Tore, a female, was inside the first egg to be laid in 2011, on 14 April. She hatched on 19 May. Her parents are White EJ and 'Odin'.
At the time of ringing, her wing length was 335 mm and tail 140 mm. Female ospreys are bigger than males, even at a young age. Her colour ring is blue with a white 48.
Tore took her maiden flight on 12 July.
You can follow Tore's migration on our osprey tracking page or in Google Earth.
The story so far
At 9am on Wednesday 17 August, Tore was not far from home, south of Nethy Bridge. An hour later, she'd turned her back on Loch Garten and was 300m above the Cairngorm National Park, halfway between Aviemore and Kingussie. She continued almost due south for the rest of the day and by 4pm was 400m over the the A74(M), north-west of Moffat.
By 7am on 18 August, she was north of Dumfries (probably perched in a plantation, perhaps where she'd spent the night). By 9am she was flying south-west and by 10am was not far from our Mersehead reserve, about to set out over the Irish Sea, which is where she was at 11am and midday. 1pm saw her over the Isle of Man, north-west of Douglas.
Tore didn't hang around and continued her southward journey - she was just south of the Calf of Man by 2pm. At 3pm she was over the sea again, halfway between the Isle of Man and Anglesey. And at 4pm she was 140m above the sea, only 500m out from our reserve at South Stack Cliffs! 5pm saw her above a plantation by the Afon Cefni.
She probably spent the night close by, as at 5am on Friday 19 August she was perching on the opposite side of the estuary. At 6am she was 26m up (in a tree?) at Tywyn Niwbwrch (Newborough Warren), a stand of pine trees on Anglesey's south coast.
Compare the routes of Tore (orange) and Rothes (green)
At 8am Tore was low over Mynydd Mawr in the Snowdonia National Park, just west of Llyn Cwellyn. She'd got as far as Llan Ffestiniog by 10am. At 1pm she was over the northern bank of Lake Vyrnwy - another of our nature reserves! At 3pm she was just about to cross from Cymru into England, east of Welshpool.
Tore's view over Lake Vyrnwy
Tore spent the night of 19-20 August in Spernall Park, south-east of Redditch in Worcestershire. By 9am she was over Warwickshire and at 10am over the Grand Union Canal at Blisworth in Northamptonshire. Two hours later Tore was in a wood with a decoy pond by Ermine Street in Cambridgeshire. Presumably she spent the night there, as she was in the same trees at 9am on 21 August.
Home for a night
Saturday's restful afternoon must've done her good, as by 7pm she'd made it to our North Warren nature reserve on the Suffolk coast, where she roosted overnight. At 8am on Monday 22 August she was over the North Sea off Dunwich Heath and within sight of our Minsmere reserve. Reserve warden Robin even saw her!
She didn't hang around to enjoy it though, as by 9am she'd moved south-west to Hollesley and continued south-west. Tore must be very well trained, as at midday she was 745m directly above our nature reserve at Rainham Marshes, about to cross the Thames into Kent.
By 1pm she was south of Reigate in Surrey and over the woods of West Sussex, north-west of Petworth, at 2pm. 3pm saw her just south of Fareham and 4pm north-east of Bournemouth.
At 6am on Tuesday 23 August, Tore was in a tree in a wood north-east of Milton Abbas in Dorset, where she'd probably spent the night. It is not known if she flew over the nearby Cerne Abbas Giant (and his giant appendage), but by 7am she'd moved a short distance south-west and was perched south-west of Dorchester by 9am. Tore continued her route to the south-west, passed Exeter between midday and 1pm, and finished her day south-east of Plymouth at Steer Point.
Tore did not travel far from Plymouth for the next few days but crossed over the other side of the estuary into Cornwall...
where she stayed into September.
First thing on 18 September, Tore was over Wacker Lake. By 8 am she'd moved south-west near to Maker and by 9 am she was 25 miles out to sea over the English Channel. At 10 am she was just over halfway to France.
At 2 pm she was 14 miles inland, between the villages of Moncontour and Collinee.
and by 3 pm had moved a little further south-east into a more wooded landscape, taking a route not dissimilar to that of Rothes two years earlier.
At 5 pm, Tore was over a wetland just north of Nantes and was over the River Erde at 7 pm.
19 September was a busy day for Tore. She left her roost near Nantes and was nearly 400 m above the city at 10 am. By 1 pm she'd moved a minimum of 70 miles south and was over the Île de Ré, west of La Rochelle.
At 4 pm she wasn't far from Rothes on the Gironde but was about 560 m above the ground and heading south. At 6 pm she was just east of a large lake and may have roosted nearby.
At 6 am on 20 September she was 22 m over the sea (fishing?) and spent around four hours cutting the corner of the Bay of Biscay. But by 11 am she was safely over land once more, over the mountains and just inside Cantabria in northern Spain.
Through the afternoon she continued her way south-west further inland and by 9 pm was perched by a river near the town of Torquemada.
By 6 pm on 21 September, Tore had moved into the mountains of Extremadura. At 7 pm on 22 September she was by the Rio Ardila in south-east Portugal.
On 23 September, Tore set out over the sea towards Africa. At 3 pm she was just west of the city of Faro; by 8 pm she was midway to the Moroccan coast. She'd arrived by 7 am the next day.
(Lots of big migratory birds head for the Strait of Gibraltar for the shortest-possible sea crossing)
Tore didn't hang around but continued southwards. She spent the 24-29 September crossing the Sahara (via Morocco, Algeria, Mali and Mauritania), heading westwards around 1 October, and made her way to Senegal and Guinea Bissau in a couple of days.