The Further Adventures of Breagha

So pleased that you are still up for the search HinNH, hope Mike hears some helpful news soon!

Physically yes Wendy, mentally, well that depends on what I find, if anything. But better to try & fail than not to try at all!

Good on you H!

Glad you've been able to set some wheels in motion, MIKE - you can do no more.

And you can't do any more either, NOISETTE, unless and until the crucial info becomes available.  It would be a very small comfort if you could find poor Breagha, but also could be a huge benefit.

Thanks again Mike for your efforts.

Good result Mike, dogged persistence pays dividends!

Thanks, Mike, and thanks and good luck, Hazel!

Tiger, I do soooo hope you are right about Druie and about Seasca, but I thought Seasca's signal stopped when she was most of the way across a large chunk of sea--was it the Bay of Biscay?  Presumably a dunking would stop the signal with no static?  Was Seasca the one who set off like the proverbial 'bat out of hell', not stopping when she reached the south coast but carrying on, possibly without any fish?  I thought she probably became exhausted and drowned.  Or am I completely bonkers and remembering the wrong bird?!

Clare, Thanks for asking Tiger about Seasca--I was going to ask myself, but then read your note!

Well done Mike and very good luck Hazel, and everyone who has tried to help.  I feel that by now we are definitely dealing with a dead Breagha, and that it was weather-related.  But to know for sure would bring closure to a fascinating and wonderful bird.  

Unknown said:

Tiger, I do soooo hope you are right about Druie and about Seasca, but I thought Seasca's signal stopped when she was most of the way across a large chunk of sea--was it the Bay of Biscay?  Presumably a dunking would stop the signal with no static?  Was Seasca the one who set off like the proverbial 'bat out of hell', not stopping when she reached the south coast but carrying on, possibly without any fish?

We do know that the last signal that we got from Seasca was when she was over the Bay of Biscay approaching the north coast of Spain. The next signal was not due for about three days so she could well have flown a very long way in that time. 

All we do know is that the signal was lost. Now the signal can be lost for a number of reasons and some of these reasons are non fatal like with Red 8T and Blue YD.  Of course even if it was a tracker fault there is no guarantee that she would get through the next twenty one months or so required to make a successful return to Europe. 

I have always believed that young ospreys do not fish until they reach their first stop and that could well be in west Africa. This has been amply proven by recent tracking data with the new cell tower trackers which give far more data than the older satellite type. 

If you look at FR4 from Loch of the Lowes. She migrated on 1st September 2015. Fourteen days later she reached the Senegal river and flew right past it as many juveniles before her. It was only three days later on reaching the Gambia river does she settle down for a fish feast. 

So it looks as if she fasted for about 16 days. 

Now there is a very good reason why they do not  rely on fishing on route. They have no idea where they are going so it is a far better bet to rely on stored fat as their fuel. That way they can get across the Sahara.