is probably a good perch such as a beached tree trunk.
3rd Jan Most of the time, she is still roosting in the same tree on Roxa Island. Between Christmas and today she has been within one kilometre of her roost, except on 2nd January when she was 2.7 kilometres NNE at 9am. She had probably gone there to fish in more sheltered water, as the winds are light to fresh NE. Today it's cloudy skies with good visibility in the islands, temperature of 16C and 42% humidity.
19th Jan - 8th March Logie is still spending most of her time at her main roost.  Twice she has roosted overnight some distance away; 700 metres NW (13/14th Jan) and 430 metres NW (18th/19th Jan). Favourite fishing sites about 400 metres offshore, although on 17th January she was 1.06 kms ENE flying east at 32 kph at an altitude of 21 metres - an obvious fish hunting flight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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