I am not sure if we should have separate threads for Rothes and Mallachie. If people feel we should the best start them right away.
The first data has been published on Google Earth and immediately it is amazing how much further Rothes has flown that Mallachie.
Tiger Signature
Barbara Jean
I doubt that Rothes' late start this year is any guide to what she'd do in the future. She isn't fully mature yet and wouldn't feel the same urge to breed. She also has no memories of any specific nest site of her own.
Two year old ospreys are generally not seen in the UK till after the adults have settled down to breed; the first one we know of this year is 00(09), spotted at Rutland Water on 4th May. There has also been a flurry of osprey sightings this week on the south coast - including the one I missed over Chichester! - which were not identified but can't have been breeding adults.
P.S. I don't think we should get into referring to Rothes as "Rothie", when even Roy Dennis is using it as an abbreviation for Rothiemurchus - that could be very confusing!
Oops I meant Rothes :( I should have proof read it .
Formerly known as Barbara Jean
Keep safe precious Rothes and take your time - eat well on the way up.
I do hope someone spots her leg ring PJ
GE still has Rothes' latest position as May 25. Alan, I agree the data needs to be uploaded by staff, however the RSPB LG page states that satellite data will be updated approximately once per day. Make sure to set the page to refresh periodically. Instructions to do this are at:
www.rspb.org.uk/.../googleearth.aspx
Safe journey and plenty of fish, Rothes.
Google Earth data now showing Rothes has progressed up the West African coast and on 30 May was just south of Western Sahara. Different track from her southerly migration. Not a huge distance yet - I guess she could stay there, and equally could be near Gibraltar in 48 hours!
Looks like Rothes is taking the coastal route rather than crossing the desert. Probably more sensible:
I saw Rothes route was on GE last night and was puzzled by it.
Having done a bit of looking up, I reckon she has been battling against dust storms. The clues:
Well she's made it back to the coast, and can do some fishing before carrying on. Perhaps Keith Rogers can say more about the conditions, when he gets back from the Sahara.
I too was very surprised at the tracking data, Sue. The link you gave seems to show quite neatly the problem with the wind from ENE blowing the sand towards the coast. It looks like she repeatedly tried to fly inland but was forced back to the coast resulting in the zig-zag track and a general lack of progress. The problem now is that, being on the coast, she faces brisk northerly winds for the next few days:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/953?
Phooey, I've been temporarily deleting Rothes 2009 migration points to Africa so I can see her return to the UK more clearly and easily . Is there any other way of doing it other than a point at a time!!!!!!
Cirrus I find it easier to untick the whole folder called "Points for Rothes" and then just reselect the points I want to see - in the map above, I chose the last point for each of the dates concerned. That only lasts for a single access to Google Earth though.
Longer term, I will probably use Placemarks to mark the overnight stops as I did on the way south - I keep the Placemarks in a separate folder which can also be switched on and off.